SMS Basilisk (1862)
 SMS Basilisk on a contemporary postcard
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The SMS Basilisk was the fifth of a total of eight steam cannon boats of the Camaeleon class . The units, known as Gunboat I. Class, were the first of their kind in the Prussian Navy and were built between 1859 and 1865. The basilisk was part of the second series that was commissioned in 1860 from the private shipyard Lübke in Wolgast . The boat was used in three wars and was accepted into the Imperial Navy in 1871 .
Construction and time of use
The basilisk was piled up on July 26, 1861. The name of the boat was already clear at this point, as some of the necessary material had to be obtained from abroad and the customs authorities required proof of the state's needs. Like its sister ships, the Basilisk displaced a maximum of 422 t. She was 43.28 m long and 6.96 m wide, had a draft of 2.67 m and was rigged as a three-masted schooner . She had two single-cylinder steam engines installed horizontally with a total of 320 PSi and ran up to 9.3 knots in calm seas . The crew consisted of four officers and 67 men . The armament consisted of a towed 24-pounder and two towed 12-pounders, all of which were mounted on frame mounts.
The basilisk was launched on August 20, 1862 and, after its completion, was transferred to the naval depot on Dänholm , where the Prussian gunboats were also based. There the boat was first disarmed and left in reserve.
The plan to send the boat to East Asia was dropped because of the poor seaworthiness and the inadequate accommodation for difficult climatic conditions. However, the basilisk was planned for a trip to the Mediterranean. For this purpose, the gunboat was officially put into service for the first time on May 28, 1863. Together with the Blitz and the Aviso SMS Preussischer Adler , the Basilisk started its departure on August 18th and reached Piraeus on October 9th . During this voyage, the boat did not have all of its guns on board in order to increase seaworthiness and to avoid damage during severe weather. First of all, the association had to guarantee the protection of Germans during the unrest in Greece. The basilisk was also to be stationed at the mouth of the Sulina arm , as was granted to Prussia in the Third Peace of Paris in 1856. However, due to the impending conflict with Denmark, the association received the return order on December 3rd.
Since damage repeatedly occurred on board the Prussian Adler , intermediate ports had to be called at several times. As a result, the association did not reach Den Helder until April 14, 1864 , when it received news of the outbreak of the German-Danish War . Since a breakthrough into the Baltic Sea seemed too dangerous due to the possibility of a encounter with superior Danish ships, the commandant of the association, Corvette Captain Gustav Klatt , decided to unite with the approaching Austrian association under Wilhelm von Tegetthoff , which happened on May 1st . Together with the frigates SMS Radetzky and SMS Schwarzenberg , the German ships entered Cuxhaven three days later .
On May 9, the Austro-Prussian Association near Heligoland came into battle with three Danish ships. Von Tegetthoff took over the brunt of the naval battle with his two frigates, whereby the Schwarzenberg received several hits and caught fire. The Prussian units could not intervene effectively in the fighting. Only towards the end of the battle did the commander of the Basilisk's rear gun , Lieutenant von Werner, claim to have scored a hit on the Jylland . Danish combat reports do not mention this hit, which is why Werner years later admitted that he might have been mistaken. The battle finally ended with the retreat of the Austro-Prussian association into the neutral waters of Heligoland. Like the Prussian Adler and the Blitz , the Basilisk had not suffered any casualties or combat damage. However, due to the high speed required for a long time, the boat ran out of coal supplies, which is why the tar and grease stocks in the boilers were burned.
In the further course of the German-Danish War, the Basilisk was involved in the occupation of the North Frisian Islands and in the fight against smaller Danish vehicles. In addition, the boat could raise several prizes together with other units . The last combat use of the basilisk during the war took place on July 19. Until the end of the war, the boat was used to guard Danish prizes in Cuxhaven. The basilisk was finally decommissioned on December 9th on the Dänholm and subjected to a boiler overhaul.
The next commissioning took place from June 26 to October 15, 1866 due to the German War . The boat was used again in the North Sea, but it was not used in combat during the war. In the following years the basilisk was used to survey the German North Sea coast. The boat performed this activity from April 21 to October 26, 1867 and from April 21 to November 6, 1868, while it was stationed in Geestemünde . However, financial bottlenecks forced the company to be temporarily out of service from May 6 to July 13, 1868.
With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War , the basilisk was reactivated on July 17, 1870 and used to defend the jade . The boat was decommissioned on April 6, 1871, again without having been involved in any combat during the war. In the summer of 1873 the gunboat was briefly used without an official commissioning.
In 1874 the basilisk received a 38.1 cm diameter deck torpedo tube from the Whitehead system . This made the gunboat the first torpedo boat of the Imperial Navy. From March 24 to May 16, 1874, the Basilisk, now known as the torpedo cannon boat, carried out test drives to test the torpedoes off Wilhelmshaven .
Whereabouts
The basilisk was not activated again after 1874. On December 28, 1876, the boat was removed from the list of warships. In the following decades the hull of the basilisk was used as a mine prahm in Wilhelmshaven. The exact time of the dismantling is not known, but is after 1900.
Commanders
| June 13, 1863 to June 1864 | Lieutenant for the sea 1st class show |
| June 6th to December 9th, 1864 | Lieutenant to the Sea Max Jung |
| June 26 to October 15, 1866 | Lieutenant Captain von Schwarzburg-Sondershausen |
| April 24 to October 26, 1867 | Lieutenant Ratzeburg |
| April 21 to May 6, 1868 | Lieutenant Ratzeburg |
| July 13 to November 6, 1868 | Lieutenant to the sea Rudolf Hoffmann |
| July 17, 1870 to April 6, 1871 | Captain Wilhelm Ditmar |
| June 1873 | Captain Franz Mensing |
| March 24 to May 16, 1874 | Lieutnant zur See Geiseler |
literature
- Gröner, Erich / Dieter Jung / Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 . tape 1 : Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 , p. 161 f .
- Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 2 : Ship biographies from Baden to Eber . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 37-39 .
Footnotes
- ↑ The designation of the lower officer ranks was set or changed in the years 1849, 1854 and 1864. On January 1, 1900, the names Fähnrich zur See, Leutnant zur See, Oberleutnant zur See and Kapitänleutnant, which are still in use today, were introduced.
- ↑ The rank corresponds to a lieutenant commander.
- ↑ a b c The rank corresponds to a first lieutenant at sea.