SMS Sachsen ( 1877 ) SMS " Sachsen " was the lead ship of her class of four ironclads of the German Kaiserliche Marine . Her sisterships were , , and . " Sachsen " was built in the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin . She was laid down in April 1875 , launched on 21 July 1877 , and commissioned on 21 October 1878 . The ship was armed with a main battery of six guns in individual open mounts . " Sachsen " was built when the German navy was primarily concerned with coastal defense against either French or Russian fleets . The ship participated in routine fleet maneuvers for the duration of her active career . On her last such fleet exercise , in 1901 , she accidentally rammed and sank the aviso . The following year , " Sachsen " was placed in reserve , and in 1911 , she was used as a target hulk for the fleet . The ship was eventually broken up for scrap in 1919 , following the German defeat in World War I . Construction . " Sachsen " was ordered by the Imperial Navy under the contract name " B , " which denoted that the vessel was a new addition to the fleet . She was built at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin ; her keel was laid in 1875 under construction number 74 . The ship was launched on 21 July 1877 , and commissioned into the German fleet on 20 October 1878 . She was the first large , armored warship built for the German navy that relied entirely on engines for propulsion . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward . " Sachsen " was powered by two 3 - cylinder triple expansion engines , which were supplied with steam by eight coal - fired Dürr boilers . The ship ' s top speed was , at Her standard complement consisted of 32 officers and 285 enlisted men , though while serving as a squadron flagship this was augmented by another 7 officers and 34 men . She was armed with six guns , two of which were single - mounted in an open barbette forward of the conning tower and the remaining four mounted amidships , also on single mounts in an open barbette . As built , the ship was also equipped with six L / 24 guns and eight Hotchkiss revolver cannons . " Sachsen ' s " armor was made of wrought iron , and was concentrated in an armored citadel amidships . The armor ranged from on the armored citadel , and between on the deck . The barbette armor was 254 mm of wrought iron backed by 250 mm of teak . Service history . After her commissioning , " Sachsen " joined the German fleet , which was tasked primarily with coastal defense against France and Russia , who were presumed to be the most likely enemies in a continental war . In the early 1880s , heightened tensions with Russia prompted the naval command developed more offensively - minded contingencies . These formed the basis for the annual summer fleet maneuvers , in which " Sachsen " took part . " Kapitän zur See " Otto von Diederichs took command of the ship in 1889 . " Sachsen " took part in a goodwill visit to Portsmouth to take part in the Cowes Regatta . Following the trip to England , " Sachsen " and the rest of the fleet conducted the annual summer exercises . At 15 : 45 on 27 February 1890 , " Sachsen " ran aground outside of Kiel in foggy weather . The grounding dented the bottom of the hull and tore it open . However , on 2 March , the ship was able to get underway at high tide . Repairs lasted for two weeks . In 1891 , the German navy stopped the practice of deactivating the fleet in the winter months and instead kept the front - line units on permanent active duty . The fleet was also reorganized , to form two four - ship divisions . " Sachsen " and her sisters were assigned to the I Division , under the command of Admiral Hans von Koester . Annual fleet training cruises were conducted in April . The summer fleet maneuvers , which occurred during mid - August to mid - September , up through 1894 were always centered on defensive actions in the North and Baltic seas . Starting in 1896 , " Sachsen " was dry - docked at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel for an extensive modernization . The ship ' s entire propulsion system , including screws , boilers , and engines were replaced with new equipment . The single - expansion engines were replaced with compound engines that offered higher performance . Wood construction was replaced with steel and the vessel was lightened by . The four funnels were trunked into a single stack and a new conning tower was built , protected by nickel - steel . The secondary battery was also improved : the 8 . 7 cm guns were replaced with 8 . 8 cm SK L / 30 quick - firing guns and the eight 3 . 7 cm machine guns were replaced with four newer models . On 1 May 1897 , the ship was re - commissioned for trials , during which the ship reached . On 4 September 1901 , " Sachsen " collided with the aviso while on extensive training maneuvers with the rest of the fleet . " Wacht " was sunk , but the crew was safely evacuated and neither ship suffered casualties . During the maneuvers , " Wacht " attempted to pass between " Sachsen " and her sistership " Württemberg " . However , " Wacht " s helmsman misjudged the distance and passed too closely in front of " Sachsen " . " Sachsen " immediately attempted to reverse course to avoid ramming the cruiser , but the ships collided . " Sachsen " s ram bow tore a large hole in " Wacht " , which began to slowly sink . The battleship attempted to tow " Wacht " to shallow water , but several of " Wacht " s internal bulkheads collapsed under the strain and the ship quickly sank . In 1902 , " Sachsen " was withdrawn from active service and placed in the reserve fleet . The ship remained as a reserve vessel until 19 February 1910 , when she was stricken from the navy list . The following year , " Sachsen " was used as a target hulk off the coast of Schwansen for the fleet . Following the German defeat in World War I in 1918 , the vessel was sold to Hattinger Co . , which broke the ship up for scrap in Wilhelmshaven in 1919 .