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SMS ''Prinz Heinrich'' was a unique German
armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
built at the turn of the 20th century for the German ''
Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...
'' (Imperial Navy), named after
Kaiser Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
's younger brother Prince Heinrich. The second vessel of that type built in Germany, ''Prinz Heinrich'' was constructed at the ''Kaiserliche Werft'' (Imperial Shipyard) in
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
, being
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
in December 1898, launched in March 1900, and commissioned in March 1902. ''Prinz Heinrich''s design was a modification of the previous armored cruiser, , and traded a smaller main battery and thinner armor for higher speed. All subsequent German armored cruisers were incremental developments of ''Prinz Heinrich''. ''Prinz Heinrich'' served with the German fleet in home waters for just four years, from 1902 to 1906, when she was withdrawn from front-line service. During this period, she served as the flagship of the fleet's scouting forces, and she was primarily occupied with fleet training. The ship was out of service from early 1906 to mid-1908, when she was reactivated for use as a gunnery
training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...
, a role she filled until late 1912. ''Prinz Heinrich'' underwent modernization and conversion into a dedicated training ship in 1914, and the work was completed just before the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in July that year. After the outbreak of war, the ship was reactivated for active service, initially with III Scouting Group with the
High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
. ''Prinz Heinrich'' was used for coastal defense in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
and she participated in the fleet sortie that supported the
Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties ...
in December 1914. After the naval command determined that ''Prinz Heinrich'' was too old to serve in the North Sea against the powerful British
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
, she was transferred to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
in early 1915. She supported offensive minelaying operations and patrolled the central Baltic for Russian forces, but never encountered hostile forces. She provided gunfire support during the attack on Libau in May 1915 and shelled Russian positions during the
Battle of the Gulf of Riga The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915. The operation's objective was to destroy the Russian naval for ...
in August. In the face of severe crew shortages in late 1915, ''Prinz Heinrich'' had her crew reduced and was ultimately decommissioned and disarmed in March 1916. She thereafter served in a variety of secondary roles for the rest of the war, before being
broken up Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sold for re-use, ...
in 1920.


Design

''Prinz Heinrich'', the second
armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
built in Germany, was authorized under the 1898 Naval Law, the first naval construction program begun under the direction of
Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...
, the State Secretary of the ''
Reichsmarineamt The Imperial Naval Office (german: Reichsmarineamt) was a government agency of the German Empire. It was established in April 1889, when the German Imperial Admiralty was abolished and its duties divided among three new entities: the Imperial Na ...
'' (Imperial Naval Office). The design for ''Prinz Heinrich'' was prepared in the late 1890s while construction of the first vessel, , was still underway. Some older naval historians, including Hugh Lyon and John Taylor, writing in 1979 and 1969, respectively, have stated that ''Prinz Heinrich'' was intended for overseas service, but
Aidan Dodson Aidan Mark Dodson (born 1962) is an English Egyptologist and historian. He has been honorary professor of Egyptology at the University of Bristol since 1 August 2018. Academic career Dodson, born in London on 11 September 1962, studied at Langl ...
points out that the ship's hull was not sheathed with wood and copper or zinc layers, which would have been necessary for any ship deployed overseas where shipyard facilities would not be readily available. Dodson also noted that the ship never actually went abroad on an extended deployment. The design staff based the new vessel on the basic design of ''Fürst Bismarck'', but for budgetary reasons the new ship's size was reduced by about . Weight reduction was achieved in part by thinning the ship's armor layout, though advances in steel technology meant this was not actually a compromise and her armor layout was in fact significantly more effective than ''Fürst Bismarck''s. Krupp had recently developed cemented armor plate, which was considerably stronger than earlier
Harvey armor Harvey armor was a type of steel naval armor developed in the early 1890s in which the front surfaces of the plates were case hardened. The method for doing this was known as the Harvey process, and was invented by the American engineer Haywa ...
, so less of it could be used to achieve the same level of protection. In addition, the belt could be made taller, extending up to the main deck level, which protected more of the ship's interior. The ship's deck armor sloped down on the sides, where it was connected to the lower edge of the belt, which considerably strengthened the protection system by providing another layer of armor that would need to be penetrated before the ship's vitals could be damaged. The armament was also significantly reduced to save weight and cost, from four heavy guns in two twin-
gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...
s to two guns, each in single turrets; she also received two fewer secondary guns compared to ''Fürst Bismarck''. But rather than spreading the secondary battery along the length of the hull in casemates and
sponson Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...
s, they were concentrated in a battery
amidships This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th ...
, which reduced the amount of the hull that needed to be protected with armor, further saving weight and allowing thicker armor to be concentrated in the battery. Further weight savings were achieved by adopting a smaller superstructure and discarding heavy military masts in favor of lighter pole masts. Her engines, however, were some more powerful, which produced a faster vessel. The ship proved to be an influential design, and all subsequent German armored cruisers were developments of ''Prinz Heinrich''. In fact, the armor layout pioneered in ''Prinz Heinrich'' provided the basis of all German
capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...
s designed over the next forty years, including the final battleships of the and H-classes. Nevertheless, she was not without critics; ''
Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...
'' (''VAdm''—Vice Admiral) Albert Hopman referred to the ship as "cheap, but bad" in his memoirs ''Logbuch eines Seeoffiziers'' (Log of a Sea Officer). The naval historians Hans Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, and Hans-Otto Steinmetz regard Hopman's criticism as an exaggeration, pointing out that ''Prinz Heinrich'' compared well to foreign contemporaries like the French , the Russian , and the Italian , though she was inferior to British designs. She nevertheless spent only four years in active service in peacetime before being replaced with newer, more powerful cruisers.


Dimensions and machinery

''Prinz Heinrich'' was long at the waterline and
overall Overalls, also called bib-and-brace overalls or dungarees, are a type of garment usually used as protective clothing when working. The garments are commonly referred to as a "pair of overalls" by analogy with "pair of trousers". Overalls were ...
. She had a beam of and a
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of forward and aft. The ship displaced as built, and at
full load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. The hull was constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames, and incorporated thirteen
watertight compartment A compartment is a portion of the space within a ship defined vertically between decks and horizontally between bulkheads. It is analogous to a room within a building, and may provide watertight subdivision of the ship's hull important in retaini ...
s and a double bottom that extended for 57 percent of the length of the ship. The German navy considered the ship to be a good sea boat with gentle motion, though she suffered from severe roll. Her transverse
metacentric height The metacentric height (GM) is a measurement of the initial static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre. A larger metacentric height implies greater initial stabi ...
was . ''Prinz Heinrich'' was crewed by 35 officers and 532 enlisted men. For the duration of her career as the second command flagship of the Cruiser Division, the standard crew was augmented by an additional nine officers and 44 enlisted men. She carried a number of smaller vessels, including two picket boats, a launch, a
pinnace Pinnace may refer to: * Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things * Full-rigged pinnace The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...
, two cutters, two
yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
s, and two
dinghies A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
. The ship was propelled by three vertical 4-cylinder
triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...
s; the center shaft drove a four-bladed screw in diameter while the two outer shafts drove wide four-bladed screws. Fourteen Dürr
water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...
s, produced by ''Düsseldorf-Ratinger Röhrenkesselfabrik'', supplied steam to the engines at pressures up to . The boilers were ducted into two funnels amidships. The propulsion system was rated at and gave the ship a top speed of , though on
sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s, ''Prinz Heinrich''s engines reached but a top speed of only . She was designed to carry of coal, though additional storage allowed up to . This enabled a maximum range of at a speed of and at a cruising speed of .


Armament

''Prinz Heinrich'' was armed with a variety of weapons. Her primary armament consisted of two SK L/40 quick-firing guns mounted in single turrets, one on either end of the superstructure. These guns were supplied with 75 rounds each; they could depress to −4° and elevate to 30°, which enabled a maximum range of . The guns fired a round at a muzzle velocity of per second. A
secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...
of ten SK L/40 quick-firing guns rounded out her offensive armament. Six of these guns were mounted in amidships casemates on either side of the vessel, and the remaining four were mounted in turrets in the ship's hull above the casemates. These guns were supplied with 120 rounds each. The shells weighed and were fired at a muzzle velocity of per second. The guns could elevate to 25° for a maximum range of . The cruiser carried ten SK L/30 quick-firing guns for defense against
torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s. Each of these guns was supplied with 250 shells. The shells weighed and were fired at a muzzle velocity of per second. This enabled a maximum range of at an elevation of 20°. The ship's gun armament was rounded out by four autocannons, though these were subsequently removed. The ship was also fitted with four torpedo tubes. One was mounted on the stern in a swivel mount, one was mounted submerged in the bow, and one was placed submerged in the hull on either side abreast of the forward gun turret.


Armor

''Prinz Heinrich'' was protected by Krupp armor. Her
armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating ...
was thick in the central
citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...
of the ship, which protected the ammunition magazines, machinery spaces, and other vital areas of the cruiser. The belt was reduced to on either end of the main belt, and the bow and stern were unarmored. The entire length of the belt was backed by equal thicknesses of
teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...
planks. The armored deck was thick and was connected to the belt by thick sloped armor on the broadside. The forward conning tower had thick sides and a thick roof. The aft conning tower was much less thoroughly protected; it was covered by only of steel plating. The main battery gun turrets had 150 mm-thick sides and 30 mm-thick roofs. The 15 cm gun turrets had 100 mm-thick armor, while the casemated weapons were protected by gun shields. The casemates themselves were armored with 100 mm worth of steel plating.


Service history


Peacetime career

''Prinz Heinrich'' was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...
on 1 December 1898 at the ''Kaiserliche Werft'' (Imperial Shipyard) in
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
. She was launched on 22 March 1900, when she was christened by Princess Heinrich of Prussia; the ship's namesake, her husband
Prince Heinrich of Prussia A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
, was present at the ceremony, and the '' Generalinspekteur der Marine'' (General Inspector of the Navy), Admiral Hans von Koester, gave a speech. The ship was completed just under two years later, on 11 March 1902. She then began
sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...
that lasted until June, at which point she joined the reconnaissance forces attached to I Squadron. She took part in the training activities in the squadron, including a training cruise in Norwegian waters from 8 to 20 July. In August, she escorted
Kaiser Wilhelm II , house = Hohenzollern , father = Frederick III, German Emperor , mother = Victoria, Princess Royal , religion = Lutheranism (Prussian United) , signature = Wilhelm II, German Emperor Signature-.svg Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor ...
aboard his
yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
''Hohenzollern'' during a trip to meet
Czar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the t ...
Nicholas II of Russia Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Polan ...
in
Reval Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ''m ...
. ''Prinz Heinrich'' next took part in fleet training in August and September, where she served as the flagship of
II Scouting Group II is the Roman numeral for 2. II may also refer to: Biology and medicine * Image intensifier, medical imaging equipment * Invariant chain, a polypeptide involved in the formation and transport of MHC class II protein *Optic nerve, the second ...
, with included the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
s and . After the conclusion of the maneuvers on 18 September, the
pre-dreadnought battleship Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...
was decommissioned for maintenance; the ship had been serving as the flagship of ''
Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...
'' (''KAdm''—Rear Admiral) Curt von Prittwitz und Gaffron, the deputy commander of the squadron. While the ship was out of service, Prittwitz und Gaffron transferred to ''Prinz Heinrich'', though he remained there only briefly before he was replaced by ''KAdm''
Ludwig Borckenhagen Friedrich Ludwig Wilhelm Carl Borckenhagen (15 July 1850 – 17 June 1917) was an Admiral (Germany), Admiral in the Imperial German Navy. He was also an influential writer on naval strategy, and pivotal in introducing the ideas of geostrategist Al ...
on 1 October. ''Prinz Heinrich'' and the rest of the squadron ended the year with a winter training cruise, during which she tried to pull the new battleship free on 17 December after she ran aground in the
Great Belt The Great Belt ( da, Storebælt, ) is a strait between the major islands of Zealand (''Sjælland'') and Funen (''Fyn'') in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish Straits. Effectively dividing Denmark in two, the Belt was served by the Great B ...
. The 1900 Naval Law created the position of Commander of Scouting Forces, and Borckenhagen became the first person to fill the role. He therefore remained aboard ''Prinz Heinrich'', which became the flagship of the Reconnaissance Force on 1 March 1903. ''Prinz Heinrich'', the
protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
, and the light cruisers and conducted training maneuvers beginning in April. On 12 April, they were joined by the light cruiser ; by 2 May they had also been joined by the light cruisers and ''Niobe''. The ships took part in the autumn fleet maneuvers in August and September, after which Borckenhagen was replaced by ''KAdm'' Gustav Schmidt. ''Prinz Heinrich'' participated in the fleet training activities of 1903, which included a visit to Spain from 7 May to 10 August. During the cruise, she stayed in
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...
, Spain from 20 to 30 May. After returning to Germany, the fleet then conducted its annual training exercises, which concluded on 22 September. On 25 January 1904, ''Prinz Heinrich'' went to help the Norwegian town of
Ålesund Ålesund () sometimes spelled Aalesund in English, is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal County, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre and the centre of the Ålesund Region. The town of Ålesund is the administrativ ...
in the aftermath of a fire that had caused extensive destruction. In mid-1904, the new armored cruiser joined the Reconnaissance Force. The typical autumn maneuvers took place in August and September, during which ''Prinz Heinrich'' won the Kaiser's ''Schiesspreis'' (Shooting Prize) for excellent accuracy for large cruisers. On 3 December, Schmidt transferred his flag to ''Friedrich Carl''. The year 1905 passed without incident, following the same routine as previous years. From 11 March to 20 June, ''Prinz Heinrich'' again served as Schmidt's flagship, as ''Friedrich Carl'' was occupied with escorting ''Hohenzollern'' on a trip abroad. In early July, ''Prinz Heinrich'' experimented with a new coaling apparatus; further tests were made with it in November and February 1906. She visited
Uddevalla Uddevalla (old no, Oddevold) is a town and the seat of Uddevalla Municipality in Västra Götaland County, Sweden. In 2015, it had a population of 34 781. It is located at a bay of the south-eastern part of Skagerrak. The beaches of Uddevalla ar ...
and
Södertälje Södertälje ( , ) is a city in Södermanland and Stockholm County, Sweden and seat of Södertälje Municipality. As of 2017, it has 72,704 inhabitants. Södertälje is located at Mälarens confluence in to the Baltic Sea through the lock in the ...
in Sweden in mid-1905. She had another stint as flagship from 10 to 26 August while ''Friedrich Carl'' was in dry dock for maintenance. On 1 October, the position of Deputy Commander of Scouting Forces was created, and ''Prinz Heinrich''s commander, ''
Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...
'' (''KzS''—Captain at Sea) Raimund Winkler became the first to fill the role. In March 1906, the ship was removed from the reconnaissance forces, her place having been taken by ''Friedrich Carl'', which had in turn been replaced by the new armored cruiser . By this time, ''Prinz Heinrich'' had spent just four years on active service with the fleet. ''Prinz Heinrich'' spent two years in reserve when she was reactivated on 15 May 1908 to replace the old gunnery
training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...
. She went to Sonderburg on 22 June, where the Naval Artillery Inspectorate was located. Over the next four years, ''Prinz Heinrich'' largely remained in port where she trained gunners for the fleet until she was replaced by the armored cruiser in October 1912. ''Prinz Heinrich'' was decommissioned again on 31 October; a year later, in November 1913, the ''Reichsmarineamt'' began exploring the possibility of converting the ship into a dedicated training vessel, and the naval command decided that it should still be possible to use the vessel as a warship in the event of an emergency. In early 1914, ''Prinz Heinrich'' went into dry dock at the ''Kaiserliche Werft'' in Kiel for the conversion. The arrangement of the searchlights was modified, the superstructure deck bulwark was removed, and the masts were modernized. Conversion work was completed just before the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in July 1914.


World War I

Following the wave of declarations of war between the major European powers at the end of July and early August, Britain declared war on Germany on 5 August. ''Prinz Heinrich'' was reactivated for wartime service the same day, and she then went into the shipyard in Kiel for preparation work. She was then assigned to the defenses of the port in advance of an expected British attack on Kiel on 25–26 September. When that failed to materialize, ''Prinz Heinrich'' was assigned to III Scouting Group, part of the
High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
. From 8 November to 14 April 1915, ''Prinz Heinrich'' was primarily occupied with guard duty in the
Jade Bay The Jade Bight (or ''Jade Bay''; german: Jadebusen) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as ''Jade'' or ''Jahde''. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an ...
and the river Ems. During this period, she participated in the second major German offensive in the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...
, the operation to bombard Hartlepool on 15–16 December 1914. ''Prinz Heinrich'', along with and a flotilla of torpedo boats, was assigned to the van of the High Seas Fleet, commanded by Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl. The main fleet was providing distant cover to Rear Admiral
Franz von Hipper Franz Ritter von Hipper (13 September 1863 – 25 May 1932) was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units an ...
's battlecruisers, which were conducting the bombardment. During the night of the 15th, the German battle fleet of some twelve
dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
s and eight
pre-dreadnought Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, protec ...
s came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens in the darkness convinced von Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire
Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...
. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, von Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battle fleet back toward Germany. After the operation, it was determined that the twelve-year-old ''Prinz Heinrich'' had no place in operations against the powerful British Grand Fleet. Accordingly, on 12 April 1915, III Scouting Group was detached from the High Seas Fleet and the ships were transferred to the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
to operate against the Russian Baltic Fleet. On 15 April, the ships arrived in Kiel, where they came under command of then-''KAdm'' Hopman, the commander of scouting forces in the Baltic. Hopman was then in the process of planning a major attack on Libau in conjunction with an attempt by the German Army to seize the city. The attack took place on 7 May, and consisted of ''Prinz Heinrich'', ''Roon'', and ''Prinz Adalbert'', the elderly coast defense ship , and the light cruisers , , and . They were escorted by a number of destroyers, torpedo boats, and minesweepers. The IV Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet was detached from the North Sea to provide cover for the operation. The bombardment went as planned, though the destroyer struck a mine in Libau's harbor, which blew off her bow and destroyed the ship. German ground forces were successful in their assault however, and took the city. ''Prinz Heinrich'' supported a minelaying operation off the coast of Finland over the course of 23–26 May. From 3 to 5 June, ''Prinz Heinrich'' participated in a sortie into the Gulf of Finland. She supported another minelaying operation from 20 to 23 June. On 1 July, the minelayer , escorted by the cruisers ''Roon'', ''Augsburg'', and ''Lübeck'' and seven destroyers, laid a minefield north of Bogskär. While returning to port, the flotilla separated into two sections; ''Augsburg'', ''Albatross'', and three destroyers made for Rixhöft while the remainder of the unit went to Libau. ''Augsburg'' and ''Albatross'' were intercepted by a powerful Russian squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Bakhirev, consisting of three armored and two light cruisers. Commodore Johannes von Karpf, the flotilla commander, ordered the slower ''Albatross'' to steam for neutral Swedish waters and recalled ''Roon'' and ''Lübeck''. ''Albatross'' was grounded off Gotland and ''Augsburg'' escaped, and the Russian squadron briefly engaged ''Roon'' before both sides broke contact. Upon being informed of the situation, Hopman sortied with ''Prinz Heinrich'' and ''Prinz Adalbert'' to support Karpf. While en route, the cruisers encountered the British submarine , which scored a hit on ''Prinz Adalbert''. Hopman broke off the operation and returned to port with the damaged cruiser. From 11 to 12 July, ''Prinz Heinrich'' participated in a sortie toward
Gotska Sandön Gotska Sandön (literally translated as "The Gotlandic Sand Island") is an uninhabited Swedish island north of Gotland in the Baltic Sea. It has been a national park since 1909. Geography Gotska Sandön is situated north of Fårö in the B ...
, though the Germans failed to locate any Russian warships. Another sweep into the central Baltic, between Libau and Gotland, took place on 1 to 2 August that again did not result in combat. German naval forces in the Baltic were reinforced by elements of the High Seas Fleet during the
Battle of the Gulf of Riga The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915. The operation's objective was to destroy the Russian naval for ...
in early August 1915. The Germans sought to drive out the Russians in the Gulf of Riga and to lay defensive minefields that would prevent a Russian counterattack. The battleships of the I Battle Squadron were the primary force, though ''Prinz Heinrich'' and the rest of the older vessels assigned to the Baltic fleet participated. On 10 August, ''Prinz Heinrich'' and ''Roon'' bombarded Russian defenses at Zerel, on the southernmost tip of the Sworbe Peninsula on the island of
Ösel Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...
. Several Russian destroyers were anchored off Zerel, and were caught unawares by the German bombardment. ''Prinz Heinrich'' and ''Roon'' damaged one of the destroyers during their attack. A combination of tenacious Russian defense and reports of British submarines in the area—proved by the torpedoing of the battlecruiser on 19 August—caused the German navy to break off the operation. In the meantime, ''Prinz Heinrich''s boiler tubes were in need of replacement, so she was detached for repairs at Kiel, where she arrived on 11 August. Repairs were completed the following month, and she arrived back in Libau on 22 September. She took part in another minelaying sortie into the Baltic in the direction of
Östergarn Östergarn () is a populated area, a ''socken'' (not to be confused with parish), on the Swedish island of Gotland. It comprises the same area as the administrative Östergarn District, established on 1January 2016. Geography Östergarn is sit ...
on 5–6 October. By this time, the German navy had begun to experience severe crew shortages, and so the ''Reichsmarineamt'' decided to decommission older, less combat-capable vessels. On 10 November, ''Prinz Heinrich'' left Libau for Kiel, where she arrived the following day. Her crew was reduced and she was assigned to the "Readiness Division" with ''Wittelsbach'', and she remained there until 27 March 1916, when she was decommissioned and disarmed. For the rest of the war, she served as a floating headquarters for Prince Heinrich, the commander in chief of naval forces in the Baltic. She was also used as a
barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for s ...
and a tender. Beginning in 1918, she was also used to support the U-Kreuzer Flotilla. She was stricken from the
naval register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval autho ...
on 25 January 1920 and sold later that year. The ship was ultimately broken up for scrap at Audorf-Rendsburg.


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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Prinz Heinrich Cruisers of the Imperial German Navy Ships built in Kiel 1900 ships World War I cruisers of Germany