In observing the limitation of the armor in this and similar ships one is tempted to ask, Why stop there? Why not shorten the armor, say to twenty or thirty feet of length, and make it a yard thick, and then enter her in the list of iron-clads as a vessel with armor three feet thick? Deck-plating, according to such constructors, is ample for the protection of engines and boilers, and everything else which is below water. [Illustration: HALF-DECK PLAN OF THE “SACHSEN.” SIDE ELEVATION OF THE “SACHSEN.”] The remaining three ships of this class are the _Baiern_, the _Baden_, and the _Würtemberg_. The engraving of the _Sachsen_ represents their general appearance. Their dimensions and other particulars will be given presently in table on page 125, but it will be observed that the armament is arranged in a forward and in a midship battery, giving right-ahead fire with four guns, a stern fire with two, and beam fire with three. [Illustration: THE “SACHSEN.”] The largest iron-clad of the German navy is the _König Wilhelm_, of 9750 tons, which steams at 14¾ knots. She is also the most thickly armor-plated (armor, twelve inches); but having been launched eighteen years ago, her guns, although numerous, are only of fourteen tons weight. I designed this ship for his Majesty, the late Sultan of Turkey, Abdul-Aziz, but before she was much advanced in construction she was purchased by the Prussian government, and passed from under my care. A few years later I designed the _Kaiser_ and _Deutschland_ for the Prussian government; and these vessels, built on the Thames, and launched in 1874, although 2000 tons smaller than the _Wilhelm_, steamed but one-fourth of a knot less (14½ knots). They carry 10-inch armor and 10-ton guns. [Illustration: HALF-DECK PLAN OF THE “KAISER.” SIDE ELEVATION OF THE “KAISER.”]