SMS Grosser Kurfürst (or Großer ) was an ironclad turret ship built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). She was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven in 1870 and completed in 1878; her long construction time was in part due to a redesign that was completed after work on the ship had begun. Her main battery of four guns was initially to be placed in a central armored battery, but during the redesign, this was altered to a pair of twin gun turrets amidships. Grosser Kurfürst was sunk on her maiden voyage when she was accidentally rammed by the ironclad . The two ships, along with , were steaming in the English Channel on 31 May 1878. The three ships encountered a group of fishing boats under sail; in turning to avoid them, Grosser Kurfürst inadvertently crossed König Wilhelms path and was rammed, sinking within about eight minutes. Between 269 and 284 of her crew drowned. Her loss spurred a series of investigations into the circumstances of the collision, which ultimately resulted in the acquittal of both Rear Admiral , the squadron commander, and Count Alexander von Monts, the captain of Grosser Kurfürst. Political infighting over the affair led to the ousting of Rear Admiral Reinhold von Werner from the navy. Design The three Preussen-class ironclads were authorized under the naval program of 1867, which had been approved by the (Imperial Diet) to strengthen the North German Federal Navy in the wake of the Second Schleswig War, when the weak Prussian Navy had been unable to break the blockade imposed by the Danish Navy. Initially ordered as casemate ships, the vessels were re-designed as turret ships; they were the first uniform class of ironclads built for the German fleet. Grosser Kurfürst was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. The ship was powered by one 3-cylinder single-expansion steam engine, which drove a single screw propeller. Steam was supplied by six coal-fired transverse trunk boilers, which were vented into a single funnel. The ship's top speed was , at . She was also equipped with a full ship rig of sails. Her standard complement was 46 officers and 454 enlisted men. She was armed with a main battery of four L/22 guns mounted in a pair of turrets placed on the centerline amidships. As built, the ship was also equipped with two L/25