Peder Skram was 226feet long between perpendiculars, had a beam of 49feet and a draft of 21feet. The ship displaced 3373LT. She had a single steam engine that drove her propeller using steam provided by four boilers that exhausted through a single funnel. The engine, built by Baumgarten & Burmeister, produced a total of 1680ihp which gave the ship a speed of 11.7kn. The ship had a range of 1500nmi at a speed of . For long-distance travel, Peder Skram was fitted with three masts and ship rigged. Her crew numbered between 450[1] and 530 officers and crewmen.[2]
The ship was armed with six 8inches and twelve 24- or 26-pounder rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns. She was later rearmed with eight 8-inch and eight 6inches RML guns.[1] [2] [3] Peder Skram had a wrought-iron waterline armor belt thick. Her battery was protected by 5inches armor plates.[1]
Peder Skram was built by the Royal shipyard in Copenhagen. She was laid down as a wooden steam frigate on 19 May 1859 and was converted into armored frigate in 1862 while still under construction. She was launched on 18 October 1864 and commissioned on 15 August 1866.[3] The ship was refitted in 1876–78 and stricken on 7 December 1885. Peder Skram was hulked and converted into an accommodation ship until she was broken up for scrap in 1897.[4]