In his essay, the author will try to highlight the construction of the German armored fleet after the unification of the country in 1870-1871. and before the start of Tirpitz’s program for the construction of the High Seas Fleet, which unfolded at the end of the 19th century. And although created at German and foreign shipyards in the 1870-1880s. The armored fleet could not yet compete not only with the British or French fleets, but also with the fleets of secondary countries, Germany managed to solve the main task: to secure the maritime borders in the Baltic and create a strong defense of the North Sea coast. The main thing that was done in those years was to lay the foundation for the production base of military shipbuilding, to train officer personnel, to create a sufficient reserve of subjects of the German Empire who had completed naval service. And the main burden of training naval “personnel” fell on the first battleships of Germany.< /p>