Armoured Frigates: Sachsen Class

[Brian James]

SMS Württemberg pictured c1881....She was one of four Sachsen Class Armored Ironclad 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. She was commissioned into the Imperial Navy in August 1881. She was armed with a main battery of six 10 inch 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, she was modernised at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel; she served for another seven years with the fleet before being withdrawn from active service in 1906.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.

[Brian James]

Sachsen Class Armoured Frigate SMS Bayern pictured c1889..Her sister ships were Sachsen, Baden, and Württemberg....Bayern was built by the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel from 1874 to 1881.She was commissioned into the Imperial Navy in August 1881. She was armed with a main battery of six 10 in guns in two open barbettes.
After her commissioning, Bayern 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 1895–1898,she was modernized at the Schichau-Werke Dockyard at Danzig; she served for another decade with the fleet before being withdrawn from active service in 1910. She was used as a Target Ship after 1911, until she was sold in 1919 and broken up for scrap.

[Blackbat242]

Nice photos - note that the one of Württemberg is after her late 1890s modernization.
For my first attachment here, I'll post an extract from Conway Martime Press - All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1860-1905:

Saschen class corvettes 1877.jpg

[designeraccd]

Here is a photo of a nice model of the name ship as built; it clearly shows the disposition of her "big" guns: a pair on bow with 4 singles about midships.......... DFO