The ship was one of the first battleships built by the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) as part of a program of naval expansion under Kaiser Wilhelm II.

She was decommissioned for a major reconstruction in 1908–10, after which she was assigned to the Reserve Division with her four sister ships, all of which were essentially obsolete by that time.

Hollmann requested the first Kaiser Friedrich III-class pre-dreadnought battleship in 1892, but the Franco-Russian Alliance, signed the year before, put the government's attention on expanding the Army's budget.

Parliamentary opposition forced Hollmann to delay until the following year, when Caprivi spoke in favor of the project, noting that Russia's recent naval expansion threatened Germany's Baltic Sea coastline.

Steam was provided by four Marine-type and eight cylindrical boilers, all of which burned coal and were vented through a pair of tall funnels.

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse's powerplant was rated at 13,000 metric horsepower (12,820 ihp; 9,560 kW), which generated a top speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph).

[2] The ship's armament consisted of a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) SK L/40 guns in twin turrets,[c] one fore and one aft of the central superstructure on the centerline.

Her secondary armament consisted of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns carried in a mix of turrets and casemates.

Close-range defense against torpedo boats was provided by a battery of twelve 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns all mounted in casemates.

[2] Kaiser Wilhelm II, the emperor of Germany, believed a strong navy was necessary for the country to expand its influence outside continental Europe.

[5] That year, Erich Raeder—who went on to command the Kriegsmarine in World War II—was promoted to serve as a watch officer aboard her.

[6] After commissioning in 1901, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse joined her sister ships in I Squadron of the Heimatflotte (Home Fleet).

The maneuvers began with exercises in the German Bight, followed by a mock attack on the fortifications in the lower Elbe.

[8] On 13 December, the new pre-dreadnought battleship Wittelsbach ran aground off Korsør; Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse took her under tow back to port.

The German fleet departed on 13 July, bound for the Netherlands; I Squadron anchored in Vlissingen the following day.

I Squadron remained in Vlissingen until 20 July, when it departed for a cruise in the northern North Sea with the rest of the fleet.

The summer cruise ended on 9 August; the autumn maneuvers that would normally have begun shortly thereafter were delayed by a visit from the British Channel Fleet that month.

[17][18] As a result of the British visit, the 1905 autumn maneuvers were shortened considerably, from 6 to 13 September, and consisted of only exercises in the North Sea.

The first exercise presumed a naval blockade in the German Bight, and the second envisioned a hostile fleet attempting to force the defenses of the Elbe.

[21] Over the winter of 1906–1907, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse underwent a major overhaul in Kiel, which was completed by the end of April.

[11] Starting on 13 May, major fleet exercises took place in the North Sea and lasted until 8 June with a cruise around the Skagen into the Baltic.

She returned to the fleet for the normal peacetime routine of training exercises, and after the conclusion of the autumn maneuvers, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was decommissioned in Kiel on 21 September.

She was reactivated on 31 July 1911 and assigned to III Squadron during the annual fleet exercises, then returned on 15 September to the Reserve Division.

[5] As a result of the outbreak of World War I, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and her sisters were brought out of reserve and mobilized as V Battle Squadron on 5 August 1914.

Instead, V Squadron was to carry the landing force, but this too was cancelled after Heinrich received false reports of British warships having entered the Baltic on 25 September.

[27] Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and her sisters returned to Kiel the following day, disembarked the landing force, and then proceeded to the North Sea, where they resumed guard ship duties.

Shortages of trained crews in the High Seas Fleet, coupled with the risk of operating older ships in wartime, necessitated the deactivation of Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse and her sisters.