sentences:  "Lothringen" and "Hessen" were slated to be decommissioned in 1914, but the outbreak of World War I in July prevented this and they remained in service with the High Seas Fleet.They and "Preussen" took part in the fleet operations in the first two years of the war, while "Braunschweig" and "Elsass" went to the Baltic with IV Battle Squadron, where they eventually saw combat with the during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915.