Like all other pre-dreadnoughts built at the turn of the century, Elsass was quickly made obsolete by the launching of the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought in 1906; as a result, her career as a frontline battleship was cut short.

The ship served in II Squadron of the German fleet after commissioning, and during this period, she was occupied with extensive annual training, as well as making good-will visits to foreign countries.

Surpassed by new dreadnought battleships, Elsass was decommissioned in 1913, though she was reactivated a year later following the outbreak of World War I and assigned to IV Battle Squadron.

In 1916, she was placed in reserve because of crew shortages and the threat of British submarines operating in the Baltic, and she spent the remainder of the war as a training ship.

Elsass served in the Reichsmarine with the surface fleet until 1930, conducting training operations and visits to foreign ports as she had earlier in her career.

[1][2] Though the Braunschweig class marked a significant improvement over earlier German battleships, its design fell victim to the rapid pace of technological development in the early 1900s.

The British battleship HMS Dreadnought—armed with ten 12-inch (30.5 cm) guns—was commissioned in December 1906,[3] just a year after Elsass entered service.

[4] Dreadnought's revolutionary design rendered every capital ship of the German navy obsolete, including Elsass.

Elsass's powerplant was rated at 16,000 indicated horsepower (12,000 kW), which generated a designed top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

[4] On 23 March 1912, during fleet training, Elsass accidentally collided with a Swedish steamship—Pollux—in heavy fog in the western entrance to the Skagerrak.

In April, Elsass served as a target ship during gunfire training with the armored cruiser Blücher in a demonstration held off the Faroe Islands.

On 24 August, the ship received her full complement again, to allow Elsass to take part in the annual maneuvers with the newly formed III Squadron.

She returned to active duty on 1 December, when she was assigned to V Division of III Squadron, along with her sister ship Braunschweig and the new dreadnought Kaiser.

Three days later, Elsass was reactivated as the European powers moved toward war, and she was assigned to IV Battle Squadron.

[19] The unit also included her sister ship Braunschweig and the five Wittelsbach-class battleships, and was commanded by Vizeadmiral Ehrhard Schmidt.

[21] From 11 to 20 September, Elsass and the rest of the division was transferred to the mouth of the Elbe to provide local defense against possible British attacks.

After guard ship duties in the Elbe ended, she was briefly transferred to the Schillig Roads, outside Wilhelmshaven, from 1 to 9 March.

[19] On 4 July 1915, following the loss of the minelaying cruiser Albatross in the Baltic, the IV Squadron ships were transferred to reinforce the German naval forces in the area.

[23][24] On 7–11 and 18–19 July, German cruisers, with the IV Squadron ships in support, conducted sweeps in the Baltic, though without engaging any Russian forces.

Elsass and Braunschweig were assigned to attack the Russian pre-dreadnought Slava to prevent her from disrupting the German minesweepers.

By that time, Braunschweig, which had been modified in Kiel to serve as Schultz's command ship, arrived to relieve Elsass.

Elsass was taken into the shipyard in Kiel for repairs before returning to service on 25 July as a stationary training ship assigned to I Marine Inspectorate.

[26] The Treaty of Versailles, which ended the war, specified that Germany was permitted to retain six battleships of the older "Deutschland or Lothringen class.

Assigned to the Linienschiffsdivision (Battleship Division) of the Seestreitkräfte der Nordsee (Naval Forces of the North Sea) and based in Wilhelmshaven, the ship received her full crew by 1 April.

[26] On 1 October, the ship was transferred to the Seestreitkräfte der Ostsee (Naval Forces of the Baltic Sea), which was based in Kiel.

The fleet went on another major cruise in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea in May and June 1926; during the trip Elsass made calls in several Spanish ports, including Mahón, Barcelona, and Vigo.

[31] The fleet went on another Atlantic cruise in April 1929, and Elsass made calls in Villagarcia and A Pobra do Caramiñal, Spain.

She was stricken from the naval register on 31 March 1931 and served as a hulk in Wilhelmshaven until 31 October 1935, when the Reichsmarine sold her to Technischer Betrieb des Norddeutscher Lloyd.