SMS Kronprinz ( 1867 ) SMS " Kronprinz " was a unique German ironclad warship built for the Prussian Navy in 1866 – 1867 . " Kronprinz " was laid down in 1866 at the Samuda Brothers shipyard at Cubitt Town in London . She was launched in May 1867 and commissioned into the Prussian Navy that September . The ship was the fourth ironclad ordered by the Prussian Navy , after , , and , though she entered service before " Friedrich Carl " . " Kronprinz " was built as an armored frigate , armed with a main battery of sixteen 21 cm ( 8 . 3 in ) guns ; several smaller guns were added later in her career . " Kronprinz " saw limited duty during the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 – 1871 . Engine troubles aboard the ship , along with the two other armored frigates in her squadron , prevented operations against the French blockade . Only two sorties in which " Kronprinz " participated were conducted , both of which did not result in combat . The ship served in the subsequent Imperial Navy until she was converted into a training ship for boiler room personnel in 1901 . The ship was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1921 . Design . General characteristics and propulsion . " Kronprinz " 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 constructed with transverse and longitudinal iron frames . It contained nine watertight compartments and a double bottom that ran for 43 percent of the length of the vessel . The ship was an excellent sea boat ; the ship was responsive to commands from the helm but had a large turning radius . The ship ' s crew numbered 33 officers and 508 enlisted men . " Kronprinz " carried a number of smaller boats , including a large tender , two launches , a pinnace , two cutters , two yawls , and one dinghy . The ship ' s propulsion system was built by J . Penn & Sons of Greenwich , England . A horizontal two - cylinder single expansion steam engine powered the ship . It drove a two - bladed screw in diameter . Eight trunk boilers , with four fireboxes in each , were divided into two boiler rooms . The boilers supplied steam to the engine at . The propulsion system was rated at and a top speed of , though on trials " Kronprinz " managed to make and . The ship carried up to of coal , which enabled a maximum range of at a cruising speed of and a range of at 14 knots . A barque rig with a surface area of 1 , 980 square meters supplemented the steam engine . Steering was controlled with a single rudder . Armament and armor . As built , " Kronprinz " was equipped with thirty - two rifled 72 - pounder cannon . After her delivery to Germany , these guns were replaced with a pair of L / 22 guns and fourteen 21 cm L / 19 guns . The L / 22 gun could depress to −5 degrees and elevate to 13 degrees , which provided a range of . The shorter barreled L / 19 guns had a wider range of elevation , from −8 to 14 . 5 degrees , but the shorter barrel imposed a lower muzzle velocity , which correspondingly reduced the range of the gun to . The two types of gun fired the same shell , of which the total supply numbered 1 , 656 rounds of ammunition . The fourteen L / 19 guns were placed in a central battery amidships , seven on either broadside . The L / 22 guns were placed on either end of the ship . Later in her career , six revolver cannon and five torpedo tubes were added . Two of the tubes were placed in the bow , two on the ship ' s sides , and one in the stern on the port side . All were placed above water , and were supplied with 12 torpedoes . " Kronprinz " s armor consisted of wrought iron backed with heavy teak planking . The iron component of the waterline armored belt ranged in thickness from in the stern to amidships and toward the bow . The entire belt was backed with of teak . The central battery was protected by of sloped iron plating on 254 mm of timber . The battery ' s roof was protected by thick iron plating . Service history . " Kronprinz " was laid down in 1866 at the Samuda Brothers shipyard in London . The British naval architect Edward Reed designed the ship , and resulted in a vessel similar to the contemporary , French - built Prussian ironclad . The ship was launched on 6 May 1867 and commissioned into the Prussian Navy four months later on 19 September 1867 . On the voyage from England to Prussia , the ship lost her main mast in a storm . The ship immediately went into dock for refitting upon arrival in Prussia ; the mast was repaired and the ship ' s armament was converted from the initial arrangement . At the outbreak of the Franco - Prussian War in 1870 , the greatly numerically inferior Prussian Navy assumed a defensive posture against a naval blockade imposed by the French Navy . " Kronprinz " and the broadside ironclads and , along with the small ironclad ram , had been steaming in the English Channel before the French declared war ; they had left Plymouth on 10 July with the intention of steaming to Fayal in the Azores . On the 13th , however , they put into port and learned of the rising tension between France and Prussia . The ships therefore returned to Wilhelmshaven immediately , arriving on 16 July . France declared war on Prussia three days later on 19 July . " Kronprinz " , " Friedrich Carl " , and " König Wilhelm " were concentrated in the North Sea at the port of Wilhelmshaven . They were subsequently joined there by the turret ship , which had been stationed in Kiel . For the duration of the conflict , " Kronprinz " was commanded by Captain Reinhold von Werner . Despite the great French naval superiority , the French had conducted insufficient pre - war planning for an assault on the Prussian naval installations , and concluded that it would only be possible with Danish assistance , which was not forthcoming . The four ships , under the command of Vice Admiral Jachmann , made an offensive sortie in early August 1870 out to the Dogger Bank , though they encountered no French warships . " Kronprinz " and the other two broadside ironclads thereafter suffered from chronic engine trouble , which left " Arminius " alone to conduct operations . " Kronprinz " , " Friedrich Carl " , and " König Wilhelm " stood off the island of Wangerooge for the majority of the conflict , while " Arminius " was stationed in the mouth of the Elbe river . On 11 September , the three broadside ironclads were again ready for action ; they joined " Arminius " for another major operation into the North Sea . It too did not encounter French opposition , as the French Navy had by this time returned to France . Engine problems plagued the ship throughout her career ; " Kronprinz " s engines broke down during the fleet maneuvers in May 1883 . Two of the three other armored frigates also broke down , which forced the cancellation of the maneuvers . " Kronprinz " had anti - torpedo nets installed in 1885 ; these were removed in 1897 . The ship served on active duty with the fleet until 22 August 1901 , when she was stricken from the naval register . She was reconstructed at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel that year . The propulsion system was overhauled and the eight J Penn & Sons boilers were removed . Two Dürr and two Thornycroft boilers were installed in their place . Her barque rig was cut down to . After emerging from the reconstruction , " Kronprinz " served as a training ship for engine - room personnel , based in Kiel . The ship was ultimately sold to Bonn , a German ship - breaking firm , on 3 October 1921 for 5 , 000 , 000 marks . " Kronprinz " was broken up for scrap in Rendsburg - Audorf later that year .