SMS Frithjof |
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| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Frithjof |
| Namesake: | Frithjof |
| Builder: | AG Weser's works in Bremen |
| Laid down: | February 1890 |
| Launched: | 21 July 1891 |
| Commissioned: | 23 February 1893 |
| Fate: | Sold off, 1919; scrapped at Danzig, 1930 |
| General characteristics as built | |
| Class and type: | Siegfried-class coast defense ship |
| Displacement: | 3,500 metric tons (3,400 long tons) |
| Length: | 76.4 m (250.7 ft) waterline; 79 m (259.2 ft) overall |
| Beam: | 14.9 m (48.9 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.7 m (18.7 ft) |
| Installed power: | 4,800 ihp (3,600 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
2 shafts, 2 Triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed: | 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Range: | 4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 276 |
| Armament: |
3 × 1 - 240 mm (9.4 in) guns |
| Armor: | Waterline belt: 180–240 mm (7.1–9.4 in) Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in) Gun turrets: 200 mm (7.9 in) Barbettes: 200 mm (7.9 in) Conning tower: 180 mm (7.1 in) |
The SMS Frithjof (known during its construction as fourth class ironclad Q or Panzerschiffs IV. Klasse Q) was a coastal defence ship of the Kaiserliche Marine. It was the third ship of the Siegfried class, all of which were originally classified as fourth class ironclads but redesignated coastal defence ships in 1899. It was named after the eponymous hero of the Frithjof saga.
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The ship's construction began at the AG Weser works at Bremen in February 1890 and she was launched on 21 July 1891 by vice-admiral Wilhelm Schröder, head of the North Sea Naval Station. Her completion took another 14 months and her first sea trials began in November 1892. She was commissioned on 23 February 1893.
The Second Naval Law laid down that battleships (including coastal defence ships) only had a lifespan of 20 years and so in 1910 the SMS Oldenburg was launched as a replacement for the Frithjof.
At the end of the war she was the base ship for the inspection of Ubootwesens at Danzig.
On 17 June 1919 she was struck from the list of warships. She was then bought by the Hamburg shipowner Arnold Bernstein, who also bought the Odin and the Ägir (the only two ships of the Odin class, sometimes seen as a sub-class of the Siegfried class). In 1923 the Frithjof was turned into a motorised cargo ship at the Deutsche Werft in Rüstringen, by the removal of her superstructure, armour, machinery and her few remaining guns. Her machinery was replaced by two 550 horsepower motors from U-boats. She was then used as a cargo ship until 1930, when she was scrapped in Danzig.
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