Odin - class coastal defense ship The " Odin " class was a pair of coastal defense ship s built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 19th century . The class comprised two ships : , named after the Norse god Odin , and , named after the Norse god of the same name . The ships were very similar to the preceding s , and are sometimes considered to be one class of ships . Like the preceding " Siegfried " - class ships , " Odin " and " Ägir " were obsolete by the time World War I had started . Regardless , they were still used in their primary role until 1915 , at which point they were withdrawn from active service . The ships performed a variety of secondary duties until the end of the war . On 17 June 1919 , both ships were struck from the naval register and sold to the A . Bernstein Company in Hamburg . The shipping company had the ships rebuilt as freighters ; " Odin " served in this capacity until she was scrapped in 1935 , however " Ägir " accidentally grounded near the Karlsö lighthouse on the island of Gotland in 1929 and proved to be a total loss . Design . General characteristics . The " Odin " - class ships were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . Like the preceding " Siegfried " class , " Odin " and " Ägir " were substantially rebuilt between 1901 – 03 and 1903 – 04 , respectively . The hulls were lengthened somewhat , to at the waterline and overall . The beam was also slightly increased , to . Forward draft decreased slightly , to , while the aft draft increased slightly , to . The two ships had a designed displacement of and a maximum weight of . After the reconstruction , displacement was increased to designed , and a maximum of for " Odin " and for " Ägir " . " Odin " and " Ägir " used the same transverse and longitudinal steel frame construction as the " Siegfried " - class ships . The ships had eight watertight compartments and a double bottom for about 60 % of the length of the hull . As in the " Siegfried " s , a ninth watertight compartment was added when the ships were lengthened . The ships were described as good sea boats ; they had gentle motion and were very responsive to commands from the helm . The ships lost significant speed in heavy seas , however . The ships had a crew of 20 officers and 256 enlisted men , with an additional 6 officers and 22 men when serving as a flagship . The refit increased crew requirements , to an additional 31 sailors normally , and the extra flagship crew increased to 9 officers and 34 men . The ships carried a number of smaller boats , including one picket boat , one pinnace , two cutters , one yawl , and one dinghy . Propulsion . " Odin " and " Ägir " were equipped with the same propulsion system that was in " Siegfried " : two sets of 3 - cylinder triple expansion engines , each in its own engine room . These engines drove a pair of three - bladed screws that were in diameter . " Odin " had eight marine type boilers , while " Ägir " s engines were powered by eight Thornycroft boilers . The ships had similar maximum speeds , with " Odin " , at , somewhat slower than her design speed of and " Ägir " slightly faster at . Their engines were rated at , though on trials " Odin " managed only while " Ägir " reached . " Odin " had three electric generators that provided between 29 – 26 kilowatts at 67 volts , while " Ägir " was equipped with six generators that provided between 243 – 250 kW at 120 V . Because of her increased number of electrical generators , " Ägir " was nicknamed " " Electrische Anna " " ( " Electric Anna " ) . The ships stored up to of coal which enabled a range of at a cruising speed of . After the refit , fuel bunkerage was increased , to of coal . This increased the sailing range to at 10 knots . After 1909 , capacity to store of fuel oil was added . Armament . The ships ' primary armament consisted of three SK L / 35 guns . In an arrangement that was very unusual for such large guns , two of the guns were mounted in a pair of MPL C / 88 turrets forward side - by - side , while the third was mounted in a single turret aft . The guns could train 150 degrees to either side of the centerline , and depress to - 4 degrees and elevate to 25 degrees . This enabled a maximum range of . The guns had an ammunition storage of 174 rounds , or 58 shells per gun . The guns had a rate of fire of around 2 shells per minute . The 1895 design for the armor piercing shell weighed . The ships also had a secondary battery of ten SK L / 30 guns with 2 , 500 rounds of ammunition . The 8 . 8 cm gun fired a projectile at a muzzle velocity of 590 m / s ( 1 , 936 ft / s ) . The guns could sustain a rate of fire of approximately 15 rounds per minute . The ships were also equipped with three torpedo tubes . Two were placed laterally in above water swivel mounts and the third was submerged in the bow . The torpedo tubes were supplied with a total of 8 torpedoes . Armor . The ships used a similar Krupp compound steel and teak armor protection scheme as in the preceding " Siegfried " class . The upper section of the main armored belt was thick in the central portion of the ships , where the ships ' vitals were located . Behind this was of teak , which gave a total thickness of . The bow and stern were unprotected . The lower section followed a similar pattern of steel armor distribution , although the thickness of the central portion of the belt was decreased to . The main armored deck was between and thick ; more important areas of the ships were covered by the thicker armor . The conning tower roof was thick and the sides were . The barbettes for the main battery and cupolas for the secondary guns ranged in thickness between , backed by of teak . Service history . " Odin " and " Ägir " saw only limited service in their intended roles . The revolutions in capital ship building in the first decade of the 20th century rapidly made these ships obsolete . The Second Naval Law , passed on 27 March 1908 , reduced the service life of all capital ships from 25 years to 20 years . This meant that the " Odin " - class ships , along with a number of other vessels , were to be replaced as soon as possible . " Odin " and " Ägir " were replaced by the s and respectively . As the new battleships were intended for offensive operations , the " Odin " class was still retained for coast defense duties . The ships served in this capacity through the start of World War I , until they were withdrawn from active service in 1915 , along with their half - sisters of the " Siegfried " class . After she was pulled from combat duties , " Odin " served as a tender in Wilhelmshaven . She was struck from the naval register on 6 December 1919 and sold to A . Bernstein Co . , a shipping company based in Hamburg . By 1922 , the ship had been rebuilt as a freighter , and she served in this capacity until she was scrapped in 1935 . " Ägir " was also stationed in Wilhelmshaven after she was withdrawn from her coast defense duties , though she served as a barracks ship there . She was stricken from the navy list on 17 June 1919 , and also sold to A . Bernstein Co . for use as a freighter . On 8 December 1929 , the ship grounded off the Karlsö lighthouse on the Swedish island of Gotland . The situation proved to be unsalvageable . Her bow ornament is now on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial .