SMS König Wilhelm (1868)

SMS "König Wilhelm" was an armored frigate of the Prussian and later the German Imperial Navy.

The ship was built in 1868 by the Thames Iron Works in Blackwall, London. Citation
last = Massie
first = Robert K.
title = Castles of Steel
publisher = Random House Publishing Group
year = 2003
isbn =0345408780.] Initially ordered by the Turkish Navy, she was purchased during construction by Prussia and launched on 25 April 1868 under her new name "König Wilhelm". She displaced 9750 tons and was, as a frigate, 112 metres long overall, 108 metres on the waterline, 18.3 metres broad, with a draft of 8.56 metres. She was rigged as a three-master with 2600 square meters of sail, and had a horizontal simple-expansion steam engine by Maudslay of convert|1150|hp nominal (convert|8000|ihp) that could propel her at a maximum speed of convert|14|knot|km/h. Her armament consisted of thirty-three 72-pounder smoothbore muzzle-loading guns.

During the Franco Prussian War, "König Wilhelm" remained in port. Germany's ironclads had been forbidden to fight France's blockading forces. In 1878 she collided with SMS "Großer Kurfürst" during fleet exercises off Folkestone, causing the latter to sink with 284 of the crew.

Following a major modernization, including the removal of her entire rigging, at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg in 1897 she was reclassified as an armored cruiser, carrying a crew of 732. Her armament now comprised Krupp rifled breech-loading guns, 22 of 24 cm, 1 of 15 cm, and 18 x 8.8 cm rapid-fire guns.

She was decommissioned in 1904, serving thereafter as a barracks hulk in Kiel and Flensburg-Mürwik. She was scrapped in 1921.

References

* Gröner, Erich, "Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815–1945. Band 1: Panzerschiffe, Linienschiffe, Schlachtschiffe, Flugzeugträger, Kreuzer, Kanonenboote." Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1998. ISBN 3-7637-4800-8