SMS Frithjof

Lithograph of Frithjof in 1902
History
German Empire
Name	Frithjof
Namesake	Frithjof
Builder	AG Weser, Bremen
Laid down	February 1890
Launched	21 July 1891
Commissioned	23 February 1893
Decommissioned	31 August 1915
Stricken	17 June 1919
Fate	Rebuilt as merchant ship, 1923; scrapped at Danzig, 1930
General characteristics as built
Class and type	Siegfried-class coast defense ship
Displacement	Normal: 3,500 t (3,400 long tons) Full load: 3,741 t (3,682 long tons)
Length	79 m (259 ft 2 in)
Beam	14.90 m (48 ft 11 in)
Draft	5.74 m (18.8 ft)
Installed power	4 × fire-tube boilers 4,800 PS (3,500 kW)
Propulsion	2 × triple-expansion steam engines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Range	4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement	20 officers 256 enlisted men
Armament	3 × 24 cm (9.4 in) guns 8 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns 4 × 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Waterline belt: 240 mm (9.4 in) Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in) Conning tower: 80 mm (3.1 in)

SMS Frithjof was the third vessel of the six-member Siegfried class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe) built for the German Imperial Navy. Her sister ships were Siegfried, Beowulf, Heimdall, Hildebrand, and Hagen. Frithjof was built by the AG Weser shipyard between 1890 and 1893, and was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1900 - 1902. She served in the VI Battle Squadron after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but saw no action. Frithjof was demobilized in 1915 and used as a barracks ship thereafter. She was rebuilt as a merchant ship in 1923 and served in this capacity until she was broken up for scrap in 1930.