SMS Hansa ( 1872 ) SMS " Hansa " was a German ironclad warship built in 1868 – 1875 . She was the first ironclad built in Germany ; all previous German ironclads had been built in foreign shipyards . She was named after the Hanseatic League , known in Germany simply as " Hanse " , Latinized " Hansa " . The ship was launched in October 1872 and commissioned into the German Imperial Navy ( " Kaiserliche Marine " ) in May 1875 . Designed for overseas service , " Hansa " was classed as an armored corvette and armed with eight guns in a central battery . " Hansa " served abroad for the first nine years of her career in the German navy . In 1884 , it was found that her iron hull was badly corroded , which rendered the ship unfit for further active service . She was therefore removed from active duty and used for a variety of secondary roles . From 1884 to 1888 , she served as a guard ship in Kiel , where she also trained engine and boiler room personnel . In 1888 , she was stricken from the naval register and used as a barracks ship in Kiel . She was moved to Mönkeberg in 1905 , where she continued to train boiler room personnel , until 1906 when she was sold to ship - breakers and dismantled for scrap . Design . General characteristics and machinery . " Hansa " was long at the waterline and long overall . She had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . The ship was designed to displace at a normal loading , and up to with a combat load . The ship ' s hull was formed with transverse iron frames and mixed iron and timber construction . The underwater portion of the hull was plated with copper to reduce fouling . It contained six watertight compartments . The German navy found the ship to be very stiff in her sea - keeping qualities . " Hansa " was very maneuverable and was easily controlled while under sail ; under steam the ship remained highly maneuverable but control suffered . The ship ' s crew numbered 28 officers and 371 enlisted men . She carried a number of smaller boats aboard , including two launches , one pinnace , two cutters , one yawl , and one dinghy . The ship also carried an unknown number of picket boats and barges . Anti - torpedo nets were briefly fitted to the ship from 1885 to 1888 . " Hansa " was powered by a single horizontal three - cylinder single - expansion steam engine built by AG Vulcan in Stettin . The engine drove a single three - bladed screw that was in diameter . Steam , at a pressure of at , was supplied by four trunk boilers in a single boiler room . The boilers were ducted into a single large funnel that could be retracted when the ship was operated under sail . The powerplant was rated at 450 nominal horsepower with a top speed of . On trials , her propulsion system managed and . The ship carried of coal for the boilers , which enabled a maximum range of at a cruising speed of . " Hansa " was fully rigged , and had a sail area of . Steering was controlled by a single rudder . Armament and armor . " Hansa " was armed with eight L / 19 hooped guns , each of which was provided with 110 rounds of ammunition . The guns were placed in a two - story arrangement amidships ; four were mounted in a broadside casemate , two on either side of the ship . The other four guns were mounted in casemates on the corners of the lower casemate , which gave the ship a degree of end - on fire capability . The lower guns could depress to −5° and elevate to 13° ; at maximum elevation , the guns could reach targets out to . The upper guns had a wider range of elevation ; they could depress to −8° and elevate to 14° . At maximum elevation , the guns had a range of . " Hansa " s armor consisted of teak - backed wrought iron , which was manufactured in Great Britain . Her armored belt was thick amidships , where it protected the ship ' s vitals . On the bow and stern , the belt was reduced to in thickness . The entire belt was backed with of timber . The casemates were armored with 114 mm thick sloping iron plates . The lower battery casemate had 114 mm thick transverse armored bulkheads on either end of the side armor . Service history . " Hansa " was laid down at the Royal Dockyard in Danzig in 1868 . She was the first ironclad warship to be built in a German shipyard ; her predecessors had all been built in French and British shipyards . The ship was launched on 26 October 1872 and moved to the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin for fitting out work . The work proceeded very slowly , and " Hansa " was not commissioned into the German fleet until 19 May 1875 , two and a half years after her launch . By comparison , all of the earlier foreign - built ironclads were completed in less than a year . Designed for overseas service protecting Germany ' s maritime trade , " Hansa " spent the first nine years of her career abroad . In 1884 , it was found that her hull was badly corroded ; this stemmed from the lengthy construction period , during which the iron had already begun to corrode . As a result of the poor shape of her hull , " Hansa " was removed from active service in 1884 and used as a guard ship in Kiel . While in Kiel , she was also used as a training ship for engine - room personnel and stokers . She was formally stricken from the naval register on 6 August 1888 . She was then used as a floating barracks in Kiel , until 1905 . " Hansa " was then moved to Mönkeberg , hulked , and used to train stokers . The ship did not last long in this service , and was sold in March 1906 for 96 , 000 marks . " Hansa " was broken up later that year in Swinemünde .