Caiman class
|
|
|---|---|
| Caiman- class | |
 SMS polyp |
|
| Overview | |
| Type | Torpedo boat |
| units | 24 |
| Shipyard |
1 Yarrows , Poplar |
| Order | 1904 |
| Launch | 1905-1910 |
| delivery | 1905-1910 |
| period of service |
1905 to 1918/1924 to 1926 |
| Whereabouts | 24 delivered in 1918, scrapped except for 4 delivered to the SHS state ( Yugoslavia ), these 1924 to 1926 out of service |
| Technical specifications | |
| displacement |
209 to 211 t |
| length |
56 m above sea level |
| width |
5.4 m |
| Draft |
1.35 m |
| crew |
38 men |
| drive | |
| speed |
26.2 kn , 2 screws |
| Range |
500 nm at 26 kn |
| Armament |
|
The Cayman class was a class of 24 deep-sea torpedo boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and in the First World War .
The lead ship, the Kaiman , was built in 1905 by Yarrow Shipbuilders in London . The next 13 ran boats 1906 and 1907 at stabilimento tecnico triestino (STT) in Trieste from the stack . Ten more boats were finally built at the Danubius shipyard of Ganz & Co. in Fiume and launched in 1908 and 1909. In 1914 the boats were given the identification numbers 50 to 73, with an additional letter (E, T, or F), which designated the shipyard.
Technical specifications
The boats were 56 meters long and 5.4 m wide, had a 1.35 m draft and displaced 210 tons . Two Yarrow - water tube boiler provided 3,000 horsepower and a top speed of 26.2 knots . The armament consisted of three 45-cm twin torpedo tubes and four 4.7-cm L / 33 quick-loading cannon . The crew consisted of three officers and 35 men.
First World War
The torpedo boats designed for the high seas were rarely used because the Allies blocked the Strait of Otranto ( Otranto barrier ). Even before entering the war, the Italians had taken the Vlora opposite Otranto in December 1914 .
A mission to bomb the Montenegrin coast on August 8, 1914, which was supported by boat 72 F , is worth mentioning . The torpedo boats also supported other operations by destroyers of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, such as the sinking of the royal yacht Rumija on March 1, 1915 . On September 9, 1915, 51 T was torpedoed, but could be towed into a port. On July 14, 1916, 65 F and 66 F were able to sink the submarine Balilla off Lissa . In the naval battle in the Strait of Otranto on May 15, 1917, 54 T , 73 F and another boat of the Kaiman class were involved.
All 24 boats of the caiman class survived the war.
Whereabouts
The total of 24 boats were delivered to the victorious powers after the end of the war.
- The Alligator (52T), now in Italian possession, was thrown onto the beach on October 17, 1919 in a heavy bora in the Sette Kastelli bay near Split and scrapped in 1921/22.
- Four boats - 54T (ex- Wal ), 60T (ex- Schwalbe ), 61T (ex- Pinguin ) and 69F (ex- Polyp ) - were taken over into the new Yugoslav Navy and put into service by it in March 1920. They were given the numbers T12, T9, T10 and T11 and served until 1924 (T9, T10 and T12) and 1926 (T11, ex- Polyp ) and were scrapped in 1928 (T12, ex- Wal ) and 1936, respectively.
- The remaining 19 boats were delivered to Great Britain after the decision of the Allied Naval Council in Paris at the end of January 1920 about the distribution of the ships of the former Austro-Hungarian Navy , sold to the Cantiere Navale di Scoglio Olivi in Pola for demolition and scrapped there in 1920.
List of units
| boat | Launch | takeover | Whereabouts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caiman (50E) | June 2, 1905 | September 14, 1905 | 1920 delivered to the UK and Pola scrapped |
| Anaconda (51T) | May 7, 1906 | September 21, 1906 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Alligator (52T) | June 30, 1906 | December 31, 1906 | Italian spoils of war; stranded in severe bora near Split on October 17, 1919 ; Wrecked in 1921/22 |
| Crocodile (53T) | July 25, 1906 | December 31, 1906 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Whale (54T) | September 10, 1906 | June 15, 1907 | 1919 as T12 to Yugoslavia, decommissioned in 1924, scrapped in 1928 |
| Seal (55T) | September 15, 1906 | June 15, 1907 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Dolphin (56T) | November 29, 1906 | June 15, 1907 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Narwhal (57T) | December 17, 1906 | June 15, 1908 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Shark (58T) | March 23, 1907 | June 15, 1908 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Gull (59T) | March 30, 1907 | June 15, 1908 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Swallow (60T) | April 9, 1907 | March 20, 1909 | 1919 as T9 to Yugoslavia, decommissioned in 1924, scrapped in 1936 |
| Penguin (61T) | April 18, 1907 | March 20, 1909 | 1919 as T10 to Yugoslavia, decommissioned in 1924, scrapped in 1936 |
| Dragon (62T) | July 13, 1907 | March 20, 1909 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Griffin (63T) | July 8, 1907 | March 20, 1909 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Triton (64F) | July 18, 1908 | December 31, 1908 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Hydra (65F) | October 11, 1908 | January 19, 1909 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Scorpio (66F) | November 15, 1908 | January 22, 1909 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Phoenix (67F) | January 10, 1909 | August 3, 1909 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Octopus (68F) | February 7, 1909 | September 15, 1909 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Polyp (69F) | April 17, 1909 | September 15, 1909 | 1919 as T11 to Yugoslavia, broken up in 1936 |
| Lizard (70F) | May 8, 1909 | June 15, 1910 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Pig (71F) | July 14, 1909 | June 15, 1910 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Cormorant (72F) | November 15, 1909 | March 5, 1010 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
| Alk (73F) | October 2, 1909 | June 15, 1910 | Delivered to Great Britain in 1920 and broken up in Pola |
literature
- Franz F. Bilzer: The torpedo boats of the kuk Kriegsmarine 1875-1918. 2nd Edition. Weishaupt, Gnas (Steiermark), 1996, ISBN 3-900310-16-5 .
- Zvonimir Freivogel, Austro-Hungarian deep sea torpedo boats and their fates (= Austria's shipping in old views. Album 5). NMW - Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-7083-0044-0 .
- Lothar Baumgartner, Erwin Sieche: The ships of the K. (below) K. Kriegsmarine in the picture. Volume 2: 1896-1918. Mittler & Sohn et al., Hamburg et al. 2001, ISBN 3-8132-0595-9 .
Web links
- Austro-Hungarian Navy
- Erwin Sieche: "The distribution and whereabouts of the units of the Austro-Hungarian Navy after 1918". Archived from the original ; Retrieved December 26, 2008 .
- Historical Handbook of World Navies. Archived from the original ; Retrieved December 26, 2008 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Charles W. Koburger (2001): "The Central Powers in the Adriatic, 1914-1918: War in a Narrow Sea." Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-275-97071-0
- ^ Franco Favre: "La Marina nella Grande Guerra. Le operazioni navali, aeree, subacquee e terrestri in Adriatico", pp. 168-169.
- ↑ Enrico Cernuschi and Vincent P. O'Hara (2015): "The Naval War in the Adriatic Part I: 1914-1916". In: John Jordan: "Warship 2015." London, England: Bloomsbury. Pp. 161-173. ISBN 978-1-84486-295-5 .