SMS Hessen

{{main|Braunschweig-class battleship}}

File:Braunschweig class linedrawing.png

With the passage of the Second Naval Law under the direction of {{lang|de|Vizeadmiral}} (VAdm—Vice Admiral) Alfred von Tirpitz in 1900, funding was allocated for a new class of battleships, to succeed the {{sclass|Wittelsbach|battleship|0}} ships authorized under the 1898 Naval Law. By this time, Krupp, the supplier of naval artillery to the {{lang|de|Kaiserliche Marine}} (Imperial Navy) had developed quick-firing, {{convert|28|cm|adj=on|sp=us}} guns; the largest guns that had previously incorporated the technology were the {{convert|24|cm|abbr=on}} guns mounted on the {{lang|de|Wittelsbach}}s. The Design Department of the {{lang|de|Reichsmarineamt}} (Imperial Navy Office) adopted these guns for the new battleships, along with an increase from {{convert|15|cm|abbr=on}} to {{convert|17|cm|abbr=on}} for the secondary battery, owing to the increased threat from torpedo boats as torpedoes became more effective.{{sfn|Herwig|pp=43–44}}{{sfn|Staff|p=4}}

Though the {{lang|de|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. The British battleship {{HMS|Dreadnought|1906|6}}—armed with ten 30.5 cm (12 in) guns—was commissioned in December 1906,{{sfn|Campbell & Sieche|pp=21–22}} just over a year after {{lang|de|Hessen}} entered service. Dreadnought{{'}}s revolutionary design rendered every capital ship of the German navy obsolete, including {{lang|de|Hessen}} and her sister ships.{{sfn|Herwig|p=57}}

{{lang|de|Hessen}} was {{convert|127.7|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} long overall and had a beam of {{convert|22.2|m|ftin|abbr=on}} and a draft of {{convert|8.1|m|ftin|abbr=on}} forward. She displaced {{convert|13208|t|LT|abbr=on|lk=on}} as designed and {{convert|14394|t|LT|abbr=on}} at full load. Her crew consisted of 35 officers and 708 enlisted men. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple expansion engines that drove three screws. Steam was provided by eight naval and six cylindrical Scotch marine boilers, all of which burned coal. {{lang|de|Hessen}}{{'}}s powerplant was rated at {{convert|16000|PS|ihp kW|lk=in|0}}, which generated a top speed of {{convert|18|kn}}. She could steam {{convert|4530|nmi|lk=in}} at a cruising speed of {{convert|10|kn}}.{{sfn|Gröner|p=18}}

{{lang|de|Hessen}}{{'}}s armament consisted of a main battery of four 28 cm SK L/40 guns in twin-gun turrets,{{efn|In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" ({{lang|de|Schnelladekanone}}) denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 caliber, meaning that the gun is 40 times as long as it is in diameter.{{sfn|Grießmer|p=177}}}} one fore and one aft of the central superstructure. Her secondary armament consisted of fourteen 17 cm (6.7 inch) SK L/40 guns and eighteen 8.8 cm SK L/35 naval gun quick-firing guns. The armament suite was rounded out with six {{convert|45|cm|in|abbr=on|1}} torpedo tubes, all mounted in the hull below the waterline.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}} One tube was in the bow, two were on each broadside, and the final tube was in the stern.{{sfn|Dodson 2014|p=51}} {{lang|de|Hessen}} was protected with Krupp armor. Her armored belt was {{convert|110|to|225|mm|sp=us}} thick; the heavier armor in the central citadel protected her magazines and propulsion machinery, with thinner plating at either end of the hull. Her deck was {{convert|40|mm|abbr=on}} thick. The main battery turrets had 250 mm of armor plating.{{sfn|Gröner|p=19}}

File:SMS Hessen postcard local.png

{{lang|de|Hessen}}{{'}}s keel was laid down on 15 January 1902, at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel under yard number 100. The third unit of her class, she was ordered under the contract name "L" as a new unit for the fleet.{{sfn|Gröner|p=18}}{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=148}}{{efn|German warships were ordered under provisional names. Additions to the fleet were given a single letter; ships intended to replace older or lost vessels were ordered as "{{lang|de|Ersatz}} (name of the ship to be replaced)".{{sfn|Dodson 2016|pp=8–9}}}} {{lang|de|Hessen}} was launched on 18 September 1903; the vessel was christened by Princess Irene of Hesse, and her brother, Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, gave a speech. The ship began shipyard sea trials on 16 May 1905, and was commissioned on 19 September. The {{lang|de|Kaiserliche Marine}} then began its own sea trials on the ship, which was assigned to II Squadron of the Active Battle Fleet. Trials lasted until 4 March 1906, at which point {{lang|de|Hessen}} joined her unit, bringing the squadron to its prescribed strength of eight battleships. The year was spent conducting squadron and fleet training exercises, including a summer cruise in July and August to Norwegian waters. During the fleet maneuvers held every autumn in late August and September, the fleet conducted landing operations at Eckernförde. Further exercises took place in the North Sea in November.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=148}}

On 16 February 1907, the fleet was renamed the High Seas Fleet.{{sfn|Staff|p=7}} Maneuvers in the North Sea followed in early 1907, which included a cruise to Skagen and mock attacks on the main naval base at Kiel. Further exercises followed in May and June, after which the fleet went on a cruise to Norway. After returning, {{lang|de|Hessen}} went to Swinemünde in early August, where Czar Nicholas II of Russia met the German fleet in his yacht {{ship|Russian yacht|Standart||2}}. Afterward, the fleet assembled for the maneuvers that were held every August and September. This year, the maneuvers were delayed to allow for a large fleet review, including 112 warships, for Kaiser Wilhelm II in the Schillig roadstead. In the autumn maneuvers that followed, the fleet conducted exercises in the North Sea and then joint maneuvers with the IX Army Corps around Apenrade.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|pp=237–238}} {{lang|de|Hessen}} was the II Squadron winner of the Kaiser's {{lang|de|Schießpreis}} (Shooting Prize) for excellent shooting; at the time, her gunnery officer was then-{{lang|de|Kapitänleutnant}} (Captain Lieutenant) Adolf von Trotha.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=148}} In November, the ship took part in unit training in the Kattegat.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|p=238}}

File:Hessen battleship.jpg in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal]]

{{lang|de|Hessen}} participated in fleet maneuvers in February 1908 in the Baltic Sea and more fleet training off Helgoland in May and June. In July, {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the rest of the fleet sailed into the Atlantic Ocean to conduct a major training cruise. Prince Heinrich, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, had pressed for such a cruise the previous year, arguing that it would prepare the fleet for overseas operations and break up the monotony of training in German waters, though tensions with Britain over the developing Anglo-German naval arms race were high. The fleet departed Kiel on 17 July, passed through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to the North Sea, and continued on to the Atlantic. During the cruise, {{lang|de|Hessen}} stopped at Santa Cruz de Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The fleet returned to Germany on 13 August. The autumn maneuvers followed from 27 August to 12 September. Later that year, the fleet toured coastal German cities as part of an effort to increase public support for naval expenditures.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|p=238}} The next year—1909—followed much the same pattern as in 1908. Another cruise into the Atlantic was conducted from 7 July to 1 August, during which {{lang|de|Hessen}} stopped in El Ferrol, Spain. While on the way back to Germany, the High Seas Fleet was received by the British Royal Navy at Spithead.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|pp=235, 238}} Late in the year, Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff became the commander of the High Seas Fleet. His tenure as fleet commander was marked with strategic experimentation, owing to the increased threat posed by the latest underwater weapons like submarines and naval mines, and to the fact that the new {{sclass|Nassau|battleship|1}}s were too wide to pass through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal. Accordingly, the fleet was transferred from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven on 1 April 1910.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|pp=240–241}}

In May 1910, the fleet conducted training maneuvers in the Kattegat, between Norway and Denmark. These were in accordance with Holtzendorff's strategy, which envisioned drawing the Royal Navy into the narrow waters in the Kattegat. The annual summer cruise went to Norway, and was followed by fleet training, during which another fleet review was held at Danzig on 29 August. A training cruise into the Baltic followed at the end of the year.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|pp=240–241}} In March 1911, the fleet conducted exercises in the Skagerrak and Kattegat. {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the rest of the fleet received British and American naval squadrons in Kiel in June and July. The year's autumn maneuvers were confined to the Baltic and the Kattegat.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|pp=241–242}} During fleet exercises on 23 August 1911, {{lang|de|Hessen}} accidentally rammed and sank the Danish steamer {{SS|Askesund}}. The crew of the steamer was rescued and there were no reported injuries; {{lang|de|Hessen}} herself was undamaged in the collision.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=148}} Another fleet review was held during the exercises for a visiting Austro-Hungarian delegation that included Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Admiral Rudolf Montecuccoli.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|p=242}}

In February, during the very cold winter of 1911–1912, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was employed as an emergency icebreaker in the Little Belt to rescue ships that were threatened by the heavy ice.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=148}} In mid-1912, due to the Agadir Crisis, the summer cruise only went into the Baltic to avoid exposing the fleet during the period of heightened tension with Britain and France.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2|p=242}} In July 1913, {{lang|de|Hessen}} collided with the torpedo boat {{SMS|G110||2}}. The torpedo boat suffered significant damage and three of its crew were killed, though it did not sink. The boat, along with the rest of her crew, was towed back to Kiel. {{lang|de|Hessen}} was not significantly damaged in the accident. The annual summer cruise for 1913 returned to Norwegian waters, as did the cruise the following year. The year 1914 began quietly, with the only event of note being {{lang|de|Hessen}}{{'}}s visit to Sonderburg on 2 May to participate in the 50th anniversary celebrations commemorating the Battle of Dybbøl of the Second Schleswig War.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|pp=148–149}}

File:North and Baltic Seas, 1911.png

Beginning in late 1909, the navy had begun to replace the oldest pre-dreadnought battleships with the more modern dreadnought battleships, starting with the {{lang|de|Nassau}} class.{{sfn|Staff|pp=24–32}} As part of this process, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was scheduled to be withdrawn into the reserve on 26 August 1914, with her place in II Squadron taken by the new dreadnought {{SMS|König||2}}, but the rising tensions in Europe during the July Crisis, which led to the outbreak of World War I, interrupted that plan. {{lang|de|Hessen}} therefore remained in service with the squadron, the oldest battleship in service with the main fleet. Following Germany's entry into the war in early August, {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the rest of the squadron were sent to the Altenbruch roadstead to support the defense of the German Bight at the mouth of the Elbe. In October, the squadron went to the Baltic for maneuvers, and while transiting the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal on 26 October, she ran aground and had to be pulled free by tugboats. The squadron returned to the North Sea on 17 November, having completed the training exercises.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=149}}

II Squadron joined the rest of the High Seas Fleet for offensive operations against Britain.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=149}} The first of these was the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 15 December. The battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group attacked the towns in an attempt to lure out part of the British Grand Fleet, while the battleships of the High Seas Fleet waited in support in the hopes of ambushing and destroying any British forces that sortied out. During the night of 15–16 December, the German battle fleet of twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within {{convert|10|nmi|abbr=on}} of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. Skirmishes between the rival destroyer screens convinced the German commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, that he was confronted with the entire Grand Fleet, and so he broke off the engagement and turned for home.{{sfn|Tarrant|pp=31–33}}

{{lang|de|Hessen}} was in the shipyard in Kiel for maintenance from 22 February 1915 to 6 March, after which she returned to guard duties off Altenbruch, starting on 10 March. Squadron exercises in the Baltic took place from 18 March to 1 April, and further short periods of maintenance in Kiel followed on 17–18 May, 29–30 May, and 4–26 June; during the last stay, she had supplementary oil-burning equipment installed for her boilers. She spent the rest of the year in the North Sea, taking part in sorties on 11–12 September and 23–24 October. From 6 to 23 December, she went to Wilhelmshaven for maintenance, which was followed by squadron training in the Baltic from 25 December to 20 January 1916. She immediately went to the Reiherstiegwerft in Hamburg for more repair work, which lasted from 22 January to 15 March. On 26 March, after more Baltic exercises, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was pronounced ready for further offensive operations.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=149}}

On 5 April, the {{lang|de|Admiralstab}} (Admiralty Staff) determined that ships of II Squadron should be periodically sent to guard the Danish straits. {{lang|de|Hessen}} performed this duty from 10 to 20 April, when she was replaced by {{SMS|Preussen|1903|2}}. {{lang|de|Hessen}} returned to the North Sea, and was present for another attack on the British coast on 24–25 April.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=149}} This time, the battlecruisers bombarded Yarmouth and Lowestoft.{{sfn|Staff|p=11}} During this operation, the battlecruiser {{SMS|Seydlitz||2}} was damaged by a British mine and had to return to port prematurely. Visibility was poor, so the operation was quickly called off before the British fleet could intervene and inflict further losses.{{sfn|Tarrant|pp=52–54}} {{lang|de|Hessen}} relieved {{lang|de|Preussen}} in the straits on 4 May, remaining there until the 20th. She returned to the rest of the squadron at Altenbruch on 23 May to begin preparing for the next major fleet operation.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=149}}

File:Map of the Battle of Jutland, 1916.svg

{{main|Battle of Jutland}}

{{lang|de|Hessen}} took part in the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the five ships of the {{sclass|Deutschland|battleship|4}} formed II Battle Squadron, under the command of {{lang|de|Konteradmiral}} (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Franz Mauve. On 31 May, at 02:00 CET, VAdm Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers of I Scouting Group steamed out towards the Skagerrak, followed by the rest of the High Seas Fleet an hour and a half later.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=62}} During the "Run to the North", Scheer ordered the fleet to pursue the British V Battle Squadron at top speed. The slower {{lang|de|Deutschland}}-class ships quickly fell behind the faster dreadnoughts.{{sfn|London|p=73}} By 19:30, the Grand Fleet had arrived on the scene, confronting Scheer with significant numerical superiority.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=150}} The German fleet was severely hampered by the presence of the slower {{lang|de|Deutschland}}-class ships; ordering an immediate turn towards Germany would have sacrificed the slower ships.{{sfn|Tarrant|pp=150–152}}

Scheer decided to reverse the course of the fleet with the {{lang|de|Gefechtskehrtwendung}}, a maneuver that required every unit in the German line to turn 180° simultaneously.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=152–153}} The six ships of II Battle Squadron, having fallen behind, could not conform to the new course following the turn,{{sfn|Tarrant|p=154}} and fell back to the disengaged side of the German line. Mauve considered moving his ships to the rear of the line, astern of III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts, but decided against it when he realized the movement would interfere with the maneuvering of Hipper's battlecruisers. Instead, he attempted to place his ships at the head of the line.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=155}}

Late in the day, {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the {{lang|de|Deutschland}}-class ships performed a vital blocking action that covered the withdrawal of the German battlecruisers. Vice Admiral David Beatty's battlecruisers had attacked the German ships in the darkness, which had turned westward to evade their attackers, and Mauve had continued in a southerly course, which placed his ships between the British and German battlecruisers. The British battlecruisers turned their attention to the pre-dreadnoughts, which in turn altered their course to the southwest in order to bring all of their guns to bear on the British ships.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=195}} In the darkness, only muzzle flashes from the British ships could be seen; as a result {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the other II Squadron ships held their fire.{{sfn|Campbell|p=255}}{{efn|The German official history states that II Squadron fired 23 rounds of 28 cm ammunition at this phase of the battle, but according to naval historian John Campbell the individual ship logs recorded no such firing at this time; instead, the 23 shells were fired at imaginary submarines several hours later.{{sfn|Campbell|p=255}}}}

At approximately 03:00 on 1 June, a group of British destroyers launched a torpedo attack against the German battle line. At 03:07, {{lang|de|Hessen}} narrowly avoided a torpedo, but directly ahead, {{SMS|Pommern||2}} was struck by at least one at 03:10. The torpedo is believed to have detonated one of the ship's 17 cm (6.7 in) shell magazines, destroying the ship.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=243}} Aboard {{lang|de|Hessen}}, it was assumed that a submarine had destroyed {{lang|de|Pommern}}; at 03:12 {{lang|de|Hessen}} fired her main battery at an imagined submarine.{{sfn|Campbell|p=300}} She and several other battleships engaged imaginary submarines again at 05:06, and again at 05:13. Gunfire from {{lang|de|Hessen}} and {{SMS|Hannover||2}} during the latter incident nearly hit the light cruisers {{SMS|Stettin||2}} and {{SMS|München||2}}; Scheer ordered them to cease fire.{{sfn|Campbell|p=314}} At 06:55, {{lang|de|Hessen}} and {{SMS|Schlesien||2}} mistook a mine buoy dropped by the battleship {{SMS|Kaiser|1911|2}} for a periscope and attacked it.{{sfn|Campbell|p=315}} In the course of the battle, {{lang|de|Hessen}} had fired five 28 cm rounds,{{sfn|Campbell|p=348}} thirty-four 17 cm shells, and twenty-four 8.8 cm rounds.{{sfn|Campbell|p=359}} She was not damaged in the engagement.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=149}}

The experience at Jutland proved that the pre-dreadnoughts of II Squadron were a hindrance to the more modern units of the fleet, and so the {{lang|de|Admiralstab}} decided that the ships should be withdrawn from service, as their crews could be used more effectively elsewhere. {{lang|de|Hessen}} spent the remainder of 1916 alternating between guard duty off Altenbruch and the Danish straits. On 18 November, she went to Krautsand to assist the dreadnought {{SMS|König Albert||2}}, which had run aground there. Starting in December, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was employed as a target ship in the Baltic; this was to be her last active service during the war. On 12 December, she was decommissioned and disarmed, after eleven years of service with the fleet.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|pp=149–150}}

{{lang|de|Hessen}} was thereafter used as a depot ship in Brunsbüttel for I Submarine Flotilla, along with the old coastal defense ship {{SMS|Beowulf||2}}. While in reserve at Brunsbüttel, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was jokingly referred to as SMS "Kleinste Fahrt" (SMS "Shortest Voyage") because of a warning that had been painted on the ship's hull.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}}{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=150}} The ship's four 28 cm guns were re-mounted as railroad guns and employed on the Western Front.{{sfn|François|pp=30–31}} The Australian Army captured one of the guns on 8 August 1918; it is preserved as the Amiens Gun at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia.{{sfn|François|p=30}}{{sfn|Williams|p=231}}

File:Germany Under Allied Occupation BU12124.jpg

Following the German defeat in World War I, the German navy was reorganized as the {{lang|de|Reichsmarine}} according to the Treaty of Versailles. The new navy was permitted to retain eight pre-dreadnought battleships under Article 181—two of which would be in reserve—for coastal defense.{{sfn|Sieche|p=218}} {{lang|de|Hessen}} was among the battleships retained, initially as one of the vessels in reserve. After being refitted, rearmed, and slightly modernized, {{lang|de|Hessen}} returned to service with the {{lang|de|Reichsmarine}} on 5 January 1925.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}}{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=150}} She received her old gun armament back, with the exception her tertiary battery; she received only four of the 8.8 cm guns, with another four in high-angle anti-aircraft mounts. Four torpedo tubes were installed in above-water casemates in the main deck. Her coal-fired cylindrical boilers were replaced with a pair of new oil-fired models.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}}{{sfn|Dodson 2014|p=57}} After spending the first half of the year conducting sea trials and individual training, {{lang|de|Hessen}} joined the fleet for a voyage to Norway in June, reminiscent of the old peacetime summer cruises of the Imperial fleet. Fleet training exercises followed later in the year.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=150}}

At the start of 1926, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was tasked with clearing paths for merchant vessels in the iced-over Baltic. She also made visits to the ports of Libau, Latvia, and Reval, Estonia, during this period. The ship joined the pre-dreadnought {{SMS|Schleswig-Holstein||2}}, the flagship of VAdm Konrad Mommsen, for a trip to Spain that lasted from 12 May to 19 June. During the cruise, {{lang|de|Hessen}} visited the Canary Islands and Cape Verde in the central Atlantic. In July, {{lang|de|Hessen}} and the torpedo boat T190 visited Neufahrwasser; they were the first German warships to visit Danzig since Germany lost control of the city to Poland after the war. The next two years passed uneventfully, and in July 1928, {{lang|de|Hessen}} visited Norway with Admiral Hans Zenker, the chief of the {{lang|de|Reichsmarine}}, aboard. Another cruise to Spain took place from 18 April to 9 May 1929, with VAdm Iwan Oldekop flying his flag aboard {{lang|de|Schleswig-Holstein}}. {{lang|de|Hessen}} visited Caramiñal, Vilagarcía, and Ferrol, Spain, during the trip. {{lang|de|Hessen}} steamed to Stockholm, Sweden, on 30 August, remaining there until 5 September.{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|pp=150–151}}

A major fleet training cruise to the Mediterranean Sea took place in 1930, lasting from 3 April to 16 June. During the tour, {{lang|de|Hessen}} stopped in numerous ports, including Vigo, Alicante and Cadiz in Spain, Palermo and Syracuse in Sicily, and Venice, Italy. Following the fleet training exercises in August and September that year, she visited Kristiansand, Norway. The fleet visited Świnoujście, Poland, on 18 and 19 April 1931 before returning to Hamburg. She cruised off Norway from 15 June to 3 July. At some point in 1931, {{lang|de|Hessen}} had two of her 17 cm guns and all four of the low-angle 8.8 cm guns removed. The following year, she visited Gotland, Oslo, and Danzig, and in 1933 she made another trip to Reval. {{lang|de|Hessen}} paid a visit to Bergen and Sognefjord, Norway, in July 1934 before participating in what would be her final annual fleet maneuvers later that year. She departed Kiel on 25 September and steamed to Wilhelmshaven, where she was decommissioned on 12 November. Her crew were sent to the new armored ship {{ship|German cruiser|Admiral Scheer||2}}, which replaced {{lang|de|Hessen}} in the fleet.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}}{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=151}}

On 31 March 1935, {{lang|de|Hessen}} was struck from the naval register and converted into a target ship. Her armament was removed, the hull was lengthened, and new machinery was installed. The longer hull allowed room for two additional watertight compartments, which brought the number up to 15 from the original 13. The ship's superstructure was cut down nearly entirely; {{lang|de|Hessen}} retained only a single funnel, a tower foremast, and the two armored barbettes for the main battery turrets. Her reciprocating machinery was replaced with steam turbines. The ship had a crew of 80, but could be operated by remote control when being used as a target. The work lasted from 11 April 1935 to 1 April 1937; beginning in April, she conducted sea trials, and on 12 July she was formally assigned to the gunnery training unit, in what had previously been renamed the {{lang|de|Kriegsmarine}}. The first ship to use {{lang|de|Hessen}} as a target was the light cruiser {{ship|German cruiser|Leipzig||2}} on 30 August that year.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}}{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=151}}

{{lang|de|Hessen}} served in this capacity through World War II.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}} On 31 March 1940, {{lang|de|Hessen}} acted as an icebreaker for the auxiliary cruisers {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Atlantis||2}}, {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Widder||2}}, and {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Orion||2}}, on their trip from Kiel to the North Sea.{{sfn|Duffy|p=8}} She and her control ship, the ex-torpedo boat {{lang|de|Blitz}}, were ceded to the Soviet Union on 2 January 1946 in Wilhelmshaven. She was recommissioned on 3 June 1946 as {{lang|ru|Tsel}} (with {{lang|ru|Blitz}} being renamed {{lang|ru|Wystrel}}), and continued to operate as a target ship until she was scrapped in 1960.{{sfn|Gröner|p=20}}{{sfn|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4|p=151}}

{{notes

| notes =

}}

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| ref = {{sfnRef|François}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Grießmer

| first = Axel

| year = 1999

| language = de

| title = Die Linienschiffe der Kaiserlichen Marine: 1906–1918; Konstruktionen zwischen Rüstungskonkurrenz und Flottengesetz

| trans-title = The Battleships of the Imperial Navy: 1906–1918; Constructions between Arms Competition and Fleet Laws

| publisher = Bernard & Graefe Verlag

| location = Bonn

| isbn = 978-3-7637-5985-9

| ref = {{sfnRef|Grießmer}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Gröner

| first = Erich

| author-link=Erich Gröner

| year = 1990

| title = German Warships: 1815–1945

| volume = I: Major Surface Vessels

| publisher = Naval Institute Press

| location = Annapolis

| isbn = 978-0-87021-790-6

| ref = {{sfnRef|Gröner}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Herwig

| first = Holger

| year = 1998

| orig-year = 1980

| title = "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918

| publisher = Humanity Books

| location = Amherst

| isbn = 978-1-57392-286-9

| ref = {{sfnRef|Herwig}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Hildebrand

| first1 = Hans H.

| last2 = Röhr

| first2 = Albert

| last3 = Steinmetz

| first3 = Hans-Otto

| year = 1993

| title = Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart

| trans-title=The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present

| volume = 2

| language = de

| location = Ratingen

| publisher = Mundus Verlag

| isbn = 978-3-8364-9743-5

| ref = {{sfnRef|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 2}}

|name-list-style=amp

}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Hildebrand

| first1 = Hans H.

| last2 = Röhr

| first2 = Albert

| last3 = Steinmetz

| first3 = Hans-Otto

| year = 1993

| title = Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart

| trans-title=The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present

| volume = 4

| publisher = Mundus Verlag

| location = Ratingen

| isbn = 978-3-7822-0382-1

| ref = {{sfnRef|Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4}}

|name-list-style=amp

}}

• {{cite book

| last = London

| first = Charles

| year = 2000

| title = Jutland 1916: Clash of the Dreadnoughts

| publisher = Osprey Publishing

| location = Oxford

| isbn = 978-1-85532-992-8

| series = Osprey Military Campaign Series

| ref ={{sfnRef|London}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Sieche

| first = Erwin

| chapter = Germany

| pages = 218–254

| editor1-last = Gardiner

| editor1-first = Robert

| editor2-last = Chesneau

| editor2-first = Roger

| year = 1980

| title = Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946

| publisher = Naval Institute Press

| location = Annapolis

| isbn = 978-0-87021-913-9

|name-list-style=amp

| ref ={{sfnRef|Sieche}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Staff

| first = Gary

| year = 2010

| title = German Battleships: 1914–1918

| volume = 1

| publisher = Osprey Books

| location = Oxford

| series = New Vanguard

| isbn = 978-1-84603-467-1

| ref = {{sfnRef|Staff}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Tarrant

| first = V. E.

| year = 2001

| orig-year = 1995

| title = Jutland: The German Perspective

| publisher = Cassell

| location = London

| isbn = 978-0-304-35848-9

| ref = {{sfnRef|Tarrant}}

}}

• {{cite book

| last = Williams

| first = John Frank

| year = 1999

| title = ANZACS, The Media and the Great War

| publisher = UNSW Press

| location = Sydney

| isbn = 978-0-86840-569-8

| ref = {{sfnRef|Williams}}

}}

{{commons category}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Dodson

| first1 = Aidan

| last2 = Cant

| first2 = Serena

| title = Spoils of War: The Fate of Enemy Fleets after the Two World Wars

| year = 2020

| publisher = Seaforth Publishing

| location = Barnsley

| isbn = 978-1-5267-4198-1

}}

• {{cite book

| last1 = Koop

| first1 = Gerhard

| last2 = Schmolke

| first2 = Klaus-Peter

| year = 2001

| title = Die Panzer- und Linienschiffe der Brandenburg-, Kaiser Friedrich III-, Wittlesbach-, Braunschweig- und Deutschland-Klasse

| trans-title=The Armored and Battleships of the Brandenburg, Kaiser Friedrich III, Wittelsbach, Braunschweig, and Deutschland Classes

| language=de

| publisher = Bernard & Graefe Verlag

| location = Bonn

| isbn = 978-3-7637-6211-8

|name-list-style=amp

}}

{{Braunschweig class battleship}}

{{featured article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessen}}

Category:Braunschweig-class battleships

Category:World War I battleships of Germany

Category:World War II auxiliary ships of Germany

Category:1903 ships

Category:Ships built in Kiel

Category:Auxiliary ships of the Soviet Navy