Colonial gunboat
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In 1938/39 a projected type of ship of the Kriegsmarine was designated as a colonial gunboat . The project was not pursued beyond a mere draft for six units. In a future German colonial empire, the boats were to serve on so-called foreign stations both to secure rule in the colonies and to protect trade against the navies of other great powers.
history
The navy intended to play a leading role in the internal and external security of the future German colonial empire. At the request of her commander in chief, she wanted to take possession (or repossession of former colonies ) to take on a leading role. The project may have been part of the Z-Plan ; Details are not known. The main office of warship construction was responsible for the development.
It can be considered certain that the design did not go back to models or concepts of the Imperial Navy , as the Imperial Navy had never developed a specific type of ship for the colonies. The only exceptions were river cannon boats like the SMS Otter for service on the Yangtze River . It is possible that the Italian ship type of the colonial cruiser Eritrea or the French Avisos of the Bougainville class served as a model, which more or less had a similar displacement and armament as the German design. The Italian colonial police should serve as a model for the internal security of the new colonies .
The planning began in 1938, but was apparently finished in 1939, as there were insufficient shipyard capacities . An elevation of the design by Franz Mrva is shown at Gröner.
technology
Hull and drive
The hull of a colonial gunboat should have a length of 106.4 meters , a width of 12.3 meters and a draft of 3.5 meters with a displacement of 2,550 tons . Four oil-fired engines were planned as the drive, with which a total output of 1,500 PS (1,103 kW ) should be achieved. The power would have been delivered to two shafts with one screw each . The maximum speed should be 24 knots (44 km / h ). 380 tons of fuel could have been bunkered, which would have resulted in a maximum travel distance of 11,000 nautical miles (20,273 km) at 12 knots.
Armament
As the main artillery, four 12.7 cm SK C / 34 guns with a length of 60 caliber were planned in two twin turrets. These turrets should be placed on the boat center line, one in front of the bridge structure and behind the aft structure.
For anti-aircraft were provided six 3.7-cm SK C / 30 in three double carriages, two side by side in front of the bridge and an inflated to aft turret. Furthermore, four 2-cm Flak C / 30 also in double carriages which on platforms on either side of the midship located chimney would have been. Since the threat posed by aircraft was not yet dominant at the time of planning, this number of anti-aircraft guns was considered sufficient.
The torpedo armament should consist of two double torpedo tube sets in 53.3 cm caliber for torpedoes of the type G7a .
literature
- Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945, Volume 1: Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats , Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 .
- Patrick Bernhard: The »Colonial Axis«. The Nazi state and Italian Africa 1935 to 1943 , in: Lutz Klinkhammer / Amedeo Osti Guerazzi / Thomas Schlemmer (eds.): The »Axis« in War - Politics, Ideology and Warfare 1939–1945 , Schöningh, Paderborn / Munich / Vienna / Zurich 2010, ISBN 978-3-506-76547-5 , pp. 147–175.
- Karsten Linne: Germany beyond the equator? The Nazi colonial planning for Africa , Ch. Links, Berlin 2008, ISBN 978-3-86153-500-3 .
- Alexandre Kum'a Ndumbe III. : What did Hitler want in Africa? Nazi planning for a fascist redesign of Africa , Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation, Frankfurt am Main 1993, ISBN 3-88939-104-4 .
