 Prinz Adalbert was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel in 1900, under construction number 27. She was ordered under the contract name "B". The completed hull was launched on 22 June 1901, after which fitting-out work was effected. The ship was finally completed by 12 January 1904, the day she was commissioned into the German Navy. Friedrich Carl was ordered as Ersatz König Wilhelm and assigned to the Blohm & Voss shipyard; her keel was laid in 1901. She was launched on 21 June 1902, almost exactly a year after her sister ship. After fitting out work was completed, Friedrich Carl was commissioned into the Navy on 12 December 1903, a month before her sister ship.
