SMS was the third vessel of the six-member of coastal defense ships () built for the German Imperial Navy. Her sister ships were , , , , and . was built by the AG Weser shipyard between 1890 and 1893, and was armed with a main battery of three guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1900 - 1902. She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but saw no action. was demobilized in 1915 and used as a barracks ship thereafter. She was rebuilt as a merchant ship in 1923 and served in this capacity until she was broken up for scrap in 1930.
Design
In the late 1880s, the German (Imperial Navy) grappled with the problem of what type of capital ship to build in the face of limited naval budgets (owing to parliamentary objections to naval spending and the cost of dredging the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal). General Leo von Caprivi, the new (Chief of the Admiralty), requested a series of design proposals, which ranged in size from small coastal defense ships to heavily armed ocean-going battleships. Caprivi ordered ten coastal defense ships to guard the entrances to the canal, since even opponents of the navy in the (Imperial Diet) agreed that such vessels were necessary. The first six of these, the , were based on the smallest proposal.
was long overall and had a beam of and a maximum draft of . She displaced normally and up to at full load. Her hull had a long forecastle deck that extended most of the vessel's length. She was also fitted with a pronounced ram bow. had a crew of 20 officers and 256 enlisted men.
Her propulsion system consisted of two vertical 3-cylinder triple-expansion engines, each driving a screw propeller. Steam for the engines was provided by four coal-fired fire-tube boilers that were vented through a single funnel. The ship's propulsion system provided a top speed of from and a range of approximately at .
The ship was armed with a main battery of three K L/35 guns mounted in three single gun turrets. Two were placed side by side forward, and the third was located aft of the main superstructure. They were supplied with a total of 204 rounds of ammunition. For defense against torpedo boats, the ship was also equipped with a secondary battery of eight SK L/30 guns in single mounts. also carried four torpedo tubes, all in swivel mounts on the deck. One was at the bow, another at the stern, and two amidships. The ship was protected by an armored belt that was in the central citadel, and an armored deck that was thick. The conning tower had thick sides.
Modifications
In 1897, the ship had her anti-torpedo nets removed. was extensively rebuilt between 1902 and 1903 in an attempt to improve her usefulness. The ship was lengthened to , which increased displacement to at full load. The lengthened hull space was used to install additional boilers; her old fire-tube boilers were replaced with more efficient water-tube boilers, and a second funnel was added. The performance of her propulsion machinery increased to from , with a maximum range of at 10 knots. Her secondary battery was increased to ten 8.8 cm guns, and the 35 cm torpedo tubes were replaced with three tubes. Her crew increased to 20 officers and 287 enlisted men. Work was completed by 1900.
Service history
Construction – 1898
Named for the titular hero of Frithjof's Saga, was laid down in February 1890 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen. She was launched on 21 July 1891, and (Vice Admiral) Wilhelm Schröder christened the ship at the ceremony. The ship was completed in November 1892 and began sea trials before being formally commissioned in Wilhelmshaven on 23 February 1893, under the command of (KK—Corvette Captain) August Gruner. She was assigned to II Division of the Maneuver Fleet, though she was still completing her trials, which prevented her from joining the unit for training exercises in March. She took part in the large-scale fleet maneuvers held in August and September, along with her sister ship . These maneuvers were divided into two phases. During the first, and the other capital ships performed as the hostile French fleet, which was "attacked" by torpedo boats in the North Sea. The second set of maneuvers took place in the Baltic Sea, and and the ironclads again simulated a French fleet. thereafter became the flagship of the Reserve Division of the North Sea on 1 October.