German Battleship SMS Posen Format: Paperback

The last ship of the first class of German “Dreadnought” battleships was Ersatz Baden/Posen. The keel for Posen was laid on 11 June 1907 at the Germania Dockyard in Kiel and launching followed on 12 December 1908. The President of the Prussian province of Posen, von Waldow, gave the christening speech and the christening was performed by Fürstin (Princess) Johanna von Radolin. Posen was named after the Prussian Province from 1772 to 1919, and today is known as Poznan province in Poland. On 28 April 1910 Posen was transferred from her construction yard to Kiel Imperial Dockyard and on 31 May was commissioned for the first time. The first pre-trials began on 18 July 1910.

Gary Staff is a former airline pilot but he has been fascinated with naval history, and specifically with the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserlischmarine) for decades. He has visited archives in Britain, Germany and elsewhere to study, and often translate for the first time, official documents relating to this subject. His previous books for Pen & Sword are The Battle for the Baltic Islands 1917; Battle on the Seven Seas and German Battlecruisers of World War One. He lives in Australia.