SMS Hildebrand SMS " Hildebrand " was the fifth vessel of the six - member " Siegfried " class of coastal defense ship s ( " Küstenpanzerschiffe " ) built for the German Imperial Navy . Her sister ships were , , , , and . " Hildebrand " was built by the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel shipyard between 1890 and 1893 , and was armed with a main battery of three guns . She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1900 – 1902 . She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , but saw no action . " Hildebrand " was demobilized in 1915 and used as a barracks ship thereafter . She ran aground while en route to Holland for scrapping in 1919 , and was eventually broken up in situ in 1933 . Design . " Hildebrand " was long overall and had a beam of and a maximum draft of . She displaced at full combat load . Her propulsion system consisted of two vertical 3 - cylinder triple expansion engines . Steam for the engines was provided by four coal - fired boilers . The ship ' s propulsion system provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at . " Hildebrand " had a crew of 20 officers and 256 enlisted men . The ship was armed with three 24 cm K L / 35 guns mounted in three single gun turret s . Two were placed side by side forward , and the third was located aft of the main superstructure . They were supplied with a total of 204 rounds of ammunition . The ship was also equipped with eight 8 . 8 cm SK L / 30 guns in single mounts . " Hildebrand " also carried four torpedo tube s , all in swivel mounts on the deck . One was at the bow , another at the stern , and two amidships . The ship was protected by an armored belt that was amidships , and an armored deck that was thick . The conning tower had thick sides . Service history . " Hildebrand " was laid down in 1890 at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel . She was launched on 6 August 1892 , and completed on 28 October 1893 . " Hildebrand " participated in the fleet maneuvers in 1894 , alongside two of her sister ships in the IV Division of the fleet . The Division was based in Danzig with some torpedo boat s and operated as the German fleet in mock engagements with the I Division , which simulated the Russian Baltic Fleet . In 1897 , " Hildebrand " again participated in the annual summer maneuvers in the III Division , along with and . Her other three sisters were assigned to the IV Division . " Hildebrand " , " Siegfried " , , and simulated the hostile fleet during the 1900 summer exercises . " Hildebrand " served on active duty with the fleet until 1901 , when she was taken into drydock at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Danzig for an extensive reconstruction . The ship was lengthened to , which increased displacement to . Her old boilers were replaced with eight new Marine type boilers , and a second funnel was added . Her secondary battery was increased to ten 8 . 8 cm guns , and the 35 cm torpedo tubes were replaced with three tubes . Work was completed by 1902 . " Hildebrand " returned to the fleet after her modernization was completed , assigned to the II Squadron , alongside " Heimdall " , , and " Beowulf " . She remained in the fleet where she remained until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , when she was mobilized into the VI Battle Squadron for coastal defense , along with her sister ships . On 31 August 1915 , the VI Battle Squadron was demobilized , and " Hildebrand " s crew was transferred to other warships . She was then used as a barracks ship in Windau . On 17 June 1919 , she was stricken from the naval register . She was sold Holland for scrapping , but ran aground while en route to the breakers . In 1933 , her wreck was blown up and subsequently broken up in situ .