Sachsen Class Ironclad (1877)

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Four Sachsen class ironclads were completed for the Imperial German Navy between 1878 and 1883.

Overview of 4 vessels
Citations for this data available on individual ship pages
Name Builder Laid Down Launched Completed Fate
Sachsen AG Vulcan Stettin 1875 21 Jul, 1877 20 Oct, 1878 Sold 1919
Bayern Kaiserliche Werft Kiel 1874 13 May, 1878 4 Aug, 1881 Sold 1919
Württemberg AG Vulcan Stettin 1876 9 Nov, 1878 9 May, 1881 Sold 1921
Baden Kaiserliche Werft Kiel 1876 28 Jul, 1880 24 Sep, 1883 Sold 23 Apr, 1938

Design & Construction

Designed by the Imperial German Navy between 1872 and 1874. The Sachsens were iron-hulled with both transverse and longitudinal framing with sixteen watertight compartments and a double bottom extending over 60 per cent of the hull. Their machinery consisted of two 3-cylinder horizontal single-expansion engines driving two four-bladed propellers and fed by eight trunk boilers.[1]

Performance

The Sachsens were quite manoeuverable, very responsive to helm changes and with a small tactical diameter. However they were generally poor seaboats, prone to severe rolling in beam seas and shipping large quantities of water owing to their low freeboard.[2]

Armament

As Completed[3][4]

  • Six 260mm/22 caliber guns
  • Six 87mm/24 caliber guns
  • Eight 37mm Hotchkiss machine guns

1886[5][6]

  • Six 260mm/22 caliber guns
  • Six 87mm/24 caliber guns
  • Eight 37mm Hotchkiss machine guns
  • Three 350mm torpedo tubes, twelve torpedoes

As Rebuilt c. 1896[7][8]

  • Six 260mm/22 caliber guns
  • Eight 88mm/30 caliber quick-firing guns
  • Eight 37mm Hotchkiss machine guns
  • Three 350mm torpedo tubes, twelve torpedoes

See Also

Footnotes

  1. German Warships 1815-1945 I. p. 7.
  2. German Warships 1815-1945 I. p. 7.
  3. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 245.
  4. German Warships 1815-1945 I. pp. 8.
  5. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 245.
  6. German Warships 1815-1945 I. pp. 8.
  7. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. p. 245.
  8. German Warships 1815-1945 I. p. 8.

Bibliography

  • Chesneau, Robert; Kolesnik, Eugene (editors) (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Gray, Randal (editor) (1985). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. (on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk).
  • Gröner, Erich (revised and expanded by Dieter Jung and Martin Maass) (1990). German Warships 1815-1945. Volume One: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.


Sachsen Class Ironclad
  Sachsen Bayern Württemberg Baden  
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