SMS was the lead ship of her class of four ironclads of the German (Imperial Navy). Her sisterships were , , and . was built in the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin. She was laid down in April 1875, launched on 21 July 1877, and commissioned on 21 October 1878. The ship was armed with a main battery of six guns in individual open mounts.
was built when the German navy was primarily concerned with coastal defense against either French or Russian fleets. The ship participated in routine fleet maneuvers for the duration of her active career. On her last such fleet exercise, in 1901, she accidentally rammed and sank the aviso . The following year, was placed in reserve, and in 1911, she was used as a target hulk for the fleet. The ship was eventually broken up for scrap in 1919, following the German defeat in World War I.
Design
The class was the first group of capital ships built under the tenure of General Albrecht von Stosch, the first Chief of the Imperial Admiralty. Stosch favored a coastal defense strategy for the German fleet, and the s were intended to operate from fortified ports, from which they could sortie to attack blockading fleets. They proved to be controversial in service, as critics pointed out their poor seakeeping, tendency to roll in heavy seas, and low speed compared to earlier armored frigates. She was the first large, armored warship built for the German navy that relied entirely on engines for propulsion.
The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. was powered by two 3-cylinder single-expansion steam engines, which were supplied with steam by eight coal-fired Dürr boilers. The boilers were vented into four funnels in an unusual square arrangement. The ship's top speed was , at . Her standard complement consisted of 32 officers and 285 enlisted men, though while serving as a squadron flagship this was augmented by another 7 officers and 34 men.
She was armed with a main battery of six guns, two of which were single-mounted in an open barbette forward of the conning tower and the remaining four mounted amidships, also on single mounts in an open barbette. As built, the ship was also equipped with six L/24 guns and eight Hotchkiss revolver cannons for defense against torpedo boats.
s armor was made of wrought iron, and was concentrated in an armored citadel amidships. The armor ranged from on the armored citadel, and between on the deck. The barbette armor was 254 mm of wrought iron backed by 250 mm of teak.
Modifications
was extensively modernized in 1896–1897. The ship's entire propulsion system, including screws, boilers, and engines were replaced with new equipment. The single-expansion engines were replaced with compound engines that offered higher performance. Wood construction was replaced with steel and the vessel was lightened by . The four funnels were trunked into a single stack and a new conning tower was built, protected by nickel-steel. The secondary battery was also improved: the 8.7 cm guns were replaced with 8.8 cm SK L/30 quick-firing guns and the eight 3.7 cm machine guns were replaced with four newer models. On 1 May 1897, the ship was re-commissioned for trials, during which the ship reached .
Service history
was ordered by the Imperial Navy on 23 June 1874 under the contract name "B," which denoted that the vessel was a new addition to the fleet. She was built at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin; she was the first ironclad built by that shipyard. Her keel was laid down in 1875 under yard number 74. The ship was launched on 21 July 1877, and at the launching ceremony, Stosch gave a speech. She was commissioned on 20 October 1878 and thereafter began initial sea trials that lasted into November, though her armament had not yet been installed. These tests revealed the need for structural improvements, and so she was decommissioned for the work to be carried out; her guns were fitted during that period. A second round of tests followed during a second period in commission from March to July 1879; during these tests, the ship was commanded by (KzS—Captain at Sea) Wilhelm von Wickede from March to May and then KzS Paul Zirzow from May to July. Work on the other three -class ships was stopped to gain further experience with so any deficiencies could be corrected while the other vessels were still under construction.