Clas Fleming (ship)
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|---|---|
 The mine cruiser Clas Fleming |
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| Overview | |
| Type | Mine cruiser |
| Shipyard | |
| Order | May 17, 1910 |
| Launch | December 14, 1912 |
| delivery | February 23, 1914 |
| Namesake | the Admiral Clas Larsson Fleming (1592–1644) |
| Removed from ship register | January 1959 |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
1500 t, after conversion 1640 ts |
| length |
80.2 m over everything |
| width |
10.4 m |
| Draft |
4.3 m |
| crew |
160 men |
| drive |
8 Yarrow boilers , |
| speed |
20.5 kn |
| Armament |
4 × 120 mm Bofors rapid-fire guns, |
| Coal supply |
265 t |
|
Armored command post deck |
|
| Armament 1940 |
4 × 120 mm Bofors rapid fire guns, |
The 1914 in service Clas Fleming was the first and only mine cruiser (Swedish. "Minkryssare") of the Swedish fleet . Built from 1910 to 1914 by Bergsunds on the Finnboda Varv in Stockholm , she remained a single ship. She was one of the first turbine-powered ships in the Swedish Navy and its first to be built for mine warfare. Before the Second World War, the ship was modernized and largely rebuilt. After the war, the ship was decommissioned, but was not removed from the fleet list until January 1, 1959. In 1960 the Clas Fleming was demolished .
Building history
Since 1908, the naval command planned a mine-layer with good sea properties, which could lay mines quickly in all weather conditions and also quickly leave the site. In addition, the planned ship should also be used for reconnaissance. The order was received in 1909 by Bergsunds in Stockholm, where the first Swedish cruiser, the Fylgia , had previously been built. The Clas Fleming , built by Bergsunds on Finnboda Varv in Stockholm, was 80 meters long and had a maximum displacement of 1,800 tons. The hull was divided into 15 watertight compartments and was protected by an armored deck 16-25 mm thick. In front of the bridge it had a command post protected by 75 mm armor. There were cabins for the eight officers and 23 NCOs, while the rest of the crew, around 130 men, slept in sleeping decks and hammocks. In addition, space was provided for a 47-man landing party.
The eight coal-fired Yarrow boilers stood in two rooms and generated steam at 17 bar pressure for two steam turbines, which together developed 6500 hp. The turbines powered the ship's two propellers directly. With this the Clas Fleming reached a speed of 20.5 knots. After the destroyers Hugin and Munin (420 t, 30 kn, in service in 1911 and 1913 respectively), the Clas Fleming was the largest ship in the Swedish fleet to date that was powered by steam turbines.
The main armament of the Clas Fleming were mines, 130 of which were to be set up on deck behind protective walls, the rest were stored in the ship's hull. Then there were four 120 mm L / 50 Bofors cannons of the model 11, which stood in pairs on the foredeck and at the stern, as well as four machine guns model 10, a replica of the Maxim machine gun .
During the first deployment from 1914 to 1917, it was found that the mine gates in the stern were too deep and water penetrated into the ship there when the sea was a little rough. Therefore, from 1918 to 1919 the gates were raised and the mine rails were covered with a deck.
This made it necessary to change the position of the 120 mm guns. One cannon was installed on the midship line on the foredeck and one at the stern, while the other two were placed roughly in the middle of the ship on the sides.
In 1926 three 25-mm automatic cannons, model 22, replaced the machine guns, which were no longer sufficient for anti-aircraft defense. Since 1929 the Clas Fleming has mostly been shut down because the drive system was extremely uneconomical.
Reconstruction from 1939
For a modernization of the propulsion system, budget funds had been available since the mid-1930s that were not used because there was no clarity about the future use of the ship. It was only after the outbreak of World War II that the decision was made to modernize the ship. In November 1939, renovation work began in the Götaverken in Gothenburg . A new six-meter-long section was added to the center of the ship, primarily to provide space for the new propulsion system. This was completely redeveloped and had not yet been implemented in any ship. Four six-cylinder two-stroke diesel engines did not drive the propellers via shafts, but their exhaust gases operated turbines. Further steam was generated with two oil-heated boilers. By the exhaust gases and the steam was a double de Laval - gear turbine plant driven that produced up to 7,200 horsepower and a top speed of 20.3 knots was the ship. The new drive was a prototype of a gas turbine drive developed by Götaverken.
In addition to the propulsion system, the armament was also modernized. The range of the 120 mm cannons was increased with new tubes and newly developed ammunition, as was the case with the guns of the modernized coastal armored ships . The range has been increased and the operating team is better protected by new protective shields. The anti-aircraft armament was considerably strengthened and now consisted of three 40 mm L / 56 Bofors automatic cannons, model 36 and three 25 mm L / 58 Bofors automatic cannons, model 32. The Fleming clas received two for fighting submarines Depth charges . The conversion changed the appearance of the ship significantly, as the rear mast was completely removed and the front mast was considerably shorter. The bridge structure was also considerably modernized. In addition, the Clas Fleming received new chimneys. The two needed were now relatively far apart. After the first test drives in the summer of 1940, a third was set up as a dummy between these.
Mission history
The Clas Fleming entered service in May 1914. The ship was named after the Admiral Clas Larsson Fleming (1592–1644). After it was retracted, it developed the rules for Swedish mine warfare. In the event of war, it was supposed to lay offensive barriers together with the destroyers. During the First World War , in part in cooperation with the Fylgia , it secured Swedish territorial waters. The development of the war in the Baltic Sea led to the closure of Clas Fleming in Stockholm on October 24, 1917 .
The first modernizations of the ship followed in 1918 to 1919 and 1926. On August 24, 1930, the Clas Fleming tried in vain to tow the armored ship Manligheten , which had run aground off Horsfjärden , but was not strong enough. Since 1929 the Clas Fleming had mostly been shut down, mainly because of the high operating costs. The ship no longer seemed up-to-date for use in the fleet and in 1938 the use as a training ship for local naval reserves was considered.
When the Second World War broke out, the Fleming clas should be activated again. In order to make a meaningful use possible, it was decided to go for the extensive modernization described. As a mining cruiser it was replaced by the Sassnitz-Trelleborg ferry Drottning Victoria (1909, 3296 GRT, 16 kn), which was put into service as auxiliary cruiser 3 ("Hjälpkryssaren") .
On August 8, 1940, the heavily modified Clas Fleming came back into service and became part of the main fleet in the Baltic Sea. With the cruiser Gotland , she formed the 2nd cruiser squadron, which was stationed in Hasfjärden near Stockholm and mainly monitored the area of the capital and the Aaland Islands . Until the end of the war, she remained in service to protect and monitor Swedish territorial waters against violations of neutrality by the warring parties.
Since the summer of 1944 Clas Fleming has been part of the Naval War School for training in mine warfare.
End of the Fleming clas
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After the war the Clas Fleming remained demobilized in the naval shipyard in Stockholm. It was only deleted from the fleet list in January 1959. After removing all still usable parts, it was used as a target vehicle for target practice, but sold to Ystad for scrapping in autumn 1960 .
literature
- Alexander Bredt (Hrsg.): Weyer's pocket book of the war fleets. JF Lehmanns Verlag, Munich, 35th year 1941
- Curt Borgenstam: Kryssare. Med svenska flottans kryssare under 75 år. CB Marinliteratur, Värnamo 1993, ISBN 91-970700-6-8 (Swedish).
