SMS[a] Baden was a Bayern-class dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy built during World War I.

Following the German collapse in November 1918, Baden was interned with the majority of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow by the British Royal Navy.

Baden's displacement was more than 3,000 t (3,000 long tons) greater than that of the preceding König-class ships, making her the largest battleship built by the Imperial Navy.

[11] Work was delayed considerably by the start of World War I, first by the Russian advance into East Prussia that threatened the shipyards in Danzig and was checked at the Battle of Tannenberg.

Once work in the yards resumed, resources were diverted to complete the battlecruiser Lützow and the ex-Russian light cruisers Elbing and Pillau.

[13] At the end of August 1917, Baden took Kaiser Wilhelm II to visit the fortified island of Helgoland; the ship was escorted by the battlecruiser Derfflinger and the light cruisers Emden and Karlsruhe.

[d] On 17 October the light cruisers Brummer and Bremse intercepted one of the convoys, sinking nine of the twelve cargo ships and the two escorting destroyers before turning back to Germany.

The German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) was now presented with an opportunity for which it had been waiting the entire war: a portion of the numerically stronger Grand Fleet was separated and could be isolated and destroyed.

Hipper, aboard Baden, ordered wireless transmissions be kept to a minimum, to prevent radio intercepts by British intelligence.

In order to obtain a better bargaining position for Germany, Admirals Hipper and Scheer intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, whatever the cost to the fleet.

Both ships surrendered after two torpedo boats arrived and threatened to open fire, and the battleships' crews were taken ashore and incarcerated.

[23] The rebellion then spread ashore; on 3 November, an estimated 20,000 sailors, dock workers, and civilians fought a battle against the authorities in Kiel in an attempt to secure the release of the jailed mutineers.

[24] Meanwhile, on 9 November, the Socialists' red flag was hoisted aboard Baden, which finally convinced Hipper and Scheer to abandon the plan.

[24][25] Baden was not originally intended to be surrendered under the terms of the Armistice, but was substituted for the battlecruiser Mackensen, which lay incomplete and could not put to sea.

A copy of The Times informed Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter that the Armistice was to expire at noon on 21 June 1919, the deadline by which Germany was to have signed the peace treaty.

On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers; at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.

[29] Many of the men aboard Baden had been selected to help unload a supply ship that morning, and so were unavailable to open the seacocks, leaving the remaining crewmen insufficient for the task.

As a result, Baden was the last major warship to begin the scuttling process, and British forces in the harbor managed to secure the ship, cut her anchor chains, and run her aground before she could sink in deeper water.

[34] Early in the inspection, a dockyard worker was killed and several others injured after a candle ignited fumes in the hull, causing an explosion.

This round of tests was used to determine the most efficient ratio of explosives in the detonator caps; the shells fired at Jutland had a tendency to fragment when striking heavy armor rather than penetrate.

The Royal Navy concluded after these tests that the new shells were sufficiently powerful to penetrate heavy armor, and were much more effective than the previous versions that had been employed at Jutland.

[38] Following the tests, heavy seas caused the ship to sink in the shallow water; after three months she was again raised and docked for repairs.

[13] The most important finding of the trials on Baden was that the 7-inch (18 cm) thick medium armor was completely useless against large-caliber shells.