The SMS Beowulf (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,...

 P or Panzerschiffs IV. Klasse P) 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 second 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 protagonist of the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf

Beowulf

Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...

.

Construction

Her construction began in January 1890 at 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...

's works in 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...

 and she was launched on 8 November the same year by the director of the naval department of the Reichsmarineamt, Konteradmiral Hans von Koester

Hans von Koester

Hans Ludwig Raimund von Koester was a German naval officer who served in the Prussian Navy and later in the Imperial German Navy. He retired as a Grand Admiral....

. Completed in autumn 1891, she then began her sea trials on an unknown date and commissioned on 1 April 1892, with Prince Henry of Prussia (Wilhelm II of Germany's brother) as her first captain.

Career

The Beowulf was struck from the list of warships on 17 June 1919 and sold to the Norddeutsche Tiefbaugesellschaft in Berlin. It was scrapped in 1921 in Danzig.

Commanders

1 April to September 1892	Kapitän zur See Prince Henry of Prussia
September to December 1892	Korvettenkapitän von Kries
December 1892 to September 1893	Korvettenkapitän Rudolf von Eickstedt
September 1893 to January 1894	Kapitänleutnant Otto Hoepner (skeleton crew)
February to 2 October 1894	Korvettenkapitän / Kapitän zur See Alfred Gruner
1 August to September 1895	Korvettenkapitän Karl Ascher
September 1895 to September 1896	Korvettenkapitän Eduard Holzhauer
September to 13 November 1896	Korvettenkapitän August von Heeringen August von Heeringen August von Heeringen was a Prussian admiral of the German Empire. He headed the Imperial Navy News Office and served as the Chief of the German Naval General Staff 12 March 1911 - 31 March 1913, and was present at the famous War Council of 8 December, 1912.He worked with leaders of the German...
3 August to October 1897	Korvettenkapitän August von Dassel
October 1897 to July 1898	Korvettenkapitän Hugo Emsmann
July to September 1898	Fregattenkapitän Wilhelm Kindt
September to November 1898	Korvettenkapitän Hugo Emsmann
November 1898 to 23 March 1900	Korvettenkapitän Hermann Lilie
1 July to 25 September 1902	Fregattenkapitän Carl Paschen
8 July to September 1903	Fregattenkapitän Hartwig von Dassel
September 1903 to 23. September 1904	Korvettenkapitän / Fregattenkapitän Franz von Holleben
22 July to 15 September 1909	Kapitän zur See Gottfried Freiherr von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels
12 August 1914 to March 1916	Fregattenkapitän Ebert
March 1916 to 12 March 1917	Kapitänleutnant Franz Strauch
12. December 1917 to July 1918	Kapitänleutnant Franz Wilde
Juli to 30 November 1918	Korvettenkapitän Schultze-Jena