text: sms hansa ( 1872 ) sms hansa was a german ironclad warship built in 1868 – 1875 . she was the first ironclad built in germany ; all previous german ironclads had been built in foreign shipyards . she was named after the hanseatic league , known in germany simply as hanse , latinized hansa . the ship was launched in october 1872 and commissioned into the german imperial navy ( kaiserliche marine ) in may 1875 . designed for overseas service , hansa was classed as an armored corvette and armed with eight 21 cm ( 8 . 3 in ) guns in a central battery . hansa served abroad for the first nine years of her career in the german navy . in 1884 , it was found that her iron hull was badly corroded , which rendered the ship unfit for further active service . she was therefore removed from active duty and used for a variety of secondary roles . from 1884 to 1888 , she served as a guard ship in kiel , where she also trained engine and boiler room personnel . in 1888 , she was stricken from the naval register and used as a barracks ship in kiel . she was moved to in 1905 , where she continued to train boiler room personnel , until 1906 when she was sold to ship - breakers and dismantled for scrap . design general characteristics and machinery hansa was 71 . 73 meters ( 235 . 3 ft ) long at the waterline and 73 . 50 m ( 241 . 1 ft ) long overall . she had a beam of 14 . 10 m ( 46 . 3 ft ) and a draft of 5 . 74 m ( 18 . 8 ft ) forward and 6 . 80 m ( 22 . 3 ft ) aft . the ship was designed to displace 3 , 950 metric tons ( 3 , 890 long tons ; 4 , 350 short tons ) at a normal loading , and up to 4 , 404 t ( 4 , 334 long tons ; 4 , 855 short tons ) with a combat load . the ship 's hull was formed with transverse iron frames and mixed iron and timber construction . the underwater portion of the hull was plated with copper to reduce fouling . it contained six watertight compartments . the german navy found the ship to be very stiff in her sea - keeping qualities . hansa was very maneuverable and was easily controlled while under sail ; under steam the ship remained highly maneuverable but control suffered . the ship 's crew numbered 28 officers and 371 enlisted men . she carried a number of smaller boats aboard , including two launches , one pinnace , two cutters , one yawl , and one dinghy . the ship also carried an unknown number of picket boats and barges . anti - torpedo nets were briefly fitted to the ship from 1885 to 1888 . hansa was powered by a single horizontal three - cylinder single - expansion steam engine built by ag vulcan in stettin . the engine drove a single three - bladed screw that was 6 m ( 20 ft ) in diameter . steam , at a pressure of at 2 standard atmospheres ( 200 kpa ) , was supplied by four trunk boilers in a single boiler room . the boilers were ducted into a single large funnel that could be retracted when the ship was operated under sail . the powerplant was rated at 450 nominal horsepower with a top speed of 12 knots ( 22 km / h ; 14 mph ) . on trials , her propulsion system managed 3 , 275 indicated horsepower ( 2 , 442 kw ) and 12 . 7 knots ( 23 . 5 km / h ; 14 . 6 mph ) . the ship carried 310 t ( 310 long tons ; 340 short tons ) of coal for the boilers , which enabled a maximum range of 1 , 330 nautical miles ( 2 , 460 km ; 1 , 530 mi ) at a cruising speed of 10 knots ( 19 km / h ; 12 mph ) . hansa was fully rigged , and had a sail area of 1 , 760 m2 ( 18 , 900 sq ft ) . steering was controlled by a single rudder . armament and armor hansa was armed with eight 21 - centimeter ( 8 . 3 in ) l / 19 hooped guns , each of which was provided with 110 rounds of ammunition . the guns were placed in a two - story arrangement amidships ; four were mounted in a broadside casemate , two on either side of the ship . the other four guns were mounted in casemates on the corners of the lower casemate , which gave the ship a degree of end - on fire capability . the lower guns could depress to − 5 ° and elevate to 13 ° ; at maximum elevation , the guns could reach targets out to 3 , 200 m ( 10 , 500 ft ) . the upper guns had a wider range of elevation ; they could depress to − 8 ° and elevate to 14 ° . at maximum elevation , the guns had a range of 5 , 700 m ( 18 , 700 ft ) . hansa 's armor consisted of teak - backed wrought iron , which was manufactured in great britain . her armored belt was 152 mm ( 6 . 0 in ) thick amidships , where it protected the ship 's vitals . on the bow and stern , the belt was reduced to 114 mm ( 4 . 5 in ) in thickness . the entire belt was backed with 306 mm ( 12 . 0 in ) of timber . the casemates were armored with 114 mm thick sloping iron plates . the lower battery casemate had 114 mm thick transverse armored bulkheads on either end of the side armor . service history hansa was laid down at the royal dockyard in danzig in 1868 . she was the first ironclad warship to be built in a german shipyard ; her predecessors had all been built in french and british shipyards . the ship was launched on 26 october 1872 and moved to the ag vulcan shipyard in stettin for fitting out work . the work proceeded very slowly , and hansa was not commissioned into the german fleet until 19 may 1875 , two and a half years after her launch . by comparison , all of the earlier foreign - built ironclads were completed in less than a year . designed for overseas service protecting germany 's maritime trade , hansa spent the first nine years of her career abroad . in 1884 , it was found that her hull was badly corroded ; this stemmed from the lengthy construction period , during which the iron had already begun to corrode . as a result of the poor shape of her hull , hansa was removed from active service in 1884 and used as a guard ship in kiel . while in kiel , she was also used as a training ship for engine - room personnel and stokers . she was formally stricken from the naval register on 6 august 1888 . she was then used as a floating barracks in kiel , until 1905 . hansa was then moved to , hulked , and used to train stokers . the ship did not last long in this service , and was sold in march 1906 for 96 , 000 marks . hansa was broken up later that year in swinemünde .