In 
Service: 5 May 1908 to 4 May 1945  
 Ordered: Builder: F. 
Schichau GmbH, Danzig Construction No: 571 
Laid down: 
1905 
Launched: 28 May 1906 
Commissioned: 5 May 1908 
 
 
Type: Pre-Dreadnoughts 
Class: Deutschland  
Displacement: 
13,191 tons standard 14,218 tons full load 
Length: 127.6 m 
Beam: 
22.2 m 
Draft: 8.21 m 
Propulsion: 3 × shafts 3 cylinder 
expansion engines producing up to 18,923 hp 
Propellers: Speed: 
18,5 knots 
Range: 4,800 nautical miles at 10 knots 
Crew: 
742 men and officers 
Armament: 14 × 17 cm L/40 SK L/40 range 
14,500 m
 carried 1,820 rounds
 4 × 28 cm L/40 SK L/40 range 18,800 
m
 carried 340 rounds 
 10 × 15 cm L/45 SK L/45
 2 × 8.8 
cm L/35 SK L/35
 carried 2,800 rounds 
 4 × 3.7 cm L/83 SK C/30
 
22 × 2 cm L/83 SK C/30
 6 × 45 cm torpedo tubes
 16 torpedo's 
carried 
Armour Belt 40 mm Deck 240 mm 
Aircraft:  Electronics: 
 Operators: Kriegsmarine 
Variants:   Other: 
Pre-Dreadnoughts Articles:  
  SMS Schlesien 
was a pre-dreadnought Deutschland class battleship which was commissioned into 
the German Imperial Navy. Her sisters were Deutschland, Hannover, Pommern and 
the Schleswig Holstein.   
 5 May 1908 The Schlesien is commissioned.  
8 
April 1940 The Schlesien takes part in operation Weser�bung (Invasion 
of Denmark and Norway).   
1940 The Schlesien is used as a barracks 
in Gotenhafen.  
1941 The Schlesien is used as an ice breaker 
with reduced crew.   
1941 The Schlesien is used along Schleswig 
Holstein and the 6th E-Boat Flotilla, for mine laying operations in the Baltic 
Sea to prevent a Russian breakthrough of ships to Britain.  
1945 
The Schlesien is used in surport for the Battle of Gotenhafen.   
1945 
The Schlesien is moved to Swinemünde with over 1000 wounded men.   
3 May 1945 The Schlesien is hit by a mine at Zinnowitz, Swinem�nde. 
The ship is then beached.   
4 May 1945 The Schlesien crew, 
places scuttling charges.   
1956  The Schlesien is broken up, 
and scrapped.  
 Wilhlem 
Canaris
 Takes command on 1932
 Ends command on 1934  
 Heinrich 
Ancker
 Takes command on 1934
 Ends command on 1936  
 Thilo 
von Seebach
 Takes command on 1936
 Ends command on 1937  
 Friedrich 
Wilhelm Fleischer
 Takes command on 1937
 Ends command on 1938  
 Werner 
Lindenau
 Takes command on 4 August 1938
 Ends command on 4 April 1939 
 Kurt Utke
 
Takes command on 1939
 Ends command on 1939  
 Günther 
Horstmann
 Takes command on 1939
 Ends command on 1941 
 Johannes 
Isenlar
 Takes command on 1941
 Ends command on 1941 
 Werner 
Lindenau
 Takes command on 27 May 1941
 Ends command on 8 October 1941 
 Ernst 
von Studnitz
 Takes command on 1942
 Ends command on 1942 
 Franz 
Friedrichs
 Takes command on 1942
 Ends command on 1943 
 Alfred 
Roegglen
 Takes command on 1943
 Ends command on 1944 
 Hans 
Eberhardt Busch
 Takes command on 1944
 Ends command on 1945  
   
 German 
Warships, 1815-1945: Major Surface Vessels.
 ISBN-10: 0851775330 
 German 
Warships, 1815-1945: U-boats and Mine Warfare Vessels.
 ISBN-10: 155750301X 
 German warships of the Second World War.
 ISBN-10: 0668040378 
 
For a complete list of 
sources