SMS Hessen was the third of five pre-dreadnought battleships of the Braunschweig class. She was laid down in 1902, launched the following year, and commissioned into the German Imperial Navy in 1905. She was named after the state of Hesse. Her sister ships were SMS Braunschweig, SMS Elsass, SMS Preussen, and SMS Lothringen. Like all other pre-dreadnoughts built at the turn of the century, Hessen was quickly made obsolete by the launching of HMS Dreadnought in 1906; as a result, she saw only limited service with the German fleet. During World War I, Hessen saw action in the Battle of Jutland as the second ship of the III Division of the II Battle Squadron. In the last daytime action between capital ships at Jutland, Hessen and the other pre-dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron covered the retreat of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's battered battlecruisers from Vice Admiral David Beatty's battlecruiser squadron. After the battle, the vessel was disarmed and used as a depot ship. Hessen was one of the few obsolete battleships Germany was permitted to retain under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. She served as a coastal defense ship in the 1920s and early 1930s, though she was withdrawn from front-line service in 1934. The following year, the ship was converted into a radio-controlled target. During World War II Hessen served in this capacity, while also working as an icebreaker in the Baltic and North Seas.
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