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

After Germany's defeat in the war and the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, Kronprinz Wilhelm and most of the capital ships of the High Seas Fleet were interned by the Royal Navy in Scapa Flow.

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

Three weeks later, on 17–18 April, she and her sisters supported an operation in which the light cruisers of II Scouting Group laid mines off the Swarte Bank.

[8] Kronprinz supported a raid on the English coast on 24 April 1916 conducted by the German battlecruiser force of I Scouting Group.

[12] 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.

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

[24] In the ensuing melee, the British armored cruiser Defence was struck by several heavy caliber shells from the German dreadnoughts.

[25] John Campbell notes that although Defence's destruction is usually attributed to the battlecruiser Lützow, there is a possibility that it was Kronprinz's fire that destroyed the ship.

[26] After the destruction of Defence, Kronprinz shifted her fire to Warrior; the British cruiser was badly damaged and forced to withdraw from the battle.

Kronprinz attempted to find the range by observing the British muzzle flashes, but the worsening visibility prevented her gunners from acquiring a target.

[36] The High Seas Fleet had managed to punch through the British light forces and subsequently reached Horns Reef by 04:00 on 1 June,[37] and Wilhelmshaven a few hours later.

The I Squadron battleships took up defensive positions in the outer roadstead, while Kronprinz, Kaiser, Kaiserin, and Prinzregent Luitpold stood ready just outside the entrance to Wilhelmshaven.

[45] Upon returning from the Baltic, Kronprinz and the rest of III Squadron were ordered to cover the retrieval of a pair of U-boats that were stranded on the Danish coast.

During training maneuvers on 5 March 1917, Kronprinz was accidentally rammed by her sister ship Grosser Kurfürst in the Heligoland Bight.

The Admiralstab (the Navy High Command) planned an operation to seize the Baltic island of Ösel, and specifically the Russian gun batteries on the Sworbe Peninsula.

[48] On 18 September, the order was issued for a joint operation with the army to capture Ösel and Moon Islands; the primary naval component was to comprise the flagship, Moltke, along with III Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet.

To this end, Kronprinz and König, along with the cruisers Strassburg and Kolberg and a number of smaller vessels, were sent to engage the Russian battleships, leading to the Battle of Moon Sound.

The previous day, the Admiralstab had ordered the cessation of naval actions and the return of the dreadnoughts to the High Seas Fleet as soon as possible.

[5] By this time, German light forces had begun raiding coal convoys between Britain and Norway, prompting the Grand Fleet to detach battleships to escort the shipments.

The Germans were now presented with an opportunity for which they had been waiting the entire war: a portion of the numerically stronger Grand Fleet was separated and could be isolated and destroyed.

At 06:10 the German battlecruisers had reached a position approximately 60 kilometers (37 mi) southwest of Bergen when Moltke lost her inner starboard propeller, which severely damaged the ship's engines.

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

[59] 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.

[66] Kronprinz Wilhelm and the other vessels on the bottom of Scapa Flow are a popular dive site, and are protected by a policy barring divers from recovering items from the wrecks.

[67] In 2017, marine archaeologists from the Orkney Research Centre for Archaeology conducted extensive surveys of Kronprinz Wilhelm and nine other wrecks in the area, including six other German and three British warships.

[69] The wreck at some point came into the ownership of the firm Scapa Flow Salvage, which sold the rights to the vessel to Tommy Clark, a diving contractor, in 1981.