Siegfried-class coastal defense ship
SMS Beowulf
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Siegfried class |
| Operators: |
 Kaiserliche Marine
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| Preceded by: | Oldenburg (unique) |
| Succeeded by: | Odin class |
| Built: | 1888–1894 |
| In commission: | 1890–1919 |
| Planned: | 6 |
| Completed: | 6 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| Scrapped: | 5 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Type: | Coast defense ship |
| Displacement: | 3,500 metric tons (3,400 long tons) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: | 14.90 m (48 ft 11 in) |
| Draft: | 5.70 m (18 ft 8 in) |
| Installed power: | 4,800 ihp (3,600 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Range: | 4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 276 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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The Siegfried class was a group of six coastal defense ships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine ("Imperial Navy") in the late 19th century. The ships were intended to protect the German coastline from naval attacks. The class comprised the lead ship Siegfried, along with her sisters Beowulf, Frithjof, Heimdall, Hildebrand, and Hagen. All six ships were named after Norse mythological figures. Two further vessels, the Odin class, were built to a similar design but were not identical.
The Siegfried-class ships were obsolete by the outbreak of World War I, and saw only limited service in their intended role before they were withdrawn from active duty. The ships then served in a variety of secondary duties, including barracks ships, target ships, and in the case of Beowulf, an icebreaker in the Baltic Sea. All six ships were struck from the naval register on 17 June 1919, days before the Treaty of Versailles was signed. Five of the ships were sold for scrapping immediately after they were struck from the register, but Frithjof was purchased by a shipping company, and converted into a freighter. She served in this capacity until she too was scrapped in 1930.
The ships of the Siegfried class were 76.40 meters (250 ft 8 in) long at the waterline and 79 m (259 ft 2 in) long overall. The ships had a beam of 14.90 m (48 ft 11 in) and a draft of between 5.51 m (18 ft 1 in) forward and 5.74 m (18 ft 10 in) aft. All six ships were heavily rebuilt, each undergoing refits at various times between 1898 and 1904. During the rebuilding, the ships were lengthened, to 84.80 m (278 ft 3 in) at the waterline and 86.13 m (282 ft 7 in) overall. The ships' beams remained the same, but their draft was slightly decreased, to 5.45 m (17 ft 11 in) forward and 5.47 m (17 ft 11 in) aft. The ships had a designed displacement of 3,500 metric tons (3,400 long tons; 3,900 short tons), and a maximum displacement of 3,741 t (3,682 long tons). After the reconstruction, the displacement was increased to between 4,000 to 4,436 t (3,937 to 4,366 long tons), depending on the ship.
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