SMS Kaiser (1874)

SMS Kaiser in Constantinople
History
German Empire
Name	SMS Kaiser
Namesake	Kaiser
Builder	Samuda Brothers, London
Laid down	1871
Launched	19 March 1874
Commissioned	13 February 1875
Renamed	Uranus, 12 October 1905
Fate	Scrapped at Harburg, 1920
General characteristics
Class and type	Kaiser-class ironclad
Displacement	Design: 7,645 t (7,524 long tons) Full load: 8,940 t (8,800 long tons)
Length	89.34 m (293.1 ft)
Beam	19.1 m (63 ft)
Draft	7.39 m (24.2 ft)
Installed power	8 × boilers 5,779 metric horsepower (5,700 ihp)
Propulsion	1 × single-expansion steam engine 1 × screw propeller
Speed	14.6 knots (27.0 km/h; 16.8 mph)
Range	2,470 nmi (4,570 km; 2,840 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	32 officers 568 enlisted men
Armament	8 × 26 cm (10.2 in) guns 1 × 21 cm (8.3 in) gun
Armor	Belt: 127 to 254 mm (5 to 10 in) Deck: 38 to 51 mm (1.5 to 2.0 in) Battery: 203 mm (8 in)

SMS Kaiser ^[a] was the lead ship of the Kaiser-class ironclads; SMS Deutschland was her sister ship. Named for the title "Kaiser" (German: Emperor), held by the leader of the then newly created German Empire, the ship was laid down in the Samuda Brothers shipyard in London in 1871. The ship was launched in March 1874 and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1875. Kaiser mounted a main battery of eight 26 cm (10.2 in) guns in a central battery amidships.

Kaiser served with the fleet from her commissioning until 1896, though she was frequently placed in reserve throughout her career. The ship was a regular participant in the annual fleet training maneuvers conducted with the exception of the mid-1880s, when she was temporarily replaced by newer vessels. She participated in several cruises in the Baltic and Mediterranean, often escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II on official state visits. Kaiser was rebuilt in the early 1890s as an armored cruiser, though she was too slow to perform satisfactorily in this role. Nevertheless, she spent several years as the flagship of the East Asia Squadron before returning to Germany in 1899. She was used in secondary roles after 1904, until after the end of World War I in 1919, when she was broken up for scrap.
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