SMS Arminius
Illustration of SMS Arminius engaging French warships during the Franco-Prussian War
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Kaiserliche Marine
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| Preceded by: | None |
| Succeeded by: | Prinz Adalbert |
| Built: | 1863—65 |
| In commission: | 1865—1901 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 1 |
| History | |
 German Empire
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| Name: | SMS Arminius |
| Namesake: | Arminius |
| Builder: | Samuda Brothers, Cubitt Town, London |
| Laid down: | 1863 |
| Launched: | 20 August 1864 |
| Commissioned: | 22 April 1865 |
| Decommissioned: | 1875 |
| Struck: | 2 March 1901 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1902 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Turret ironclad |
| Displacement: | 1,829 t (1,800 long tons) |
| Length: | 63.21 m (207 ft 5 in) |
| Beam: | 10.90 m (35 ft 9 in) |
| Draft: | 7.60 m (24 ft 11 in) |
| Installed power: | 10,000 ihp (7,500 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Schooner-rigged |
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Range: | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Crew: |
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| Armament: | 4 × 21 cm (8.3 in) Krupp guns |
| Armor: |
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SMS Arminius was an ironclad warship of the Prussian Navy, later the Imperial German Navy. The ship was designed by the British Royal Navy Captain Cowper Coles and built by the Samuda Brothers shipyard in Cubitt Town, London as a speculative effort; Prussia purchased the ship during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, though the vessel was not delivered until after the war. The ship was armed with four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns in a pair of revolving gun turrets amidships. She was named for Arminius, the victor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.
Arminius served as a coastal defense ship for the first six years of her service with the Prussian Navy. She saw extensive service in the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars during the process of German unification. The vessel was the primary challenge to the French blockade of German ports during the latter conflict. After the wars, Arminius was withdrawn from front-line service and used in a variety of secondary roles, including as a training ship for engine-room crews and as a tender for the school ship Blücher. The ship was eventually sold in 1901 and broken up for scrap the following year.
The warship that came to be SMS Arminius was designed by Captain Cowper Coles, a British Royal Navy officer and advocate of turret-armed ironclad warships.Arminius was nearly identical to the Danish ironclad Rolf Krake, also designed by Captain Coles. The vessel was constructed with transverse frames and constructed with an iron hull, which contained eight watertight compartments. The ship was 61.60 meters (202 ft 1 in) long at the waterline and 63.21 m (207 ft 5 in) long overall. The ship had a beam of 10.90 m (35 ft 9 in) and a draft of 4.32 m (14 ft 2 in) forward and 4.55 m (14 ft 11 in) aft. She was designed to displace 1,653 metric tons (1,627 long tons) but at combat load, Arminius displaced up to 1,829 t (1,800 long tons).
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