SMS Preussen (1873)
Preussen in 1887
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| History | |
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| Name: | SMS Preussen |
| Namesake: | Prussia |
| Builder: | AG Vulcan, Stettin |
| Laid down: | 1871 |
| Launched: | 22 November 1873 |
| Commissioned: | 4 July 1876 |
| Decommissioned: | 1906 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1919 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Preussen-class ironclad |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: | 96.59 m (316 ft 11 in) |
| Beam: | 16.30 m (53 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 7.11 m (23 ft 4 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Full-rigged ship |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Range: | 1,690 nmi (3,130 km) at 10 kn (19 km/h) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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SMS Preussen was an armored frigate of the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship was built by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in 1871–1876; she was commissioned into the fleet in July 1876. She was the first large warship of the German navy built by a private shipyard; all previous vessels had been ordered abroad or built by Royal or Imperial dockyards. Her main battery of four 26 cm (10 in) guns was mounted in a pair of twin gun turrets amidships.
Preussen served with the fleet from her commissioning until 1891, though she was frequently placed in reserve throughout her career. She cruised the Mediterranean Sea several times during her service, including during a mission in 1877 after unrest in the Ottoman Empire threatened German citizens living there. The ship was withdrawn from service at the end of 1891 and used as a harbor guard ship until 1896, when she was relegated to being a supply ship in Wilhelmshaven. She ended her career as a coal hulk for torpedo boats. In 1903, she was renamed Saturn so her name could be reused. The ship was ultimately sold to shipbreakers in 1919.
Preussen was ordered by the Imperial Navy from the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin; her keel was laid in 1871 under construction number 66. This was the first time a private German shipbuilder was given a contract to build a large warship for the navy. The ship was launched on 22 November 1873 and commissioned into the German fleet on 4 July 1876.Preussen cost the German government 7,303,000 gold marks. Although she was the third and final ship in her class to be laid down, she was the first to be launched and commissioned. This was because her two sisters, Friedrich der Grosse and Grosser Kurfürst, were built by newly established Imperial dockyards, while Preussen was built by an experienced commercial ship builder.
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