SMS Heimdall was the fourth vessel of the six-member Siegfried class of coastal defense ships (Küstenpanzerschiffe) built for the German Imperial Navy. Her sister ships were Siegfried, Beowulf, Frithjof, Hildebrand, and Hagen. Heimdall was built by the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven shipyard between 1891 and 1894, and was armed with a main battery of three 24-centimeter (9.4 in) guns. She served in the German fleet throughout the 1890s and was rebuilt in 1900–1902.