List of coastal defense ships of Germany In the 1880s , Germany built a series of coastal defense ship s to protect its coastline on the North and Baltic Seas . During the 1870s and early 1880s , the Imperial German Navy had built a number of ironclad warships of various designs . In the mid - 1880s , however , dissatisfaction with the s and the rise of the " Jeune École " doctrine persuaded Leo von Caprivi , then the chief of the Imperial Navy to turn away from capital ship construction in favor of coastal defense ships and torpedo boat s . As a result , the next class of large warships , the , was significantly smaller than the earlier ironclads , and armed with a main battery of only three large - caliber guns . These vessels were intended only for defense of German harbors . Six of them were built between 1888 and 1894 . Another two ships of the were built to a modified design between 1892 and 1896 . All eight of the ships were heavily modernized between 1898 and 1904 ; the reconstruction included lengthening the ships and equipping them with new boilers . All eight ships were mobilized briefly at the start of World War I in August 1914 as the VI Battle Squadron , though by August 1915 , they had all been withdrawn from service and employed in secondary roles . All were stricken from the naval register in 1919 after the end of the war and subsequently discarded ; three of the ships , , , and were converted into merchant ships and served in this capacity throughout the 1920s . The rest were broken up for scrap by the early 1920s . These coastal defense ships turned out to be a temporary diversion for the German fleet . In 1888 , before any of the " Siegfried " s or " Odin " s had been laid down , Caprivi was selected to replace Otto von Bismarck , who had been forced out of the position by the new Kaiser , Wilhelm II ; Caprivi in turn was replaced by Vice Admiral Alexander von Monts . Monts , a veteran naval officer , opposed Caprivi ' s policy on coastal defense , and instead proposed building four new s . These ships replaced what would have been the last two of the coastal defenders for which Caprivi had called . This set Germany on the trend of building large , ocean - going battleships for the next two decades . Indeed , Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz characterized the period the " Siegfried " and " Odin " classes were built , up to the passage of the First Naval Law in 1898 , as the " wasted decade " . " Siegfried " class . In 1883 , when General Leo von Caprivi became the chief of the Imperial Navy , he discarded the fleet policy of his predecessor , Albrecht von Stosch , in favor of creating a fleet that could defend Germany ' s coast . To that end , he called for the construction of new coastal defense ships that were larger than the unsuccessful s but smaller than the s . They were to be sufficiently seaworthy to permit use in the North Sea , with armament and armor strong enough to allow them to engage larger , foreign battleship s . Caprivi requested ten such vessels , though only eight would be built , the first six to the " Siegfried " design . The six " Siegfried " class ships were used in fleet maneuvers throughout the 1890s , until they were reconstructed at the end of the decade . The modernization included re - boilering and lengthening , both of which improved the ships ' speed . They were mobilized at the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , but remained on active service for only a year ; in August 1915 , they were withdrawn and used for secondary roles , primarily as barracks ship s . All of the ships , save , were scrapped after the end of the war . " Frithjof " was converted into a merchant ship instead , and operated until 1930 , when she too was broken up for scrap . " Odin " class . The " Odin " class , the seventh and eighth of Caprivi ' s proposed ten coastal defenders , was a modified version of the " Siegfried " design ; the primary differences were a slightly improved armor layout , a second funnel , and two military mast s . In 1888 , before the two " Odin " s were laid down , Caprivi ' s successor , Vice Admiral Alexander von Monts , ordered the construction of the four large battleships of the , to replace what would have been two more " Odin " - class coastal defense ships ; this marked the end of Germany ' s coastal battleship program . The two " Odin " - class ships were also rebuilt , in 1901 – 1904 , and received the same modifications as the " Siegfried " - class vessels . Their service histories were largely identical to the " Siegfried " s ; they served with the fleet from their commissioning , and were mobilized at the outbreak of war in August 1914 before being relegated to secondary duties in August 1915 . Both ships were rebuilt as merchantmen after the end of the war ; " Odin " served in this capacity until she was scrapped in 1935 , while " Ägir " s career was cut short when she ran aground off the Swedish island of Gotland in December 1929 . Notes . Footnotes Citations