Grosser Kurfürst was armed with ten 30.5-centimeter (12 in) guns in five twin turrets and could steam at a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).

Along with her three sister ships, König, Markgraf, and Kronprinz, Grosser Kurfürst took part in most of the fleet actions during the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916.

Grosser Kurfürst was involved in a number of accidents during her service career; she collided with König and Kronprinz, grounded several times, was torpedoed once, and hit a mine.

[1] After Germany's defeat and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, Grosser Kurfürst and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow.

The ships were disarmed and limited to skeleton crews while the Allied powers negotiated the final version of the Treaty of Versailles.

[2] The Königs represented a refinement of the earlier Kaiser class, with the primary improvement being a more efficient arrangement of the main battery.

[7] At her launching ceremony, Prince Oskar of Prussia christened the ship, which was named for the earlier armored frigate Grosser Kurfürst.

[10] On the evening of the 15th, the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi) of an isolated squadron of six British battleships.

Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back toward Germany.

[12] On 22 January 1915, she and the rest of III Squadron were detached from the fleet to conduct maneuver, gunnery, and torpedo training in the Baltic.

Work lasted until 3 March; two days later the ship sailed for a sweep into the Hoofden, though this again failed to encounter any British forces.

[10] On 24–25 April, Hipper's battlecruisers conducted another bombardment of the English coast; Grosser Kurfürst and the rest of the High Seas Fleet sailed in support.

[15] The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft unopposed, but during the approach to Yarmouth, they encountered the British cruisers of the Harwich Force.

At this point, Admiral Reinhard Scheer, who had been warned of the sortie of the Grand Fleet from its base in Scapa Flow, also withdrew to safer German waters.

The opposing ships began an artillery duel that resulted in the destruction of Indefatigable, shortly after 17:00,[18] and Queen Mary less than half an hour later.

[19] By this time, the German battlecruisers were steaming south to draw the British ships toward the main body of the High Seas Fleet.

Simultaneously, her secondary guns fired on British destroyers attempting to make torpedo attacks against the German fleet.

[26] At 18:22, the ship briefly fired her secondary guns at the destroyer HMS Moresby at extreme range, without scoring a hit.

[31] By 20:00, the German line was ordered to turn eastward to disengage from the British fleet, commanded by Admiral John Jellicoe.

[41] The High Seas Fleet managed to punch through the British light forces without drawing the attention of Jellicoe's battleships, and subsequently reached Horns Reef by 04:00 on 1 June.

Light forces were sent to recover the vessels, and III Squadron, which was in the North Sea en route to Wilhelmshaven, was ordered to cover them.

Damage was minimal and the ship proceeded to unit training in the Baltic, but on the return to the North Sea on 4 March, she accidentally rammed Kronprinz.

[47] Grosser Kurfürst rejoined the fleet on 23 April and conducted training with the rest of III Squadron in the Baltic from 17 May to 8 June.

The ship's port-side propeller shaft was bent, necessitating repairs at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel from 2–9 June and 21–31 July.

[47] Grosser Kurfürst and her three sisters were to have taken part in a final fleet action at the end of October 1918, days before the Armistice was to take effect.

"[54] Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918, most of the High Seas Fleet's ships, under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow.

[53] Prior to the departure of the German fleet, Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships, under any conditions.

Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919, which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty.

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

[55] Grosser Kurfürst sank at 13:30; unlike her sisters, she was ultimately raised on 29 April 1938 and sold for scrapping in Rosyth.