[9] The III Battle Squadron was organized in 1913 as the new Kaiser-class battleships began to enter service, and it was fully stood up by November 1914, when the last König-class ship joined the unit.

[10] At the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, the III Squadron battleships bore the brunt of British gunfire;[11] the flagship König was hit several times by heavy-caliber shells and damaged badly, but she nevertheless remained in action and returned to port for repairs.

[16] In late April 1918, the High Seas Fleet attempted to attack one of the heavily escorted British convoys to Norway, but the operation was cancelled after the battlecruiser Moltke broke down.

[17] The III Squadron was to have participated in a final battle with the Grand Fleet in October 1918, in the closing weeks of the war.

Mutinies broke out, first in the ships of the I Battle Squadron, when the war-weary crews learned of the suicidal plan; the unrest forced Scheer to cancel the operation.

[18] After Germany signed the Armistice at Compiègne, most ships of the High Seas Fleet, including the III Squadron, were interned at the main British naval base at Scapa Flow, where they were eventually scuttled by their crews on 21 June 1919.