SMS Sachsen [a] was the lead ship of her class of four ironclads of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy).

Sachsen was built when the German navy was primarily concerned with coastal defense against either French or Russian fleets.

The Sachsen class was the first group of capital ships built under the tenure of General Albrecht von Stosch, the first Chief of the Imperial Admiralty.

They proved to be controversial in service, as critics pointed out their poor seakeeping, tendency to roll in heavy seas, and low speed compared to earlier armored frigates.

[7] Sachsen was ordered by the Imperial Navy on 23 June 1874 under the contract name "B," which denoted that the vessel was a new addition to the fleet.

These tests revealed the need for structural improvements, and so she was decommissioned for the work to be carried out; her guns were fitted during that period.

Work on the other three Sachsen-class ships was stopped to gain further experience with Sachsen so any deficiencies could be corrected while the other vessels were still under construction.

[9] At that time, the German fleet was tasked primarily with coastal defense against France and Russia, who were presumed to be the most likely enemies in a continental war.

[11] The ship was recommissioned again on 22 April 1884 under the command of Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Friedrich von Pawelsz, for the second time she was to join the Training Squadron.

She was decommissioned again after the end of the maneuvers in September to return to the Reserve Division, but she remained in commission during this period as a guard ship stationed in Kiel.

[9] In June 1887, she was present for the ceremonies marking the beginning of construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, which was to link Kiel with the North Sea.

On 1 May 1889, Sachsen relieved Bayern as the guard ship in Kiel once again, and she also took part in the fleet exercises that year.

[14] In 1891, the German navy stopped the practice of deactivating the fleet in the winter months and instead kept the front-line units on permanent active duty.

The summer fleet maneuvers, which occurred during mid-August to mid-September, up through 1894 were always centered on defensive actions in the North and Baltic seas.

In February 1894, the vessel briefly became the squadron flagship, as Prince Heinrich took the place of the departing commander, Koester.

On 1 October, KAdm Volkmar von Arnim replaced Barandon; by that time, Baden had returned to the unit, but Sachsen remained the flagship.

She remained in service with the unit for the rest of the year, and in October, Heinrich was replaced by KAdm Felix von Bendemann.

For a period, the German government considered the possibility to send Sachsen to Haiti in response to the Lüders affair, but eventually decided against it.

At the end of the year, she was decommissioned to free her crew for use in warships being sent to strengthen the East Asia Division; this also permitted the reconstruction of Sachsen along the same lines as her sister Baden.

[18] Starting in 1897, Sachsen was dry-docked at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Kiel for an extensive modernization that lasted until early 1899.

[4] After work was completed, Sachsen was recommissioned on 25 April 1899 and returned to active service, temporarily under the command of KzS Wahrendorff.

In July, the four Brandenburg-class battleships were sent to East Asia in response to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China, which prompted a major reorganization of the German fleet in home waters.

Sachsen and her sisters were transferred to I Division, along with the new pre-dreadnought SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II, which served as the squadron flagship.

The navy planned to retire Sachsen at the end of the year, but this was cancelled when the battleship Wörth required maintenance, so she took that vessel's place in I Squadron.

The following year, Sachsen was used as a target hulk off the coast of Schwansen for the fleet until the German defeat in World War I in late 1918.