 SMS Beowulf
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Beowulf |
| Namesake | Beowulf |
| Builder | AG Weser's works in Bremen |
| Laid down | January 1890 |
| Launched | 8 November 1890 |
| Commissioned | 1 April 1892 |
| Decommissioned | 31 August 1915 |
| Recommissioned | 12 December 1917 |
| Decommissioned | 30 November 1918 |
| Stricken | 17 June 1919 |
| Fate | Scrapped at Danzig, 1921 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type | Siegfried-class coast defense ship |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 79 m (259 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 14.90 m (48 ft 11 in) |
| Draft | 5.74 m (18.8 ft) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 15.1 knots (28.0 km/h; 17.4 mph) |
| Range | 4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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SMS Beowulf was the second vessel of the six-member Siegfried class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe) built for the German Imperial Navy. Her sister ships were Siegfried, Frithjof, Heimdall, Hildebrand, and Hagen. Beowulf was built by the AG Weser shipyard between 1890 and 1892, and was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) 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. Beowulf was demobilized in 1915 and used as a target ship for U-boats thereafter. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1921.