Funding for the vessels was allocated under the fourth Naval Law, which was passed in 1912. The Fourth Naval Law secured funding for three new dreadnoughts, two light cruisers, and an increase of an additional 15,000 officers and men in the ranks of the Navy for 1912. The capital ships laid down in 1912 were the s; funding for "Bayern" and "Baden" was allocated the following year. Funding for "Sachsen" was allocated in the 1914 budget, while "Württemberg" was funded in the War Estimates. The last remaining pre-dreadnought, , was to be replaced, as well as two elderly pre-dreadnoughts, and . "Baden" was ordered as "Ersatz Wörth", "Württemberg" as "Ersatz Kaiser Wilhelm II", and "Sachsen" as "Ersatz Kaiser Friedrich III"; "Bayern" was regarded as an addition to the fleet, and was ordered under the provisional name "T".