SMS Prinz Heinrich
Prinz Heinrich in port in 1902, probably while fitting-out
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| History | |
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 German Empire
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| Name: | Prinz Heinrich |
| Namesake: | Prince Heinrich of Prussia |
| Builder: | Kaiserliche Werft, Kiel |
| Laid down: | December 1898 |
| Launched: | 22 March 1900 |
| Commissioned: | March 1902 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Prinz Heinrich-class unique armored cruiser |
| Displacement: | 8,857t standard; 9,806t full load |
| Length: | 415.33 ft (126.59 m) |
| Beam: | 64.33 ft (19.61 m) |
| Draft: | 26.5 ft (8.1 m) |
| Propulsion: | 15,694 hp (11,703 kW), three shafts |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h) |
| Complement: | 567 |
| Armament: |
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SMS Prinz Heinrich was a unique German armored cruiser built at the turn of the 20th century for the Imperial German Navy, named after Kaiser Wilhelm II's younger brother Prince Henry. Prinz Heinrich was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel. She was laid down in 1898 and completed in March 1902, at the cost of 16,588,000 Marks. Prinz Heinrich's design was a modification of the previous armored cruiser, Fürst Bismarck, and traded a smaller main battery for higher speed and more comprehensive armor protection. The ship set a precedent for subsequent German armored cruisers by concentrating her secondary armament amidships, as opposed to Fürst Bismarck, which spread the secondary armament along the length of the ship.
Prinz Heinrich served with the German fleet for the majority of her career. After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the ship participated in the operation against the British coast in December 1914, after which she was transferred to the Baltic Sea. Here, she operated against the Russian navy and was involved in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915, where she damaged a Russian destroyer. In 1916, the ship was withdrawn from active duty and was used in several secondary roles in Kiel, including acting as a floating office for naval staff. Prinz Heinrich was ultimately sold in 1920 and broken up for scrap later that year.
The Second Naval Law in Germany, passed in 1900, envisioned a force of fourteen armored cruisers intended for overseas service in the German colonies. However, the German Navy required cruisers for operations with the fleet as well, and attempted to design ships that could fulfill both roles, primarily due to budget constraints. The first product of the 1900 Naval Law, Prinz Heinrich was an alteration of an earlier vessel, Fürst Bismarck, and was equipped with fewer guns and thinner armor in a trade-off for higher speed and lower cost. The design also set the precedent of concentrating the secondary battery amidships; Fürst Bismarck secondary guns had been spread along the length of the hull. All subsequent armored cruisers were developments of Prinz Heinrich.Prinz Heinrich was laid down in 1898 at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel. She was launched on 22 March 1900 and completed just under two years later, on 11 March 1902. The new cruiser cost 16,588,000 Marks.
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