SMS was one of four armored frigates of the German (Imperial Navy). Her sister ships were , , and . was built in the (Imperial Dockyard) in Kiel from 1876 to 1883. The ship was commissioned into the Imperial Navy in September 1883. She was armed with a main battery of six guns in two open barbettes.
After her commissioning, served with the fleet on numerous training exercises and cruises in the 1880s and 1890s, during which she frequently simulated hostile naval forces. She participated in several cruises escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II on state visits to Great Britain and to various countries in the Baltic Sea in the late 1880s and early 1890s. During 1896–1897, the ship was extensively rebuilt at the dockyard in Kiel. She was removed from active duty in 1910 and thereafter served in a number of secondary roles, finally serving as a target hulk in the 1920s and 1930s. She was sold in April 1938 and broken up in 1939–1940 in Kiel.
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.
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
Between late 1895 and late 1897, was extensively modernized to prolong her useful service life. The ship's old wrought iron and teak armor was replaced with new Krupp nickel-steel armor. The four funnels were ducted into a single large funnel and new engines were also installed, which increased the ship's speed to . The ship's 8.7 cm guns were replaced with quick-firing SK L/30 guns and four autocannon.
Service history
Construction – 1887
was ordered by the Imperial Navy under the contract name "C," which denoted that the vessel was a new addition to the fleet. She was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel; her keel was laid down in August 1876 under yard number 4. The ship was launched on 28 July 1880, and Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm gave a speech at the ceremony. She was commissioned to begin sea trials on 24 September 1883, which were completed on 22 October. Along with her three sisters, was the first large, armored warship built for the German navy that relied entirely on engines for propulsion. Following her commissioning, joined the fleet too late to participate in the fleet maneuvers that year. After entering service, served as the flagship for (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Alexander von Monts; she was assigned to I Division alongside her three sisters. The unit, which also included the aviso , formed the homogenous core of the German fleet for many years. In April 1884, (KzS—Captain at Sea) Victor Valois took command of the ship.