The Prussian Navy (German: Preußische Marine), officially the Royal Prussian Navy (German: Königlich Preußische Marine), was the naval force of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1701 to 1867. The Prussian Navy was created in 1701 from the former Brandenburg Navy upon the dissolution of Brandenburg-Prussia, the personal union of Brandenburg and Prussia under the House of Hohenzollern, after the elevation of Frederick I from Duke of Prussia to King in Prussia. The Prussian Navy fought in several wars but was active mainly as a merchant navy throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, as Prussia's military consistently concentrated on the Prussian Army. The Prussian Navy was dissolved in 1867 when Prussia joined the North German Confederation, and its naval forces were absorbed into the North German Federal Navy. Brandenburg Navy The Electorate of Brandenburg, the predecessor of the Kingdom of Prussia, possessed its own navy, which was founded in the 16th century. From 1657 onwards, under Elector Frederick William (the "Great Elector"), Brandenburg's naval forces were developed into a blue-water navy. The Elector designated navigation and commerce as the most significant undertakings of his state, and strove energetically to acquire overseas colonies and become involved in the Atlantic slave trade; as such, a powerful navy was needed to defend these interests. However, his grandson Frederick William I held little interest in colonial affairs or maintaining a powerful navy, preferring to expend state revenues on the Prussian Army. In 1721, Frederick I sold the Brandenburger Gold Coast to the Dutch West India Company for 7,200 ducats and 12 African slaves, marking the end for any need by Prussia for a blue-water navy; the Prussian Navy subsequently dwindled in size. The 18th century The Prussian kings of the 18th century had little interest in maintaining their own navy. Due to the state's continental position and the lack of easily defensible natural borders, Prussia had to concentrate its military preparations on the army. Besides this, the kingdom was able to rely on its many friendly connections with the neighboring naval powers of Denmark and the Netherlands. Frederick II ("the Great") took the view that Prussia should never seek to develop its own war fleet. The kingdom could never hope to equal the great fleets of Britain, France, the Dutch Republic, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and Russia; with their few ships, the Prussians would always remain behind those great maritime nations. He believed that naval battles