SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1874)
1874 Preussen-class ironclad
SMS Friedrich der Grosse (or Große ) was an ironclad turret ship built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). She was the second of three Preussen-class ironclads, in addition to her two sister-ships Preussen and Grosser Kurfürst. Named for Frederick the Great, she was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel in 1871 and completed in 1877. Her main battery of four 26 cm (10 in) guns was mounted in a pair of twin gun turrets amidships.
Friedrich der Grosse served with the fleet from her commissioning until 1896, though she was frequently placed in reserve throughout her career. The ship was a regular participant in the annual fleet training maneuvers, except in the mid-1880s when she was temporarily replaced by newer vessels. She participated in several cruises in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, often escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II on official state visits. The ship was removed from active service in 1896, after which she was used in secondary roles until 1919, then stricken from the naval register, sold to a scrapyard, and broken up for scrap the following year.
Design
The three Preussen-class ironclads were authorized under the naval program of 1867, which had been approved by the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) to strengthen the North German Federal Navy in the wake of the Second Schleswig War, when the weak, then-Prussian Navy had been unable to break the blockade imposed by the Danish Navy. Initially ordered as casemate ships, the vessels were re-designed as turret ships; they were the first uniform class of ironclads built by for the German fleet.
“SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1874)” enters the record as 1874 Preussen-class ironclad. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Friedrich, Grosse and Preussen-class can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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