What happened with these vessels??

[Douglas Jr.]

Hi folks,

At the end of WWI Germany was allowed to keep two pre-Dreadnought Battleships, the "Schlesien" and the "Schleswig-Holstein". The last fired the first shots of thw WWII, when bombed polish coastal positions, during the early hours of September 1st, 1939.

However, after that, I do not have any information about what happened with these vessels?

Where they scrapped? Or hit by enemies?

Any picture of them?

Many thanks in advance.

Douglas.

[Robert Hurst]

Hi Douglas

The following fates befell the two ships named in your post.

Schleswig-Holstein was bombed and badly damaged on 18 December 1944 and was later scuttled on 21 March 1945.

Schlesien was mined on 3 May 1945 and was scuttled the next day.

I don't have any photos of either ship with me at the moment, but I can put some on at a later date.

Do you want photos before or after their respective demise.

Regards

Bob

[Douglas Jr.]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your reply. In fact I would like to see pictures of both ships before they sink. But You don´t need to hurry, since I can wait!

I´m really curious about these two vessels because of their long career. Do you know when they where laid down? Bein pre-dreadnought battleships it would mean something before 1906, am I correct.

Well, once more thank you for you help.

Regards,

Douglas.

[Redbaron1908]

hi you might find info on them here i just found this website today

http://www.warships1.com/default_main.htm hope the site helps