Construction
Schlesien was intended to fight in the line of battle with the other battleships of the High Seas Fleet. She was laid down on 19 November 1904 at the AG Vulcan dockyard in Stettin. She was launched on 28 May 1906, and in March 1908 was sent to Kiel, where her fitting out work was completed. She was commissioned for trials on 5 May, though these were interrupted from 6 July to 5 September when the ship was temporarily used as a torpedo trials vessel. Schlesien joined the fleet after the torpedo trials were completed in September. The British battleship HMS Dreadnought—armed with ten 12 inch (30.5 cm) guns—had already been commissioned nearly two years prior, in December 1906. Dreadnought's revolutionary design rendered obsolete every ship of the German navy, including the newer Schlesien.
Schlesien was 127.6 m (419 ft) long, had a beam of 22.2 m (73 ft), and a draft of 8.21 m (26.9 ft). She had a full-load displacement of 14,218 metric tons (13,993 long tons; 15,673 short tons). She was equipped with three-shaft triple expansion engines and twelve coal-fired water-tube boilers that produced a rated 17,000 indicated horsepower (13,000 kW) and a top speed of 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph). In addition to being the fastest ship of her class, Schlesien was the most fuel efficient. At a cruising speed of 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph), she could steam for 5,830 nautical miles (10,800 km; 6,710 mi). She had a standard crew of 35 officers and 708 enlisted men.
The ship's primary armament consisted of four 28 cm SK L/40 guns in two twin turrets; one turret was placed forward and the other aft. She was also equipped with fourteen 17 cm (6.7 in) guns mounted in casemates and twenty 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns in pivot mounts. The ship was fitted with six 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, all submerged in the hull. One was in the bow, one in the stern, and four on the broadside. Her armored belt was 240 mm (9.4 in) thick amidships and she had a 40 mm (1.6 in) thick armored deck. The main battery turrets had 280 mm (11 in) thick sides.
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