SMS Preussen ( 1873 ) SMS " Preussen " was an armored frigate of the German Kaiserliche Marine . 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 guns was mounted in a pair of twin gun turret s 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 The ship was withdrawn from service at the end of 1891 and used as a harbor guard ship until 1896 , when she was relegated to being a supply ship in Wilhelmshaven .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 boat s . In 1903 , she was renamed " Saturn " so her name could be reused . The ship was ultimately sold to shipbreakers in 1919 . Construction . " Preussen " was ordered by the Imperial Navy from the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin ; her keel was laid in 1871 under construction number 66 . This was the first time a private German shipbuilder was given a contract to build a large warship for the navy . The ship was launched on 22 November 1873 and commissioned into the German fleet on 4 July 1876 . " Preussen " cost the German government 7 , 303 , 000 gold marks . Although she was the third and final ship in her class to be laid down , she was the first to be launched and commissioned . This was because her two sisters , and , were built by newly established Imperial dockyards , while " Preussen " was built by an experienced commercial ship builder . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward . " Preussen " was powered by one 3 - cylinder single - expansion steam engine , which was supplied with steam by six coal - fired transverse trunk boilers . The ship ' s top speed was , at . She was also equipped with a full ship rig . Her standard complement consisted of 46 officers and 454 enlisted men . She was armed with four L / 22 guns mounted in a pair of gun turret s placed amidships . As built , the ship was also equipped with two L / 25 chase gun s . After being rebuilt in 1888 – 1890 , her armament was increased by six and later ten L / 30 quick - firing guns , a pair of machine guns , and five torpedo tube s , all submerged in the ship ' s hull . " Preussen " s armor was made of wrought iron and backed with teak . The armored belt was arrayed in two strake s . The upper strake was thick ; the lower strake ranged in thickness from . Both were backed with of teak . The gun turrets were protected by armor on the sides , backed by 260 mm of teak . Service history . After her commissioning in July 1876 , " Preussen " served with the fleet . She joined a squadron sent to the Mediterranean Sea in 1877 in response to unrest in the Ottoman Empire related to the Russo - Turkish War ; the violence threatened German citizens living there . The squadron , under the command of Rear Admiral Carl Ferdinand Batsch , steamed to the ports of Haifa and Jaffa in July 1877 , but found no significant tensions ashore . Batsch then departed and cruised the Mediterranean for the remainder of the summer , returning to Germany in October . In April 1878 , " Preussen " participated in the fleet maneuvers , again under the command of Rear Admiral Batsch . By this time , she was joined by her two sister ships , " Friedrich der Grosse " and " Grosser Kurfürst " . While steaming in the English Channel on 31 May , the armored frigate accidentally rammed " Grosser Kurfürst " ; the latter quickly sank with the loss of 276 men . After assisting in the rescue attempt , " Preussen " escorted the damaged " König Wilhelm " to Portsmouth , where the Royal Navy made available a dry dock for emergency repairs . Albrecht von Stosch , the chief of the Kaiserliche Marine , ordered Rear Admiral Batsch and his staff to return to Germany immediately aboard " Preussen " and the dispatch vessel . The annual summer maneuvers for 1878 were canceled within a week of the sinking . In May 1879 , the armored squadron was reactivated , composed of " Preussen " , her sister " Friedrich der Grosse " , and the old armored frigates and . The annual summer training cruise was primarily conducted in just the Baltic Sea , apart from a short voyage in June to the coast of Norway . The four ships returned to Kiel in September , where they were demobilized for the winter . The new armored corvette replaced " Kronprinz " in the squadron in 1880 . Wilhelm von Wickede , a former Austrian naval officer , replaced Batsch as the squadron commander . Again , the squadron remained in the Baltic for the summer cruise , with the exception of a short visit to Wilhelmshaven and Cuxhaven in August . The summer cruise in 1881 followed the same pattern as the year previous , though " Kronprinz " returned in place of " Sachsen " , which was plagued with engine problems . Wickede again served as the commander . In July , the ships hosted a visit by the British reserve squadron , which by this time included the first British ironclad , . " Preussen " and the rest of the squadron visited Danzig in September during a meeting between Kaiser Wilhelm I and the Russian Tsar Alexander III . The 1882 summer cruise included the same four ironclads from the previous year , and was again commanded by Wickede , who had by then been promoted to Rear Admiral . " Preussen " was kept in reserve during the annual summer maneuvers starting in 1883 , as new ships , including the rest of the s entered service . In August 1889 , " Preussen " was reactivated to participate in Kaiser Wilhelm II ' s visit to Great Britain . The ship was assigned to the II Division , along with her sister " Friedrich der Grosse " and the central battery ironclads and , under command of Rear Admiral Friedrich Hollmann . The fleet then conducted maneuvers in the North Sea before returning to Germany . " Preussen " and the rest of the II Division became the training squadron for the fleet in 1889 – 1890 , the first year the Kaiserliche Marine maintained a year - round ironclad force . The squadron escorted Wilhelm II ' s imperial yacht to the Mediterranean ; the voyage included state visits to Italy and the Ottoman Empire . The squadron remained in the Mediterranean until April 1890 , when it returned to Germany . " Preussen " participated in the ceremonial transfer of the island of Helgoland from British to German control in the summer of 1890 . She was present during the fleet maneuvers in September , where the entire eight - ship armored squadron simulated a Russian fleet blockading Kiel . The II Division , including " Preuseen " , served as the training squadron in the winter of 1890 – 1891 . The squadron again cruised the Mediterranean , under the command of Rear Admiral Wilhelm Schröder . " Preussen " saw one final round of fleet maneuvers with the II Division in 1891 . She was removed from fleet duty to serve as a harbor guard ship at the end of 1891 . She was based in Wilhelmshaven as a harbor ship starting on 16 November 1896 . She was renamed " Saturn " on 12 November 1903 , so her name could be reused on the new battleship . The ship was formally stricken from the naval register on 21 May 1906 . She was subsequently used as a coal hulk for torpedo boats . After being converted for this use , " Saturn " could hold up to of coal . She was eventually sold for scrapping on 27 June 1919 and broken up that year in Wilhelmshaven . Her figurehead is on display in the " Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr " in Dresden , while her bow ornament is located in the " Deutsches Museum " in Munich . Notes . Notes Citations