SMS Sachsen was the third of four dreadnought-type Bayern-class battleships built, but never finished, for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1910s.

The Treaty of Versailles that ended the war in June 1919 specified that all warships under construction in Germany were to be destroyed, and Sachsen was accordingly sold for scrap in 1920 and dismantled the following year.

Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary of the Reichsmarineamt (RMA—Imperial Naval Office), was able to use public outcry over the Agadir Crisis to pressure the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) into appropriating additional funds for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) to offset the additional cost of the larger weapons.

[1][2][3] As the German Navy began preparations to begin construction for the battleship of fiscal year 1914, designated "Ersatz Kaiser Friedrich III" in 1912 as a replacement for the elderly pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Friedrich III, the design staff became aware that the latest British battleships—the Queen Elizabeth class—would have a high top speed.

The Germans opted to make another attempt to incorporate a diesel engine to power the new ship's center propeller shaft (they had previously sought to install them on the earlier König class but they were not ready in time).

Her engines would have provided a cruising range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

Funding for the vessel was duly authorized, and on 21 February 1914, the battleship Kronprinz was launched, which cleared the slipway that had been reserved to build Ersatz Kaiser Friedrich III.

Preparatory work began immediately after Kronprinz vacated the slipway and on 21 March, Wilhelm II signed the final order to build the new ship.

Her completion had been planned for early 1917, but increased shortages of material and labor, particularly as these resources began to be diverted to supporting the U-boat campaign against Britain, further slowed work, which eventually ground to a halt.

According to Article 186 of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919, all German surface warships under construction were to be immediately broken up for scrap.