SMS Fürst Bismarck ( 1897 ) SMS " Fürst Bismarck " was Germany ' s first armored cruiser , built for the Kaiserliche Marine before the turn of the 20th century . She was named for the German statesman Otto von Bismarck . The design for the " Fürst Bismarck " was an improvement over the previous " Victoria Louise " - class protected cruiser — " Fürst Bismarck " was significantly larger and better armed than her predecessors . The ship was primarily intended for colonial duties , and she served in this capacity as part of the East Asia Squadron until she was relieved in 1909 , at which point she returned to Germany . The ship was rebuilt between 1910 and 1914 , and after the start of World War I , she was briefly used as a coastal defense ship . She proved inadequate to this task , and so she was withdrawn from active duty and served as a training ship for engineers until the end of the war . " Fürst Bismarck " was decommissioned in 1919 and sold for scrap . Design . " Fürst Bismarck " was designed before the naval arms race between Germany and the United Kingdom had gotten under way . Admiral Hollmann was the State Secretary of the Naval Office at the time . Given the dominance of the British Royal Navy and the impossibility , as he saw it , of competing with it , Hollmann envisaged a small fleet consisting of torpedo boats and coastal defense ship s to be based in German waters . This would be supplemented by a number of cruisers for overseas duties , including trade protection . The first armored cruiser to be designed by the German navy , " Fürst Bismarck " was an enlarged version of the s , at nearly twice the displacement and with a significantly more powerful armament . The ship was intended for overseas use , particularly in support of German colonies in Asia and the Pacific . Despite heavy political opposition , the new ship was approved by the Reichstag , and was laid down as " Ersatz Leipzig " in April 1896 at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel . " Fürst Bismarck " , named after the famous German chancellor Otto von Bismarck , was completed on 1 April 1900 , at a cost of 18 , 945 , 000 Marks . Dimensions . " Fürst Bismarck " was at the waterline , with an overall length of and a beam of . She had a draft of forward and aft . She displaced 10 , 690 metric tons at the designed load , and 11 , 461 tons at full load . " Fürst Bismarck " was described as being a very good sea - boat , and was highly responsive to commands from the helm . However , the ship suffered from serious roll problems and heavy vibration at higher speeds . Her metacentric height was . 72 m . The ship was of transverse and longitudinal steel frame construction ; the hull was a single layer of wooden planks covered by a Muntz metal sheath that extended up to above the waterline . The lower portions of the ship , including the stem and the stern , were covered with bronze plating . The ship had 13 watertight compartments and a double bottom that ran for 59 % of the length of the hull . Machinery . " Fürst Bismarck " was propelled by three vertical four - cylinder , triple - expansion reciprocating engines . The engines were powered by four Thornycroft boilers — which had been built by AG Germania — and 8 cylindrical boilers . The Thornycroft boilers had two fire boxes apiece , for a total of eight , while the cylindrical boilers each had four fire boxes , for a total of 32 . Each of the three engines drove a three - bladed screw . The center propeller was in diameter , while the two outer screws were slightly larger , at in diameter . The engines produced and a top speed of . On trials , the engines were pushed to , but still only provided a top speed of . Electrical power was supplied by five generators that provided 325 kilowatts at 110 volts . Armor . " Fürst Bismarck " was protected with Krupp armor , which was in some cases thicker than that of subsequent designs . The armor belt was thick in the central portion of the ship , and tapered down to towards either end of the ship . Set behind the armored belt were thick shields for critical areas of the ship . The main armored deck was thick , with thick slopes . The forward conning tower had 20 cm - thick sides and a thick roof , while the aft conning tower had 10 cm sides and a 3 cm roof . The main battery turret sides were 20 cm thick and the roofs were 4 cm thick . The 15 cm turrets had 10 cm sides and gun shields . The casemate d guns had 10 cm shields . By contrast , the following armored cruiser design , , had only had a 10 cm - thick armor belt and of armor on the turret sides . Even , Germany ' s last armored cruiser , only had a armored belt and 18 cm - thick turret faces , though her overall scale of protection was much more comprehensive than " Fürst Bismarck ' s " . Armament . " Fürst Bismarck ' s " main armament consisted of four SK L / 40 quick - firing guns in two Drh . L . C / 98 twin turrets , fore and aft of the main superstructure . These guns could depress to −4 degrees and elevate to 30 degrees , for a maximum range of . The guns fired armor piercing shells at a muzzle velocity of . The propellant charge weighed and was stored in a brass case . The ship stored 312 rounds , for a total of 78 shells per gun . The secondary armament consisted of twelve SK L / 40 quick - firing guns in MPL type casemates , and ten SK L / 30 guns in a combination of casemates and shielded mounts . The 15 cm guns could elevate to 20 degrees , and had a range of . The 15 cm guns could sustain a rate of fire of 4 to 5 rounds per minute , and stored 120 shells per gun . The 8 . 8 cm gun fired a projectile at a muzzle velocity of . Each gun was supplied with 250 shells . Six torpedo tubes were also fitted , with a total of 16 torpedoes . One tube was fitted to a swivel mount on the stern of the ship , four were submerged on the broadside , and the sixth was placed in the bow , also submerged . Service history . Upon commissioning , " Fürst Bismarck " was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron . She arrived at Tsingtao in August 1900 , under the command of Konteradmiral ( Rear Admiral ) Curt von Prittwitz und Gaffron , and participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion . The ship won the Kaiser ' s gold challenge cup for heavy - gun marksmanship in 1901 and 1903 . When the new armored cruiser arrived at Tsingtao in 1909 to replace " Fürst Bismarck " as flagship of the East Asia Squadron , she was ordered back to Germany . Upon arriving in Kiel in June 1909 , she was decommissioned and entered a lengthy modernization that lasted until 1914 . At the outbreak of World War I , the ship was reactivated for coast defense duties , but was quickly withdrawn from active service . " Fürst Bismarck " spent the remainder of the war as a stationary accommodation and engineering training ship in Kiel . In 1919 , she was used for a short time as an office ship . " Fürst Bismarck " was struck from the navy register on 17 June 1919 , sold for scrap , and broken up the following year at Audorf - Rendsburg . References . Books Journals Online sources