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[[File:North Sea map-en.png|thumb|upright|right|Il [[Mare del Nord]], dove si svolsero le principali azioni condotte dalla flotta imperiale tedesca.]]
Nei primi due anni di guerra, thela High Seas FleetHochseeflotte, includingcon la ''König Albert'' in linea, conductedcondusse auna numberserie ofdi sweepsincursioni ande advancesricognizioni intoin theforze Northnel SeaMare del Nord. TheLa prima si tenne fra il first2 occurreded onil 2–33 novembre 1914, thoughsenza noincontrare Britishle forcesforze werebritanniche encounteredavversarie. AdmiralL'ammiraglio [[Friedrich von Ingenohl]], theal commandercomando ofdella theHochseeflotte, Highadottò Seasuna Fleet,strategia adoptedche aprevedeva strategyl'uso indegli whichincrociatori theda battlecruisersbattaglia ofdel Rear Admiralcontrammiraglio [[Franz von Hipper]]'s, il [[I Scouting Group.Aufklärungsgruppe]] raided(I° BritishGruppo coastalda townsricognizione), toper lurebombardare outle portionscittà costiere britanniche attirando, così, ofparti thedella [[Grand Fleet]] wheredove theysarebbero couldstate beattaccate destroyeddall'intera by the High Seas FleetHochseeflotte.<ref>{{cita|Herwig|pp. 149–150}}</ref> TheIl [[raidbombardamento ondi Scarborough, Hartlepool ande Whitby]] ondel 15–16 Decemberdicembre 1914 wasfu theil firstprimo suchdi operationquesti tentativi.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 31}}</ref> OnLa thesera evening ofdel 15 Decemberdicembre, theuna Germanflotta battleconsistente fleetin of12 somenavi twelveda dreadnoughts—includingbattaglia—compresa la ''König Albert'' ande herle foursue quattro pariclasse—ed otto [[sister ship|sisterspre-dreadnought]]—and eighttedesche pre-dreadnoughtssi cameavvicinò tofino withina |10|nmi ofmiglia anda isolateduna squadronsquadra ofisolata sixdi Britishsei battleshipsnavi da battaglia britanniche. HoweverTuttavia, skirmishesi betweencombattimenti thenel rivalbuio fra i [[destroyercacciatorpediniere]] screensdi inscorta the darkness convincedconvinsero von Ingenohl thatdi heavere wasdi facedfronte with the entire Britishl'intera [[Grand Fleet]]. UnderPer ordersordine fromdiretto del [[Guglielmo II di Germania|Kaiser WilhelmGuglielmo II]] tonon avoidsi riskingdoveva therischiare fleetla flotta senza la sicurezza di un successo, unnecessarilyquindi, von Ingenohl brokepreferì offdisimpegnarsi thee engagementsi andritirò turnedverso backi towardporti Germanytedeschi.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|pp. 31–33}}</ref>
FollowingIn theseguito lossalla ofperdita della [[SMS Blücher}} at]] thenella [[BattleBattaglia ofdi Dogger Bank (1915)|BattleBattaglia ofdi Dogger Bank]] innel Januarygennaio 1915, theil Kaiser removedrimosse Admirall'ammiraglio von Ingenohl from his post onil 2 febbraio. AdmiralL'ammiraglio [[Hugo von Pohl]] replacedlo himsostituì asal commandercomando ofdella the fleetflotta.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|pp. 43–44}}</ref> AdmiralL'ammiraglio von Pohl conductedcondusse auna seriesserie ofdi fleetincursioni advancesnel inMare del Nord nel 1915 ina cui whichla ''König Albert'' tookprese part;parte. inIl the first one on 29–3029 Marchmarzo, theseguì fleetla steamedflotta outtedesca toa thelargo north ofdi [[Terschelling]] andsenza returnedincontrare withoutil incidentnemico. AnotherUn'altra followedseguì onil 17–18 aprile, wherequando ''König Albert'' andcon theil restresto ofdella theflotta fleetscortò coveredun'operazione adi miningminamento operationcondotta by thedal II Scouting GroupAufklärungsgruppe. ThreeUn'altra dayssortita later,della onflotta 21–22fu aprile,effettuata thetre Highgiorni Seasdopo, Fleetil advanced22 towardaprile theverso il [[Dogger Bank]], though again failed tosenza meetancora anyincontrare Britishforze forcesbritanniche.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|pp. 15, 21}}</ref> OnIl 15 Maymaggio, auna [[Bushing (bearing)#Bushing|bushingbronzina]] camedell'asse loosedella inturbina thedi ship'sdritta starboardsi turbinedanneggiò, whichcostringendo forcedl'equipaggio thea crewdisconnetterla to turn the engine off and [[wikt:decouple|decouple]]dall'asse itportaelica. TheLe centerturbine andsugli portaltri sidedue shaftsassi werepermisero stillalla capablenave ofdi propellingmantnere theuna shipvelocità atdi |18|kn, howevernodi.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|p. 21}}</ref> OnIl 29–30 Maymaggio, thevenne fleetorganizzata attemptedun'altra touscita conductma aquando sweepla inflotta theraggiunse Northl'altezza Sea,di but[[Schiermonnikoog]] inclementdovette weathertornare forcedindietro Pohla tocausa canceldel the operation some |50|nmi off [[Schiermonnikoog]]maltempo. TheLa fleetflotta remainedrimase in portporto untilfino al 10 agosto, whenquando itnavigò sortieda tonord dell'isola di [[Helgoland]] toper covercoprire theil returnrientro ofdella thenave corsara [[auxiliarySMS cruiser]]Meteor [[(corsaro)|SMS MöweMeteor]]. AUn monthmese laterdopo, onil 11–12 Septembersettembre, thela fleetflotta coveredscortò anotherun'altra operazione di posa delle mine-laying operationa offlargo thedello [[Swarte Bank]]. The lastL'ultima operationoperazione of the yeardell'anno, conducted onil 23–24 ottobre, wasfu anuna advancesortita insenza theincontri directionverso ofle secche di [[Horns Reef]]Rev which(costa concludedovest withoutdella resultDanimarca).<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|pp. 15, 21}}</ref>
OnIl 1112 Januarygennaio 1916, Admirall'ammiraglio [[Reinhard Scheer]] replaced the ailingsostituì von Pohl, whoche wasera sufferingaffetto fromda liverun cancercancro al fegato, al comando della flotta.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 49}}</ref> Scheer proposedpropose auna morecondotta aggressivepiù policyaggressiva designedper tocercare forceil aconfronto confrontationcon with thela Grand Fleet; hericevette received approval froml'approvazione thedel Kaiser in febbraio.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 50}}</ref> TheLa firstprima ofoperazione Scheer'scondotta operationsda wasScheer conductedfu theuna followingsortita month, ondel 5–7 Marchmarzo, witha anlargo uneventfuldelle sweepcoste of the [[Hoofden]]olandesi.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|pp. 32, 35}}</ref> On 25–26 March, Scheer attempted to attack British forces that had raided [[Tondern]], but failed to locate them. Another advance to Horns Reef followed on 21–22 aprile.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|pp. 15, 21}}</ref> On 24 aprile, the [[battlecruiser]]s of the I Scouting Group conducted a [[Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft|raid on the English coast]]. ''König Albert'' and the rest of the fleet sailed in distant support. The battlecruiser [[SMS Seydlitz]] struck a mine while en route to the target, and had to withdraw.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 53}}</ref> The other battlecruisers bombarded the town of Lowestoft unopposed, but during the approach to Yarmouth, they encountered the British cruisers of the [[Harwich Force]]. A short artillery duel ensued before the Harwich Force withdrew. Reports of British submarines in the area prompted the retreat of the I Scouting Group. At this point, Scheer, who had been warned of the sortie of the Grand Fleet from its base in Scapa Flow, also withdrew to safer German waters.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 54}}</ref>
After the raid on Yarmouth, several of the III. Geschwader battleships developed problems with their condensers.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 56}}</ref> This included ''König Albert''; tubing needed to be replaced in all three main condensers, which necessitated extensive dockyard work. The ship went into drydock in the [[Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven|Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven]] on 29 May, two days before the rest of the fleet departed for the [[Battle of Jutland]]. Work on the ship was not completed until 15 June,<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|p. 21}}</ref> and as a result, ''König Albert'' was the only German dreadnought in active service to miss the battle.<ref>{{cita|Tarrant|p. 62}}</ref>{{efn|name=Bayern unavailable}} On 18 agosto 1916, ''König Albert'' took part in an operation to bombard [[Sunderland, Tyne and Wear|Sunderland]].<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|pp. 15, 21}}</ref> Admiral Scheer attempted a repeat of the original 31 May plan: the two serviceable German battlecruisers—[[SMS Moltke]] and [[SMS Von der Tann]]—augmented by three faster dreadnoughts, were to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Vice Admiral [[David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty|David Beatty's]] battlecruisers. Scheer would trail behind with the rest of the fleet and provide support.<ref>{{cita|Massie|p. 682}}</ref> Scheer turned north after receiving a false report from a [[zeppelin]] about a British unit in the area.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|p. 15}}</ref> As a result, the bombardment was not carried out, and by 14:35, Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet's approach and so turned his forces around and retreated to German ports.<ref>{{cita|Massie|p. 683}}</ref>
The operation began on the morning of 12 October, when ''Moltke'' and the III Geschwader ships engaged Russian positions in Tagga Bay while ''König Albert'' and the rest of IV Geschwader shelled Russian gun batteries on the [[Sõrve Peninsula|Sworbe Peninsula]] on Ösel.<ref>{{cita|Halpern|p. 215}}</ref> The coastal artillery in both locations were quickly silenced by the battleships' heavy guns.<ref>{{cita|Barrett|p. 125}}</ref> On the morning of the 14th, ''König Albert'', ''Friedrich der Grosse'', and ''Kaiserin'' were detached to support German troops advancing toward [[Anseküll]].<ref>{{cita|Barrett|p. 146}}</ref> ''König Albert'' and ''Kaiserin'' were assigned to suppress a Russian battery at [[Zerel]], though heavy fog delayed them from engaging the target. The Russians opened fire first, which was quickly returned by the two ships. ''Friedrich der Grosse'' came to the two ships' assistance and the three battleships fired a total of 120 large-caliber shells at the battery at Zerel over the span of an hour. The battleships' gunfire prompted most of the Russian gun crews to flee their posts.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battle for the Baltic Islands''|pp. 71–72}}</ref>
On the night of 15 October, ''König Albert'' and ''Kaiserin'' were sent to replenish their coal stocks in [[Putzig]].<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battle for the Baltic Islands''|p. 81}}</ref> On the 19th, they were briefly joined in Putzig by ''Friedrich der Grosse'', which continued on to [[Kuressaare|Arensburg]] with ''Moltke''.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battle for the Baltic Islands''|p. 140}}</ref> The next morning, Vice Admiral Schmidt ordered the special naval unit to be dissolved; in a communique to the naval headquarters, Schmidt noted that "''Kaiserin'' and ''König Albert'' can immediately be detached from Putzig to the NorthMare Seadel Nord."<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battle for the Baltic Islands''|p. 145}}</ref> The two ships then proceeded to Kiel via Danzig, where they transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal back to the NorthMare Seadel Nord.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|p. 20}}</ref> After returning to the NorthMare del SeaNord on 23 October, ''König Albert'' served as the [[flagship]] for a force of heavy ships, including ''Kaiserin'', [[SMS Nassau]], [[SMS Rheinland]], and the battlecruiser [[SMS Derfflinger]], supporting a mine-sweeping operation in the [[German Bight]]. Afterward she resumed guard duty in the Bight.<ref>{{cita|Staff, ''Battleships''|p. 21}}</ref>
=== Fate ===
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