Preussen-class ironclad

The Preussen class was a group of three ironclad turret ships built for the German Imperial Navy in the early 1870s: Preussen, Friedrich der Grosse and Grosser Kurfürst. Preussen was laid down in 1871 and launched in 1873, Friedrich der Grosse followed in 1874, and Grosser Kurfürst, the first to be laid down in 1869, was launched in 1875 and was the last to be completed. Preussen was ordered from the private AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, and her engine was also built by Vulcan, while the other two ships were built at the new Imperial dockyards at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. Each ship had a single three-cylinder expansion engine fed by six coal-fired boilers and a top speed of 14 knots. Grosser Kurfürst sank after a collision in 1878, and the other two served in the fleet until the 1890s, then worked as harbour ships and coal hulks before being scrapped in 1919 and 1920.