After the war, all of Germany's powerful dreadnoughts had either been scuttled in Scapa Flow or ceded to the Allies as war prizes, so the "Braunschweig"-class battleships were recommissioned into the newly reorganized "Reichsmarine". The Treaty of Versailles specifically stated in that the "Reichsmarine" would be permitted to retain eight battleships of the "Lothringen or Deutschland types", six of which could be kept in commission. Three of the ships—"Braunschweig", "Elsass", and "Hessen"—saw active duty with the fleet while the other two vessels—"Preussen" and "Lothringen"—were instead converted into parent ships for minesweepers, since Germany was required by the Treaty of Versailles to clear the extensive minefields that had been laid in the North Sea during the war. Those two ships were disarmed and modified to carry the minesweepers, but "Preussen" proved to be top-heavy and saw little actual use. "Lothringen" remained in service until 1920, by which time the minesweeping work had been completed, and she was laid up in reserve.