text: sms württemberg ( 1878 ) sms württemberg was one of four sachsen - class armored frigates of the german imperial navy . her sister ships were sachsen , bayern , and baden . württemberg was built in the ag vulcan shipyard in stettin from 1876 to 1881 . the ship was commissioned into the imperial navy in august 1881 . she was armed with a main battery of six 26 cm ( 10 in ) guns in two open barbettes . after her commissioning , württemberg served with the fleet on numerous training exercises and cruises . she participated in several cruises escorting kaiser wilhelm ii on state visits to great britain and to various cities in the baltic sea in the late 1880s and early 1890s . during 1898 – 1899 , the ship was modernized at the imperial dockyard in kiel ; she served for another seven years with the fleet before being withdrawn from active service in 1906 . she was subsequently used in a variety of secondary roles , until she was sold in 1920 and broken up for scrap . construction württemberg was ordered by the imperial navy under the contract name " d , " which denoted that the vessel was a new addition to the fleet . she was built at the ag vulcan shipyard in stettin ; her keel was laid in 1876 under construction number 78 . the ship was launched on 9 november 1878 and commissioned into the german fleet on 9 may 1881 . along with her three sisters , württemberg was the first large , armored warship built for the german navy that relied entirely on engines for propulsion . the ship was 98 . 20 meters ( 322 . 2 ft ) long overall and had a beam of 18 . 40 m ( 60 . 4 ft ) and a draft of 6 . 32 m ( 20 . 7 ft ) forward . württemberg was powered by two 3 - cylinder triple expansion engines , which were supplied with steam by eight coal - fired dürr boilers . the ship 's top speed was 13 knots ( 24 km / h ; 15 mph ) , at 5 , 600 indicated horsepower ( 4 , 200 kw ) her standard complement consisted of 32 officers and 285 enlisted men , though while serving as a squadron flagship this was augmented by another 7 officers and 34 men . she was armed with six 26 cm ( 10 in ) guns , two of which were single - mounted in an open barbette forward of the conning tower and the remaining four mounted amidships , also on single mounts in an open barbette . as built , the ship was also equipped with six 8 . 7 cm ( 3 . 4 in ) l / 24 guns and eight 3 . 7 cm ( 1 . 5 in ) hotchkiss revolver cannons . württemberg 's armor was made of wrought iron , and was concentrated in an armored citadel amidships . the armor ranged from 203 to 254 mm ( 8 . 0 to 10 . 0 in ) on the armored citadel , and between 50 – 75 mm ( 2 . 0 – 3 . 0 in ) on the deck . the barbette armor was 254 mm of wrought iron backed by 250 mm of teak . service history after her commissioning in may 1881 , württemberg was placed in reserve . she was not activated for service with the fleet until 1884 ; this in part had to do with the poor performance of her sister sachsen in the fleet maneuvers of 1880 . among the problems associated with the sachsen - class ships was a tendency to roll dangerously due to their flat bottoms , which greatly reduced the accuracy of their guns . the ships were also poorly armored , compared to their contemporaries . in addition , they were slow and suffered from poor maneuverability . nevertheless , württemberg and her three sisters served as the i division in the 1884 fleet maneuvers , under the command of rear admiral alexander von monts . the ship was again placed in reserve in 1885 , but returned to fleet service in 1886 alongside sachsen , baden , and the new ironclad oldenburg . during the annual fleet maneuvers , württemberg 's engines proved troublesome . following the 1886 maneuvers , württemberg and her three sisters were removed from active duty to serve as the baltic reserve division . in june 1887 , germany dedicated the kaiser wilhelm canal ; württemberg was among the ships present during the celebrations . the ship returned to active service with the fleet in 1890 when she joined the i division during the annual maneuvers . württemberg was commanded by captain alfred von tirpitz during the exercises . the eight ships of the i and ii divisions simulated a russian fleet blockading kiel , which was defended by torpedo boat flotillas . württemberg was in reserve during the 1891 maneuvers , but returned to the i division in 1892 , 1893 , and 1894 . by the winter of 1894 – 1895 , the last of the four brandenburg - class battleships had been commissioned ; these ships were assigned to the i division , which displaced württemberg and her three sisters to the ii division . the eight ships conducted training cruises over the winter and spring before conducting the annual autumn fleet exercises . on 21 june 1895 , the kaiser wilhelm canal was opened for traffic , eight years after work had begun . württemberg and her three sisters , along with dozens of other warships , attended the ceremonies . the major naval powers sent fleets to join the fleet review . the autumn 1895 maneuvers simulated a high - seas battle between the i and ii divisions in the north sea , followed by combined maneuvers with the rest of the fleet in the baltic . württemberg again served during the 1896 and 1897 maneuvers , though sachsen was her only sister to join the exercises . baden and bayern were out of service for extensive modernization . after the conclusion of the 1897 maneuvers , württemberg was taken into drydock at the imperial dockyard in kiel for reconstruction . the ship 's old wrought iron and teak armor was replaced with new krupp nickel - steel armor . the four funnels were trunked into a single large funnel and new engines were also installed , which increased the ship 's speed to 15 . 4 knots ( 28 . 5 km / h ; 17 . 7 mph ) . the ship 's 8 . 7 cm guns were replaced with quick - firing 8 . 8 cm ( 3 . 5 in ) sk l / 30 guns and four 3 . 7 cm ( 1 . 5 in ) autocannons . work was completed in 1898 . württemberg remained with the fleet until 1906 ; her replacement in the fleet organization plan , the new dreadnought battleship rheinland , was ordered that year . württemberg was then used as a torpedo training and test ship until february 1919 , when she was reduced to an escort for f - type minesweepers . the ship was stricken from the naval register on 20 october 1920 and sold to co . württemberg was ultimately broken up for scrap in wilhelmshaven .