SMS König was a German battleship (so-called dreadnought) from the First World War. The keel for this unit was laid in 1911, the launch took place in March 1913, and entry into service in Kaiserliche Marine - in 1914. The length of the ship was 175.4 meters and a width of 29.5 meters. Full displacement reached approx. 28,600 tons, and maximum speed - approx. 21-22 knots. The deck armament, at the time of launch, consisted of 10 305 mm guns, 14 150 mm guns, 10 88 mm guns and 5 torpedo tubes.
SMS König was one of four battleships belonging to the class of ships of the same name - i.e. the König. The battleships of this type were designed and built to be very similar to the previous class of German battleships, the Kaiser. Both classes of ships had almost identical combat capabilities and weapons. The main difference was a slightly different arrangement of the main artillery on the König-class battleships. Originally, they were also planned to use a mixed drive consisting of steam turbines and a diesel engine, but eventually three steam turbines were used as the drive. One of the battleships of this type was SMS König, which was built at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven. The unit, shortly after entering service, collided with the sister battleship SMS Grosser Kurfürst, as a result of which it was excluded from action until January 1915. The following year, SMS König took an active part in the Battle of Jutland, in which he suffered only minor damage and was able to continue the fight. At the end of 1917, he took part in the fighting in the Gulf of Riga, during which he sank the Russian battleship (pre-dreadnought) S³awa. After the end of the war, SMS König was interned at the British base at Scapa Flow, where he was sunk by his own crew on June 21, 1919. The shipwreck has not been excavated from the seabed until today.