Admiral alfred von tirpitz, the founder of the main fleet of the German Imperial Navy, planned to build it into a force capable of challenging the maritime hegemony of the Royal British Navy. Kaiser Wilhelm II was also a supporter of the fleet and regarded it as a tool for German to acquire overseas colonies and become a global power.

The high seas fleet is mainly converted from battleships. When 1907 was founded, only two battleships were divided into fleets. By 19 14, a third sub-fleet was added. 1906, the appearance of dreadnought greatly affected the composition of the fleet. The 24 former dreadnoughts in the fleet instantly became obsolete and needed to be replaced urgently. 19 14 Before the outbreak of World War I, only two sub-fleets (the first and third sub-fleets) were completely replaced by dreadnoughts (the third sub-fleet was until 65438), and there were two other sub-fleets composed of old warships, which were formed after the outbreak of the war and dissolved after the war. Nassau (German: Nassau-Crass)

Nassau (SMS), Rhineland (SMS Rheinland), Posen (SMS Posen), westfalen (SMS westfalen).

The Nassau-class battleship is 146. 1 m (479 feet) long, 26.9 meters (88 feet) wide, 8.9 meters (29 feet) draught, standard displacement 18570 tons, and full displacement of 2 1000 tons. Compared with the contemporary British dreadnought, the Nassau-class battleship is lighter and wider, but its speed is two sections lower than that of the British battleship equipped with high-power steam turbine because it retains the vertical three-expansion steam engine. At the same time, the 280mm (1 1 inch) main gun of Nassau class equipment is also smaller than the 305mm (12 inch) of fearless class. Because the vertical three-expansion steam engine occupies a lot of space in the ship and the range of firepower equipment is seriously limited, it is necessary to distribute six main guns in a hexagonal shape during construction: one at the bow 1 door and two at the side of the ship. This firepower layout results in only 8 12 guns that can be put into Nassau-class side fire.

Helgolan (German: Helgolan-Crass)

Helgoland (SMS Helgoland), oldenburg (SMS Oldenburg), Ostfrisland (SMS Ostfriesland) and Turing Root (SMS Thüringen).

The Helgolan class was improved and built on the basis of Nassau class battleships, which enhanced the armor and firepower level. Total length 167.2 meters (548.6 feet), width 28.5 meters (93.5 feet), draft 8.94 meters (29.3 feet), standard displacement 22,808 tons, and full-load displacement 24,700 tons. Its 12 main gun was changed from Nassau-class 280mm (1 1 inch) to 305mm (12 inch), and an updated propulsion system was also installed. Compared with Nassau, Helgolan can be easily identified from its three chimneys. Emperor or Caesar (German: Kaiser-Klasse)

Emperor (short message Caesar), frederick the great (short message Friedrich Dro? E), SMS Kesselring, King Albert (SMS K? Nig Albert) and SMS Prinz Regent Polder.

1909 The Emperor-class battleship, which started construction, is a new generation of dreadnoughts newly designed by Germany, and it is also the first time that the German navy uses steam turbines as power. Among them, frederick the great served as the flagship of the high seas fleet until Baden. The emperor class has a total length of 172.4 m (566 ft), a width of 29 m (95. 1 ft), a draft of 9. 1 m (30 ft), a standard displacement of 24,724 tons and a full-load displacement of 27,000 tons. Adopt 305 mm double main gun, the same as Helgolan. The two turrets at the stern are arranged diagonally, and the two at the stern are arranged piggyback. Compared with HMS Orion Super Dreadnaught, which was built by the British Navy at the same time, the Germans are still at a disadvantage in firepower.

King class (German: K? Nigel Crass)

King (SMS k? Nig), Elector Hou (SMS Gro? Er Kurfürst), SMS Markgraf and SMS Kronprinz.

Germany began to build a king-class battleship in 19 1 1. Compared with the previous Imperial Class, the Royal Class adopted the design of two piggyback main turrets at the bow and one main turret at the stern, and all five main turrets were arranged along the center line of the hull, which ensured the firepower of side volley and was also beneficial to armor. As for the power system, it was originally planned to install diesel engines on the two ships "Emperor Elector" and "Border Governor", but in the end, all the Kings still used emperor-class steam turbines. The King Class has a total length of 175.4 m (575.5 ft), a width of 29.5 m (96.7 ft), a draft of 9654.38+09 m (30.2 ft), a standard displacement of 25,390 tons and a full-load displacement of 28,600 tons. This fleet consists of six former battleship Dreadnaught.

German-class former dreadnought (German: Deutschland-Klasse)

German (SMS Deutschland), Hanover (SMS Hannover), Pommern (SMS Pommern), Silesia (SMS Schlesien) and Schleswig-Holstein (SMS Schleswig-Holstein).

This class of battleship is the last former dreadnought of the German Imperial Navy. All five battleships were completed from 1903 to 1908. During its construction (1906), the appearance of the British dreadnought made the German class be eliminated overnight. Although rumors about the construction of the British Dreadnaught class had spread to the German Navy during the construction of the German class, Admiral Tirpitz still insisted on building the class on the grounds that the Emperor William Canal (now Kiel Canal) was too narrow for the passage of large battleships.

Brunswick class dreadnought (German: Brunswick-Crass)

At this level, only the No.3 ship (SMS Hessen) is in service in the Second Sub-fleet. This fleet consists of six battle cruiser ships.

Von de Tann (SMS Von de Tann)

This ship is the first combat cruiser built by the German Navy, and it is also the first time that Germany has installed a steam turbine on a large ship as power. As a response to the invincible British class combat cruiser, this class of ships pursues a balance between firepower and protection. The ship is equipped with four main guns with 280mm (1 1 inch) mounted in pairs.

Mao Qi combat cruiser

The construction of the Mao Qi-class combat cruiser was started at 1908, which was improved on the basis of Von DeTann. The bow of the hull extends to the stern, and a main turret is added to the stern, which is backpack-style.

Combat cruiser (SMS Seydlitz)

The construction of the Cedritz Combat Cruiser began at 19 1 1. In order to improve the seaworthiness, this class of ship has improved the freeboard of the bow, strengthened the hull strength, and enhanced the armor and watertight protection. On June 24th, 2005, the naval battle in Shazhou, Dogel, 1965438+65438, the shell loading room of the stern turret was punctured, which almost caused the ammunition depot to explode. Then, according to this lesson, the German navy improved the protective measures of ammunition storage rooms and transport corridors, and improved the survival rate of warships. In Jutland naval battle, Cedritz was hit by 22 large-caliber armor-piercing projectiles and 1 torpedoes, and the whole ship was flooded by more than one-fifth of the displacement. Even if it lost contact with the fleet, it still returned to the port alone. Its excellent damage control and protection design won it the title of "unsinkable warship".

De flinger class (german: Derfflinger-Klasse)

SMS Devlinger, SMS Russo, SMS Hindenburg.

Devonger class combat cruiser is a newly designed combat cruiser in Germany and the last first-class patrol ship built by the German Imperial Navy. This class ship adopts flat deck ship type and is powered by oil-coal mixed combustion boiler. It is the first patrol ship of the German Navy with a main gun of 305 mm (12 inch). The main turrets are all arranged along the center line of the hull, with two front parts and two tail parts.

Bavarian class battleship (Germany: Bayern Crass)

Bavaria (short message Bayern) and Baden (short message Baden)

19 12 years, after receiving the information that the British navy began to build a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship equipped with a 38 1mm (15in) caliber main gun, the German navy began to design and build a Bavarian-class battleship also equipped with a 38 1mm main gun. The main guns of the modified ship are also symmetrically arranged at the bow and stern, with solid triangular masts and emphasis on protection. The thickness of side armor and horizontal armor is higher than that of Queen Elizabeth. Because the German navy is worried that the Persian Gulf and Baku oil-producing areas will be monopolized by Britain and Russia in wartime, this class of ships all use coal-fired mixed boilers instead of all-oil boilers like Queen Elizabeth. This class of ship has a total length of 180 m (590.6 ft), a width of 30 m (98.4 ft), a draft of 9.39 m (30.8 ft), a standard displacement of 28,530 tons and a full displacement of 32,200 tons.

All six battle cruiser ships of the fleet participated in the naval battle of Jutland, and sank three battle cruiser ships, namely Queen Mary, Endurance and Invincible, in the battle with the first and second battle cruiser teams of Britain. However, under the attack of the powerful British fleet, the excellent protection of the German patrol made them suffer heavy losses but none of them sank.

After the Jutland naval battle, there were only two battle cruiser ships left in the first reconnaissance cluster, the No.1 and the Von DeThann, so Bavaria and two kings, the border governor and the elector, were assigned to the fleet until the German surrendered.