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A ship named Bismarck was one of the Second World War's best known stories but more that 40 years earlier, another Bismark sailed the seas.

SMS Fürst Bismarck was Germany's first armored cruiser, built for the Kaiserliche Marine before the turn of the 20th century. She was launched in 1907 and named for the German statesman Otto von Bismarck.

She was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron and arrived at Tsingtao in August 1900, under the command of Rear Admiral Curt von Prittwitz und Gaffron, and participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion. When the new armored cruiser SMS Scharnhorst arrived at Tsingtao in 1909 to replace her as flagship of the East Asia Squadron, she was ordered back to Germany. Upon arriving in Kiel in June 1909, she was decommissioned and entered a lengthy modernization that lasted until 1914. After a brief stint patrolling the coast, Fürst Bismarck spent the remainder of the war as a stationary accommodation and engineering training ship in Kiel. In 1919, she was used for a short time as an office ship.

This multi-media waterline kit (No. NNT70015) depicts the Prince Bismarck as she looked in 1906 and is listed for $84.16, USD (71,00 €) plus shipping on the NNT Models website.