Sachsen-class ironclad

The Sachsen class was a group of four armoured corvettes, usually described as ironclads, built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1870s and early 1880s: Sachsen, Bayern, Württemberg and Baden. They were designed for a coastal defence role, meant to sortie from fortified bases to break up a blockade or a landing, and each carried six 26 cm guns so that it could meet enemy ironclads on fairly even terms. Two of the four, Sachsen and Württemberg, were built by AG Vulcan at Stettin, while Bayern and Baden came from the Imperial Dockyard at Kiel. The ships were extensively rebuilt in the late 1890s, left front-line duty between 1902 and 1910, and ended as target ships, a torpedo training ship and a boom defence hulk before being broken up or sold for scrap. Vulcan later built the two Dingyuan-class ironclads for China to a modified Sachsen design.