The ships' secondary armament consisted of twelve SK L/45 guns, which were mounted individually in casemates. Six of these were placed on either side of the ship at main deck level on either broadside. These guns fired armor-piercing shells at a rate of 4 to 5 per minute. The guns could depress to −7 degrees and elevate to 20 degrees, for a maximum range of . The shells weighed and were fired at a muzzle velocity of . The guns were manually elevated and trained.