guns as chase guns, one in the bow and one in the stern. Grosser Kurfürsts armor was made of wrought iron backed with teak. The armored belt was arrayed in two strakes. The upper strake was thick; the lower strake ranged in thickness from . Both were backed with of teak. The gun turrets were protected by armor on the sides, backed by 260 mm of teak. Service history Grosser Kurfürst was ordered by the Imperial Navy from the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; her keel was laid down in 1869 under construction number 2. The ship was launched on 17 September 1875 and was commissioned into the German fleet on 6 May 1878. Grosser Kurfürst cost the German government 7,303,000 gold marks. As originally designed, Grosser Kurfürst was to have had her primary armament arranged in a central battery; after she was laid down, she was altered to mount her main guns in a pair of twin turrets. Although she was the first ship in her class of three vessels to be laid down, she was the last to be launched and commissioned, because she was redesigned after work had begun, and she was built by the newly established Imperial Dockyard. Her sister was built by an experienced commercial shipbuilder, and was laid down after the redesign was completed. Collision and loss In April 1878, the armored squadron was reactivated for the annual summer training cycle, under the command of Konteradmiral Carl Ferdinand Batsch. Grosser Kurfürst joined the unit, which included her sisters Preussen and Friedrich der Grosse and the large ironclad , after her commissioning on 6 May. A grounding by Friedrich der Grosse caused serious damage to her hull and prevented her from taking part in the upcoming training cruise. The three ships left Wilhelmshaven on the 29th. König Wilhelm and Preussen steamed in a line, with Grosser Kurfürst off to starboard. On the morning of the 31st, the three ships encountered a pair of sailing vessels off Folkestone. Grosser Kurfürst turned to port to avoid the boats while König Wilhelm sought to pass the two boats, but there was not enough distance between her and Grosser Kurfürst. She, therefore, turned hard to port to avoid Grosser Kurfürst, but not quickly enough, and König Wilhelm found herself pointed directly at Grosser Kurfürst; her ram bow tore a large hole in Grosser Kurfürsts side. Grosser Kurfürsts watertight bulkheads were