Wikipedia:Today's featured article/July 1, 2022
SMS Kaiser Friedrich III was the lead ship of the Kaiser Friedrich III class of five pre-dreadnought battleships. Laid down in Wilhelmshaven in March 1895, the ship was launched in July 1896, entered service in October 1899, and became the flagship of I Squadron of the German Home Fleet in 1900. The battleship was armed with a main battery of four 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns, supported by a secondary battery of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns. In 1901 the vessel was severely damaged striking submerged rocks; this led to design changes in later German battleships. Kaiser Friedrich III was extensively modernized in 1908 and placed in the Reserve Formation in 1910. Though obsolete, the aging battleship served as a coastal defence ship in the early months of World War I. The vessel was withdrawn from service by February 1915, and was later employed as a prison ship and a barracks ship, before being broken up in 1920. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battleships of Germany.)