Amiral Sénès
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
.svg){kind=small}
The destroyer Amiral Sénès was one of two ships of the Large Torpedo Boat class of the Imperial Navy in 1916 that were completed. They were the most powerful destroyers in the world. Both ships had to be handed over to the victorious powers.
The later Amiral Sénès was launched on January 31, 1918 as SMS S 113 at the Schichau shipyard in Elbing . The ship, which was completed in August 1919, was delivered to France and transferred in May 1920.
From 1920 to 1936 the ship, renamed Amiral Sénès , was in service with the French Navy .
history
On the basis of the war experience, the Imperial Navy developed a new type of torpedo boat that should be superior to all modern destroyers. Even a delayed battle with light cruisers should be possible. Therefore, a strong armament with 15 cm guns, 60 cm torpedo tubes and a speed of over 34 knots was required.
On April 15, 1916, the Navy then placed orders with four shipyards to build three boats each, i.e. a total of twelve units, i.e. a complete torpedo boat flotilla: S 113 to S 115 to the Schichau shipyard in Elbing, V 116 to V 118 to the AG Vulcan Stettin , G 119 to G 121 to the Germania shipyard in Kiel and B 122 to B 124 to Blohm & Voss in Hamburg . The construction of the ships, still officially designated as torpedo boats, was delayed considerably.
On October 16, 1917, the first of the new destroyers, the B 122, was launched at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, which, however, was not followed by the sister ships until October 26, 1918 ( B 123 ) and June 6, 1919 ( B 124 ). None of these ships were completed. In Elbing, the SMS S 113 was launched on January 31, 1918 as the second ship of the new class, followed by the sister ships until July 20, 1918. In Stettin, SMS V 116 came to sea on March 2, 1918 , where the two sister ships followed until July 6, 1918. On October 8, 1918, the G 119 was also launched in Kiel. Only V 116 was put into service on July 31, 1918 for the Imperial Navy .
S 113 completed the shipyard test drives, but was no longer taken over by the Navy. As the only one of the remaining ships, the boat was put into service on August 5, 1919 after the end of the war. All the others were scrapped.
Construction work
S 113 was still in the acceptance phase at the end of the First World War. The ship was 106 m long, 10.2 m wide, had a draft of 4.8 m and, fully equipped, displaced 2,415 tons. Four oil-fired double boilers with 18.5 atmospheres generated the pressure for two Schichau turbines, which acted with 45,000 hp on the two propellers and enabled a maximum speed of 36.9 knots. The range was with the largest possible oil supply of 720 t and a speed of 20 kn at 2500 nm.
With slight differences in the design of the hull and the turbine type, depending on the shipyard, the armament consisted of four rapid loading cannons 15 cm L / 45 UToF C 16 in single installation with 360 rounds of ammunition, on the raised fore ship, on the deckhouse behind the second chimney, on the deckhouse on the stern and at the stern. This weapon, whose projectile weight was 45 kg, had a maximum range of 14,500 m at a rate of about 5 rounds / min at 30 ° increase. However, due to the manual loading process, the bullet weight placed considerable demands on the physical condition of the operating personnel. For this purpose, two pivoting 60 cm double torpedo tubes were set up between the two funnels and between the two deckhouses, for which four reserve torpedoes were on board. It was possible to take up to 40 mines with you. The “Big Torpedo Boats 1916” were to have a crew of 176 men (to which a 10% war surcharge would have been added during the war), which would have been increased by 4 officers and 20 men as flotilla staff if they were used as a guide boat.
In French service
In response to the self-sinking of the deep sea fleet on June 21, 1919 in Scapa Flow , the Entente Powers demanded a replacement from Germany. The requirements now also included the two finished “Large Torpedo Boats 1916” S 113 and V 116 . From November 1919 they were prepared for delivery to the Allies, while the demolition of the unfinished boats began.
So on May 23, 1920 S 113 and V 116 ran to Cherbourg , where the handover of the warships to be delivered was handled. V 116 was assigned to Italy, where the ship remained in service under the name Premuda until 1937.
S 113 remained in France for use with the French Navy. This took over four small cruisers ( Kolberg , Stralsund , Regensburg and Königsberg ) and eight modern large torpedo boats ( V 69, V 130, S 133, S 134, S 135, S 139, H 146 , H 147 ) from the former imperial navy. While the acquired German cruisers were named after cities in the regained regions of Alsace and Lorraine , the nine German torpedo boats were named by members of the French navy who lost their lives in World War I. The S 113 was renamed Amiral Sénès in honor of Rear Admiral Victor Baptist Sénès (* 1857), who lost his life in the sinking of the armored cruiser Léon Gambetta on April 27, 1915.
The Amiral Sénès was taken over into the service of the French Navy without any further modifications, which had been pursuing studies on similar ships with four 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns at a slightly higher speed and a larger range since 1917. Since Italy, the recipient of the sister ship V 116 , with the light "Esploratori" (discovery / reconnaissance ships ) of the Aquila class originally started for Romania (1750/1820 ts, 34 kn, 3-152 mm, 2 × 2TR) and the Mirabello -Class (1570/1800 ts, 32 kn, 1- 152 mm and 7-102 mm, 2 × 2TR) already had destroyer-like ships with heavy artillery, the French Navy ordered six "Contre-Torpilleurs 2100 Tonnes" in 1922 of the ( Chacal or Jaguar class ) with five 130 mm L / 40 guns Model 1919. However, the six ships did not come into service with the fleet until December 1925 and October 1927. The formerly German ship, which was extensively tested, reinforced the French Navy in its concept and led to further orders from French large destroyers .
The Amiral Sénès took over parts of the construction of the German 15 cm L / 45 C / 16 torpedo boat guns, in particular their semi-automatic breech, for the further development of the French 138.6 mm (5.5 in) guns. This modified weapon "138.6 mm-L / 40 Model 1927" was introduced in the six ships of the Aigle -class ordered in 1929 (1932-1934 in service), the 2nd series of the French "Contre-Torpilleurs 2400 Tonnes" replaced the five 138.6 mm L / 40 guns Model 1923 of the 1st series / Guépard or Bison class (in service from 1929 to 1931) and remained the standard weapon of French large destroyers until World War II. The six Avisos coloniaux of the Bougainville class , which were commissioned between 1932 and 1935 , also received three of these guns as their main armament.
The Amiral Sénès served as a test ship in the French Navy in the Mediterranean until 1936. Until 1938 she was still used as a target ship in the Mediterranean and then scrapped.
The Chacal of the class of the same name
The guepard of the class of the same name
The Milan of Aigle class
A Bougainville- class advice note
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Preston: Destroyers , pp. 42f.
- ↑ http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNGER_59-45_tbts.htm
- ^ Mordal: The French Fantasque Class 1930 in Super Destroyers , p. 27
- ↑ 15 cm / 45 (5.9 ") Tbts KL / 45
- ↑ 138.6 mm / 40 (5.46 ") Model 1927
- ↑ 138.6 mm / 40 Model 1923
- ^ Weyer's pocket book of the war fleets 1941/42. P. 82f.
Web links
- Navires de surface cédés à la France à la fin du conflit. pages14-18
- Amiral Sénès navypedia
- Large torpedo boat 1916 german.navy
literature
- Alexander Bredt: Weyers Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotten 1941/42. Lehmanns Verlag, Munich / Berlin 1941.
- Antony Preston: Super Destroyers. Warship Special 2, Conways Maritime Press 1978, ISBN 0-85177-131-9 .
- Antony Preston: Destroyers. Hamlyn, 1977, ISBN 0-600-32955-0 .