SMS Prinz Adalbert ( 1865 ) SMS " Prinz Adalbert " was an ironclad warship of the Prussian Navy , originally ordered by the Confederate States Navy . Prussia purchased the ship during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark , though the vessel was not delivered until after the war . The vessel was designed as an armored ram , but also carried three guns : one and two pieces in armored turrets . She was named after Prince Adalbert of Prussia , an early proponent of German naval power . The ship was poorly constructed and as a result had a very limited service career . She was heavily modified after her delivery to Prussia in 1865 and briefly served with the fleet between 1866 and 1871 . During the Franco - Prussian War in 1870 – 1871 , the ship was assigned as a guard ship in Hamburg . After the war , it was discovered that the internal wood construction was badly rotted ; she was therefore removed from service in October 1871 . " Prinz Adalbert " was stricken from the naval register in May 1878 and broken up for scrap that year . Design . General characteristics and propulsion . " Prinz Adalbert " was long at the waterline and long overall . She had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . She was designed to displace at a normal load and up to at combat load . The ship ' s hull was constructed from transverse frames , and included both iron and timber . The hull was sheathed in copper to protect it from parasites . The Prussians regarded the ship as a poor sea boat . The ram bow caused the vessel to ship a great deal of water . It was , however , responsive to commands from the helm and had a very tight turning radius . " Prinz Adalbert " had a crew of ten officers and 120 enlisted men . " Prinz Adalbert " s propulsion system was provided by Mazeline , based in Le Havre . The ship was powered by a pair of 2 - cylinder single expansion engines , each of which drove a four - bladed screw that was in diameter . The engines were placed in a single engine room . Two trunk boilers , also in a single boiler room , supplied steam to the engines at . Two rudders were fitted side by side to control the vessel . The ship was initially fitted with a 740 square meter ( 2 , 428 sq ft ) brig rig , though this was subsequently replaced with a 677 square meter topsail schooner rig . Armament and armor . As built , " Prinz Adalbert " was armed with three rifled 36 pounder muzzle - loading guns . One was placed in an integral five - port bow turret , while the other two were located in a fixed two - port turret amidships . After delivery in 1865 , the French guns were replaced with a L / 19 gun in the bow and two L / 25 guns in a revolving turret . The forward gun was supplied with 76 rounds of ammunition while the central guns had 71 shells each . " Prinz Adalbert " was armored with wrought iron , which was mounted on the wooden hull . The armored belt , which protected the waterline of the ship , was thick . The turrets were protected by of armor plating on the sides . Service history . " Prinz Adalbert " was built under the cover name " Cheops " by the French shipyard of the Arman brothers in Bordeaux . Her sister ship , built under the cover name " Sphinx " , was delivered to the Confederate Navy and renamed CSS " Stonewall " . The French emperor , Napoleon III , ordered the Arman brothers to sell " Cheops " to another navy immediately ; Prussia purchased the ship on 25 May 1864 . The Second Schleswig War between Denmark and Prussia and its ally Austria delayed delivery of the ship . " Cheops " was commissioned into the Prussian fleet on 29 October 1865 as " Prinz Adalbert " . Along with the turret ship , " Prinz Adalbert " was among the first armored vessels acquired by the Prussian Navy . The ship was named for Prince Adalbert of Prussia , one of the creators of the German fleet . While conducting trials off Denmark in June 1865 , " Prinz Adalbert " ran aground . During the Austro - Prussian War in 1866 , " Prinz Adalbert " was mobilized in Kiel under the command of Admiral Jachmann , but due to the lack of opponents in the North and Baltic Seas , the ship remained in the Baltic for the duration of the war . The ship did not last long in service due to her poor construction ; this necessitated significant refurbishment , which was carried out at the naval depot at Geestemünde in 1868 – 1869 . Her armor plating had to be removed and reinstalled , a breakwater was installed at the stern of the ship , and the main mast had to be relocated . She was re - rigged to a schooner rig during this refit . " Prinz Adalbert " also suffered from severe leaking throughout her short career . In 1870 , shortly before the outbreak of the Franco - Prussian War , the Prussian fleet was mobilized for a training cruise into the Atlantic . " Prinz Adalbert " and the recently commissioned broadside ironclad steamed to Plymouth , England , where they rendezvoused with the rest of the fleet . While in Plymouth , the squadron received news of imminent hostilities with France , and made for safety in Wilhelmshaven , arriving on 16 July , three days before the outbreak of war . For the duration of the conflict , " Prinz Adalbert " served as a harbor guard ship in Hamburg . Her timber hull was found to be rotten in 1871 , which forced her decommissioning . She was removed from service on 23 October 1871 and disarmed in 1875 – 1876 . The ship was formally stricken from the naval register on 28 May 1878 . She was broken up that year in Wilhelmshaven , and her engines were removed and reused .