SMS Lothringen[a] was the last of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class, built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy).

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

Scheduled to be withdrawn from service in July 1914 and replaced by newer dreadnought battleships, the outbreak of World War I that month prevented her retirement.

She and the rest of II Squadron joined the dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet to support the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby in December 1914.

[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.

Lothringen's powerplant was rated at 16,000 metric horsepower (15,781 ihp; 11,768 kW), which generated a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

The fleet, including Lothringen, began its usual summer cruise to Norway in mid-July, and it was present for the birthday of Norwegian King Haakon VII on 3 August.

[14] Lothringen participated in the festival celebrating the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Dutch admiral Michiel de Ruyter, steaming from Kiel to Vlissingen on 19 March 1907.

The fleet departed Kiel on 17 July, passed through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to the North Sea, and continued to the Atlantic through the English Channel.

Later that year, the fleet toured coastal German cities as part of an effort to increase public support for naval expenditure.

Holtzendorff's tenure was marked by strategic experimentation, owing to the increased threat the latest underwater weapons posed and the fact that the new Nassau-class battleships were too wide to pass through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal.

Another fleet review was held during the exercises for a visiting Austro-Hungarian delegation that included Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Admiral Rudolf Montecuccoli.

[18] Lothringen was sent into the Little Belt in February 1912 to assist merchant vessels threatened by heavy sea ice and bad weather.

In mid-1912, due to the Agadir Crisis, the summer cruise was confined to the Baltic, to avoid exposing the fleet during the period of heightened tension with Britain and France.

On 30 January 1913, Holtzendorff was relieved as the fleet commander, owing in large part to Kaiser Wilhelm II's displeasure with his strategic vision.

[11][19][20] Lothringen participated in ceremonies at Sonderburg on 2 May 1914 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Dybbøl of the Second Schleswig War; she was joined by her sister ships Hessen and Preussen, the battleship Schlesien, and the armored cruiser Blücher.

On 25 July the ship's crew was made aware of Austria-Hungary's ultimatum to Serbia; Lothringen left Norway to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet the following day.

[25] The main fleet acted as distant support for Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Franz von Hipper's battlecruiser squadron while it raided the coastal towns.

Under orders from Wilhelm II to avoid battle if victory was not certain, Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battlefleet back towards Germany.

[26] In February 1916, the Admiralstab (Admiralty Staff) decided that the pre-dreadnoughts were no longer effective warships in the face of more modern vessels, and so the ships of II Squadron were gradually removed from the High Seas Fleet and reassigned solely to coastal defense duties in the Danish straits and the German Bight.

Accordingly, Lothringen was the first vessel of the unit to be withdrawn, on 19 February, to have anti-torpedo nets installed to protect her from submarines in the confined waters of the Danish straits.

[29] Lothringen served in this capacity, carrying fourteen of the F-boats from the 10th Half-Flotilla, until the minesweeping work required by the Treaty of Versailles was completed.