She was built by the Samuda Brothers shipyard in London as a speculative project, possibly to sell to the Confederate Navy. Illustration of one of Arminius ' four guns Construction The two turrets were armored with 114 mm of iron on 406 mm (16 in) of timber. The armored belt ranged in thickness from 76 mm (3 in) of iron on the bow and stern to 114 mm amidships, the entire length of which was backed by 229 mm of teak. The conning tower was protected by 114 mm (4.5 in) of wrought iron on 229 mm (9 in) of teak. Īrminius 's armor consisted of wrought iron backed with teak plating. After 1881, four machine guns were installed, along with a single 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tube mounted in the bow above the waterline. At maximum elevation, the guns could engage targets out to 2,800 m (3,100 yd). These guns were supplied with a total of 332 rounds, and could elevate to 12 degrees. Armament and armor Īs built, Arminius was equipped with a main battery of four rifled, bronze 72-pounder cannon, but after delivery to the Prussian Navy they were replaced with four 21 cm (8.3 in) L/19 guns manufactured by Krupp. The ship carried 171 t (168 long tons 188 short tons) of coal, which enabled a range of 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km 2,300 mi) at a cruising speed of 8 kn (15 km/h 9.2 mph). The propulsion system was rated at 1,200 metric horsepower (1,200 ihp) and a top speed of 10 knots (19 km/h 12 mph), though on trials, Arminius reached 1,440 PS (1,420 ihp) and 11.2 kn (20.7 km/h 12.9 mph). The ship was equipped with a schooner rig with a surface area of 540 square meters. Limited electrical power was provided by a single generator, which supplied 1.9 kilowatts at 55 volts. The boilers were also built by J Penn & Sons, Greenwich, and were arranged in a single boiler room. Four coal fired, transverse trunk boilers, each of which had four fireboxes apiece, supplied steam to the engine. The engine drove a single two-bladed screw propeller that was 3.96 m (13 ft) in diameter. The ship was powered by a single two-cylinder single-expansion steam engine built by J. It was also impossible to control the ship with only sail power. The ship was required to have the rudder at 15 degrees to port in order to remain on a straight course. The ship turned rapidly to starboard but was sluggish in turning to port. She also shipped a great deal of water over the bow and was unbalanced in steering. Arminius was not a particularly successful design she suffered from severe, fast rolling, especially in heavier seas. She carried a number of smaller boats, including two pinnaces, two cutters, and one dinghy. The ship's crew consisted of ten officers and 122 enlisted men. As was common for warships of the period, she was fitted with a ram bow. The vessel was constructed with transverse frames and constructed with an iron hull, which contained eight watertight compartments.
She was designed to displace 1,653 metric tons (1,627 long tons) but at full load, Arminius displaced up to 1,829 t (1,800 long tons). General characteristics and machinery Īrminius was 61.6 meters (202 ft 1 in) long at the waterline and 63.21 m (207 ft 5 in) long overall. Arminius was nearly identical to the Danish ironclad Rolf Krake, also designed by Coles. The warship that came to be SMS Arminius was designed by Captain Cowper Coles, a British Royal Navy officer and advocate of turret-armed ironclad warships. 1.1 General characteristics and machinery.The ship was eventually sold in 1901 and broken up for scrap the following year. After the wars, Arminius was withdrawn from front-line service and used in a variety of secondary roles, including as a training ship for engine-room crews and as a tender for the school ship Blücher. The vessel was the primary challenge to the French blockade of German ports during the latter conflict. She saw extensive service in the Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars during the process of German unification. She was named for Arminius, the victor of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.Īrminius served as a coastal defense ship for the first six years of her service with the Prussian Navy. The ship was armed with four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns in a pair of revolving gun turrets amidships. The vessel was a turret ship that was designed by the British Royal Navy Captain Cowper Coles and built by the Samuda Brothers shipyard in Cubitt Town, London as a speculative effort Prussia purchased the ship during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, though the vessel was not delivered until after the war. SMS Arminius was an ironclad warship of the Prussian Navy, later the Imperial German Navy. Illustration of SMS Arminius engaging French warships during the Franco-Prussian WarĢ,000 nmi (3,700 km 2,300 mi) at 8 kn (15 km/h 9.2 mph)