In the late 1880s, the German Kaiserliche Marine grappled with the problem of what type of capital ship to build in the face of limited naval budgets. General Leo von Caprivi, the new Chef der Admiralität, was able to secure approval from the Reichstag for ten small coastal defense ships, the first six of which became the, which carried three main battery guns in individual barbette mounts. Proposals for the last four included redesigning the vessels to add another main battery gun in two-gun turrets came to nothing owing to the cost of other naval programs—most notably the s. The two ships were ultimately built to a modified version of the Siegfried design that incorporated improvements to the armor layout and other minor changes. Ägir was long overall and had a beam of and a maximum draft of. She displaced at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two vertical 3-cylinder triple expansion engines. Steam for the engines was provided by eight coal-fired Thornycroft boilers. The ship's propulsion system provided a top speed of. She carried of coal, which gave her a range of approximately at. Because she had twice the number of electrical generators as her sister, Ägir was nicknamed "Elektrische Anna". The ship had a crew of 20 officers and 256 enlisted men. The ship was armed with three 24 cm K L/35 guns mounted in three single-gun turrets. Two were placed side by side forward, and the third was located aft of the main superstructure. They were supplied with a total of 204 rounds of ammunition. The ship was also equipped with ten 8.8 cm SK L/30 guns in single mounts. Ägir also carried three torpedo tubes, two in swivel mounts on the deck amidships and one in the bow, submerged below the waterline. The ship was protected by an armored belt that was thick amidships, and an armored deck that was thick. The conning tower had thick sides.
Service history
Ägir was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel in 1892. She was launched on 3 April 1895 and completed on 15 January 1896, after which she underwent a somewhat lengthy period of sea trials. The ship was commissioned into the German fleet on 15 October 1896, where she served on active duty for the entirety of her peacetime career. During the 1900 summer maneuvers, Ägir served in the simulated hostile squadron, alongside, Hildebrand, and. The maneuvers lasted from 15 August to 15 September. In 1901, Ägir was taken in hand at the Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig for an extensive reconstruction. Her old boilers were replaced with eight new Marine type boilers and her length was increased to. This increased her displacement to at full load. The lengthened hull, which improved her hydrodynamic shape, and the improved boilers increased her speed by a full knot, to. Her coal storage was increased to, which allowed her to steam for an additional. The modernization work was completed by 1903, at which point she returned to active service. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Ägir was assigned to VI Battle Squadron, along with her sister and the six Siegfried-class coastal defense ships. The squadron was disbanded on 31 August 1915 to free up the ships' crews for more important tasks. Ägir was thereafter used as a barracks ship in Wilhelmshaven through to the end of the war. She was stricken from the naval register on 17 June 1919 and sold. In 1922, she was rebuilt as a merchant ship at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Rüstringen. She was operated by A. Bernstein Co., out of Hamburg. She continued in this role until she was wrecked on the island of Gotland off the Karlsö lighthouse on 8 December 1929. Her bow ornament is preserved at the Laboe Naval Memorial.
