Buzzard class
 SMS falcon
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The Bussard class was a class of six cruisers IV class of the Imperial Navy , which were intended for foreign service. In 1899 the ships were reclassified to small cruisers , in 1913/14 the remaining units were reclassified to gunboats .
development
The economic development of the German Reich and the safeguarding of its interests made, in the eyes of the naval command, the rapid stationing of warships in overseas waters necessary. In the mid-1880s, the Schwalbe class, a new type of cruiser specially designed for overseas use, was developed. This should have a relatively shallow draft in order to be able to navigate shallow waters and rivers. Furthermore, the cruisers should be suitable for use in the tropics and have appropriately sized accommodation, good seaworthiness and large steam routes, as well as armaments that are sufficient to suppress unrest. These demands were also carried over to the draft created in 1888 for the cruiser IV. Class C , later the Bussard . Compared to the ships of the Schwalbe class, the design was significantly larger, but the armament remained unchanged.
technology
The basic design for the Bussard class provided for a cruiser with a design displacement of 1,559 t and a maximum displacement of 1,868 t. The total length was 82.6 m, the length of the construction waterline 79.62 m. The width of the hull was 10.2 m, but due to the swallow nests on both sides , the maximum width was 12.5 m. The maximum draft was 4.45 m forward and 5.63 m aft. The buzzard and the falcon were built according to these measurements . The second series, which included the sea eagles , the Condor and the Cormoran , was slightly modified, with mainly the width and the draft varying. Only the last Geier built showed major deviations from the original design, as the first experiences of the units that had already been completed could be processed with it. For example, the overhanging swallow nests for two of the guns was dispensed with, reducing the overall width to 10.6 m. A modified hull shape increased the overall length to 83.9 m, whereas the draft was further reduced to a maximum of 5.22 m. The maximum displacement increased to 1,918 t.
The hulls were made of steel and were designed as transverse ribs . To increase safety from sinking, they were divided into ten watertight compartments . The ships had a double floor under the boiler room. Due to the operational profile, armor was dispensed with.
The crew of the ships included nine officers and 152 to 157 men .
For electrical equipment and a spotlight on the numbered bridge . The power supply was provided by two generators , which generated an on-board voltage of 67 volts and a combined output of 24 kW .
The Bussard- class units were good ocean-going vessels. They were quick and easy to maneuver and stomped little against the sea, but they swayed easily . In the case of stronger waves, the speed had to be reduced, as the overhanging swallow nests generated strong vibrations when they were hit by waves.
Propulsion system
The engine system of the cruiser consisted of two horizontally arranged three-cylinder triple composite steam engines . These were housed in two engine rooms located one behind the other. The steam was generated by four coal-fired cylinder boilers, housed in pairs in two boiler rooms and generating a steam pressure of 12 atmospheres . Together they had twelve furnaces and a heating surface of around 700 m². According to the construction plans, the two steam engines should together produce an output of 2,800 PSi . The real values for all ships were slightly above the calculated values. Each of the machines acted on a screw 3 m in diameter. The engine system should be able to accelerate the ships to 15.5 knots , but the actual maximum speed of the cruiser was above this value. The buzzard showed the smallest deviation at 15.7 kn, while the falcon and sea eagle exceeded the maximum design speed most clearly at 16.9 kn. The 305 tons of coal carried along enabled a steam route of around 2,900 nm at a cruising speed of 9 knots. Only the Geier was able to cover the significantly greater distance of 3,610 nm at the same speed with an increased coal supply to 320 t. All ships had a rudder.
The cruisers were fitted with rigging to enlarge the sailing area . All ships were originally rigged as three-masted schooner barges. As such, they had a sail area of around 860 m². Buzzard , cormorant , vulture and sea eagle were later converted into two-masted topsail schooners with a sail area of around 600 m².
Armament
The main armament of the ships consisted of eight guns of caliber 10.5 cm L / 35th The Bussard was still a ring cannon , the other ships were equipped with the more modern rapid loading cannons. For these guns, which had a maximum range of 8.2 and 10.8 km, 800 rounds of ammunition were carried. In addition, the ships had five, later expanded, 3.7 cm revolver cannons and two torpedo tubes with a diameter of 35 cm mounted on the upper deck . The Geier had two torpedo tubes with a diameter of 45 cm. The ships had five torpedoes on board.
commitment
According to the specifications, the ships were used exclusively in foreign service. Their main tasks were the representation of the German Reich and the protection of German citizens and economic interests in crisis areas. They also had to take action against possible unrest in the German protected areas .
The six ships of the class were used on all foreign stations of the Imperial Navy. The South Seas and East Asia formed a special focus . Since the cruisers were out of date, the units that were still available at the beginning of the First World War were not used for fleet service. Only the located at the outbreak of war overseas Geier tried cruiser war to lead and in accordance with mobilization plans an auxiliary cruiser equipped, but this did not succeed. The Condor was the only ship of the class to survive the World War.
Ships of the class
- SMS Bussard : launched on January 23, 1890. The cruiser was used in the South Seas from 1891 to 1899, where riots were fought several times on various islands. Theship also played an important role inwinning Samoa as a German colony. The Bussard was planned to be sent to German East Africa in 1900, but the Boxer Rebellion made itnecessary to go to China. The cruiser stayed in East Asia until 1904 and was only then relocated to East Africa. There were deployments in connection with the Maji Maji uprising . At the end of 1909, the Bussard received the order to travel home. Removed from the list of warships on October 25, 1912, the ship was scrapped the following year.
- SMS Falke : Launched on April 4, 1891. The first commissioning for test drives took place on September 14. From 1892 to the end of 1893 the cruiser was stationed in West Africa and was then ordered to the South Seas. The ship remained there until 1899. The conflict over Samoa in particularplayedan important rolefor the falcon during the South Seas mission. After a minor modification, the ship was sent to South America, where it first made a trip on the Amazon to Peru . Then the cruiser was used off Venezuela . From June 1904 on, the falcon made a trip around Cape Horn and along the American Pacific coast to Alaska . On April 20, 1907, the cruiser was taken out of service for the last time and, due to the poor structural condition of the ship, it was deleted from the list of warships on October 25, 1912. The following year the falcon was scrappedin Danzig .
- SMS Seeadler : Launched on February 2nd, 1892. On August 17th, 1892 the first commissioning for test drives took place. In 1893 the ship was first sent tothe United States tocelebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America , and from there itsailedacross the Azores and the Mediterranean to East Africa. The cruiser was stationed there until 1898. At times there was also a deployment off German South West Africa . After a major overhaul and a slight renovation in Gdansk, the Seeadler replacedher sister ship Falke in the South Seas in1899. With the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion, the ship was ordered to China, where it was stationed until 1905. On August 20, 1905, the cruiser was ordered to call at East Africa due to the Maji Maji Uprising. The sea eagle was assigned to the local naval station and did not return to Germany until 1914. The 13-year stay abroad is the longest of any larger German warship. After decommissioning on March 30, 1914, the ship was reclassified as a gunboat on May 6. After the beginning of the First World War, the sea eagle was usedas a mine warehouse in Wilhelmshaven . On April 19, 1917, there was a mine explosion on board that destroyed the ship.
- SMS Condor : launched on February 23, 1892. The first commissioning took place on December 9, 1892. At the end of 1894, the cruiser wasdispatched to East Africaas a station ship . The Condor stayed there until the beginning of 1901. During this time the Second Boer War fell , during which the cruiser had to ensure, among other things, the protection of German merchant ships against British attacks. The ship's second stay abroad followed from 1903. The South Pacific became thenew area of application for the Condor . There, in addition to the usual tasks, the ship was also increasingly used to survey the coast. On January 8, 1913, the Condor was the first unit in the Bussard class to be reclassified as a gunboat. The ship returned to Germany at the end of 1913 and was decommissioned in Danzig on March 30, 1914. Used as a mine hulk from 1916, the Condor was struck off the list of warships on November 18, 1920 and scrapped the following year.
- SMS Cormoran : Launched on May 17, 1892. The first commissioning for test drives took place on July 25, 1893. In October 1894 the ship ran together with the Condor first to East Africa, in July 1895 then across the Persian Gulf to East Asia. In October 1897, the ship took part in the occupation of Tsingtau . Due to the worsening Samoa conflict, the Cormoran wasset on marchin the direction of Apia in1899, but ran into a reef in the night of March 23rd to 24thand was only released after extensive work. After the necessary repairs, the cruiser arrived at Apia on June 17, 1899. The ship remained in the South Seas until May 1903 and then returned to Germany. After a major overhaul in 1907, the Cormoran was put back into service in 1909 and again set off for the South Seas. Unrest after the Young Turks Revolution and the genocide of the Armenians made a stopover in Asia Minor necessary in June and July 1909. The cruiser finally provided station service in the South Seas until 1914. At the beginning of the First World War, the Cormoran, which was reclassified as a gunboat on February 24, 1913, wasin Tsingtau for repairs. There, the crewpreparedthe Russian passenger ship Rijäsan as an auxiliary cruiser and alsoput it into serviceunder the name of Cormoran . The original Cormoran was blown up on the night of September 28-29, 1914.
- SMS Geier : Launched on October 18, 1894. The last ship of the class received a few minor changes, outwardly striking was the removal of theswallow nestsbetween the fore and main mast . The first commissioning for test drives took place on October 24, 1895. In early December 1897, the ship wasdispatchedto the Caribbean . The cruiser stayed there during the Spanish-American War . From late 1898 to July 1900, the vulture made a trip around Cape Horn and along the American Pacific coast. With the beginning of the Boxer Rebellion, the cruiser was ordered to East Asia, where it remained until early 1905. After a major overhaul carried out in Kiel in 1908/09, the ship was not activated again until 1911 and ordered to East Africa. In the course of the Italo-Turkish War , the vulture stayed in the Mediterranean and was assigned to the local naval station. In early 1914, the ship returned to East Africa and was reclassified as a gunboat on May 6th. Sent to the South Seas in June, the ship received the news of the start of the war on the way there and was placedunderthe East Asia Squadron. The attempt to follow this to the American west coast had to be given up due to the poor condition of the machinery. The vulture was interned in Honolulu on November 7, 1914. After the United States entered the war, the ship was occupied by US soldiers on April 7, 1917 andovertakenin Pearl Harbor . The United States Navy put the gunboatinto serviceon September 15, 1917 under the name Schurz . On June 21, 1918, the ship wasrammedby the steamer Florida in escortoff North Carolina and sank.
literature
- Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 . tape 1 : Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats . Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 , p. 124 .
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. 10 volumes. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen.