The SMS Frithjof (known during its construction as fourth class ironclad

Ironclad warship

An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire,...

 Q or Panzerschiffs IV. Klasse Q) was a coastal defence ship

Coastal defence ship

Coastal defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament...

 of the Kaiserliche Marine

Kaiserliche Marine

The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...

. It was the third ship of the Siegfried class

Siegfried class coastal defense ship

The Siegfried class was a group of six coastal defense ships built by the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 19th century. The ships were intended to protect the German coastline from naval attacks. The class comprised the lead ship , along with her sisters , , , , and...

, all of which were originally classified as fourth class ironclad

Ironclad warship

An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armor plates. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship, La Gloire,...

s but redesignated coastal defence ships in 1899. It was named after the eponymous hero of the Frithjof saga.

Construction

The ship's construction began at the AG Weser

AG Weser

Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...

 works at Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

 in February 1890 and she was launched on 21 July 1891 by vice-admiral Wilhelm Schröder, head of the North Sea Naval Station. Her completion took another 14 months and her first sea trials began in November 1892. She was commissioned on 23 February 1893.

1893-1914

The Second Naval Law laid down that battleships (including coastal defence ships) only had a lifespan of 20 years and so in 1910 the SMS Oldenburg

SMS Oldenburg (1910)

SMS Oldenburg "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the second vessel of the of battleships of the German Imperial Navy. Oldenburgs keel was laid in October 1908 at the Kaiserliche Werft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven. She was launched on 30 September 1909 and was commissioned into the fleet...

 was launched as a replacement for the Frithjof.

1914-1918

At the end of the war she was the base ship for the inspection of Ubootwesens

Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...

 at Danzig.

1918-1930

On 17 June 1919 she was struck from the list of warships. She was then bought by the Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

 shipowner Arnold Bernstein

Arnold Bernstein

Arnold Bernstein was a German-American shipowner and pioneer of transatlantic cargo transport, which he revolutionised since he was transporting goods without the usual wooden boxes and was thus able to reduce freight rates...

, who also bought the Odin

SMS Odin

SMS Odin was the lead ship of the Odin class of coastal defence ships of the Kaiserliche Marine . It was named after the Norse god Odin. It was laid down on 15 April 1893....

 and the Ägir

SMS Ägir

SMS Ägir was an Odin class Küstenpanzerschiff which served in the German Imperial Navy prior to and during World War I.-History:...

 (the only two ships of the Odin class

Odin class coastal defense ship

The Odin class was a pair of coastal defense ships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 19th century. The class comprised two ships: , named after the Norse god Odin, and , named after the Norse god of the same name...

, sometimes seen as a sub-class of the Siegfried class). In 1923 the Frithjof was turned into a motorised cargo ship at the Deutsche Werft

Deutsche Werft

Deutsche Werft was a German shipbuilding company, located in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded in 1918 on initiative by Albert Ballin and with Gutehoffnungshütte , Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft and Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft as investors.During World War II...

 in Rüstringen

Rüstringen

Rüstringen or Rustringen was an old Frisian gau which lay between the modern district Friesland and the Weser river in modern Lower Saxony. Nowadays, only a small part of the original territory remains, namely the Butjadingen peninsula...

, by the removal of her superstructure, armour, machinery and her few remaining guns. Her machinery was replaced by two 550 horsepower

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

motors from U-boats. She was then used as a cargo ship until 1930, when she was scrapped in Danzig.