German Battleship Konig Country: Germany Type: Battleship Service: 1914 - 1919 Ships in class: 4

The four German Konig class battleships were built on the eve of World War I. Construction of the class was part of the prewar German naval build up aimed at challenging the general hegemony of the British Royal Navy, and specifically to challenge the Royal Navy for control of the North Sea. All of the vessels were laid down in 1911 and launched in 1913. With tensions rapidly rising, they were pushed through final trials and commissioned in the first months of World War I. The Konig class battleships were the most powerful warships of the German High Seas Fleet at the beginning of the First World War and in the Battle of Jutland, in which they all participated. All of the Konig class battleships survived the war and were scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919.

Konig class battleships: Konig; Grosser Kurfurst; Markgraf; Kronprinz Wilhelm.