SMS Preussen (1873)

Preussen in 1887
History
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	Design: 6,821 t (6,713 long tons) Full load: 7,718 t (7,596 long tons)
Length	96.59 m (316 ft 11 in)
Beam	16.30 m (53 ft 6 in)
Draft	7.11 m (23 ft 4 in)
Installed power	6 × boilers 5,471 PS (5,396 ihp)
Propulsion	1 × Single-expansion steam engine 1 × screw propeller
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	46 officers 454 enlisted men
Armament	4 × 26 cm (10 in) guns 2 × 17 cm (6.7 in) guns
Armor	Upper belt: 203 mm (8 in) Lower belt: 102 to 229 mm (4 to 9 in) Turrets: 203 to 254 mm (8 to 10 in)

SMS Preussen ^[a] was an ironclad turret ship built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). 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 (10.2 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 The ship was withdrawn from service at the end of 1891 and used as a harbor guard ship until 1896, when she was relegated to being a supply ship in Wilhelmshaven.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.
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