Construction
Wittelsbach's keel was laid in 1899, at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, under construction number 25. She was ordered under the contract name "C", as a new unit for the fleet. The vessel was the first battleship built under the direction of State Secretary Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, according to the terms of the Navy Law of 1898. Wittelsbach was launched on 3 July 1900 and commissioned on 15 October 1902.
The ship was 126.8 m (416 ft) long overall and had a beam of 22.8 m (75 ft) and a draft of 7.95 m (26.1 ft) forward. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by six naval and six cylindrical boilers. Wittelsbach's powerplant was rated at 14,000 indicated horsepower (10,000 kW), which generated a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h).
Wittelsbach's armament consisted of a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) SK L/40 guns in twin gun turrets, one fore and one aft of the central superstructure. Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns and twelve 8.8 cm (3.45 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns. The armament suite was rounded out with six 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, all in above-water swivel mounts.
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