The ships of the "Braunschweig"-class were propelled by three-shaft triple-expansion steam engines that were rated at . The triple expansion engines were powered by eight Marine-type boilers and six cylindrical boilers, all of which burned coal; these were trunked into three funnels amidships. Three funnels were adopted because in earlier vessels, the two-funnel arrangement tended to obstruct views from the bridge, and by splitting the smoke into three funnels instead of two, the funnels could be thinner and thus less obtrusive. At some point after 1915, oil-firing capability was added to supplement the coal-fired boilers. The two outer propellers were three-bladed, and in diameter, while the center screw was four-bladed and in diameter.