The Odin class was a pair of coastal defense ships built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 19th century.

Like the preceding Siegfried-class ships, Odin and Ägir were obsolete by the time World War I had started.

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 (owing to parliamentary objections to naval spending and the cost of dredging the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal).

General Leo von Caprivi, the new Chef der Admiralität (Chief of the Admiralty), requested a series of design proposals, which ranged in size from small 2,500-long-ton (2,500 t) coastal defense ships armed with a battery of two 21 cm (8.3 in) guns to heavily armed 9,800-long-ton (10,000 t) ocean-going battleships equipped with seven 30.5 cm (12 in) guns.

Caprivi ordered ten coastal defense ships to guard the entrances to the canal, since even opponents of the navy in the Reichstag (Imperial Diet) agreed that such vessels were necessary.

Two of these guns were carried in shielded barbettes side-by-side forward, as German naval theorists still favored ramming attacks that required a capability for end-on fire.

[1] By the time the next group of ships were to be ordered to complete Caprivi's program in 1892, naval theorists had shifted away from end-on attacks toward traditional line-ahead tactics that required a heavy broadside.

At the same time, the German navy had begun building the Brandenburg-class battleships that reflected this evolution in naval thinking.

New, more effective Krupp armor would be employed to save weight as well, since less steel could be used to achieve the same level of protection.

As a result, the seventh and eighth coastal defense ships—Odin and Ägir—were built to a modified version of the Siegfried design that incorporated the updated armor layout, along with other minor changes that included the installation of military masts and the omission of anti-torpedo nets.

The ninth and tenth vessels, provisionally named W and X were slated for the 1893–1894 budget year but were rejected by the Reichstag.

[5] The ships used a similar Krupp compound steel and teak armor protection scheme as in the preceding Siegfried class.

The lower section followed a similar pattern of steel armor distribution, although the thickness of the central portion of the belt was decreased to 120 mm (4.7 in).

[9] As the new battleships were intended for offensive operations, the Odin class was still retained for coast defense duties.

The ships served in this capacity through the start of World War I, until they were withdrawn from active service in 1915, along with their half-sisters of the Siegfried class.

She was struck from the naval register on 6 December 1919 and sold to A. Bernstein Co., a shipping company based in Hamburg.

[4] Ägir was also stationed in Wilhelmshaven after she was withdrawn from her coast defense duties, though she served as a barracks ship there.