SMS Blitz (1862)
 The identical basilisk on a contemporary postcard
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The SMS Blitz was the sixth of eight gunboats of the Camaeleon class . The boats, known as Gunboat I. Class, were built between 1859 and 1865 for the Prussian Navy . The Blitz was part of the second series of four boats that were commissioned from the Wolgast private shipyard Lübke .
construction
The flash displaced as all boats of the class maximum of 422 t. She was 43.28 m long and rigged as a three-masted schooner . She had two single-cylinder steam engines installed horizontally with a total of 320 PSi and, assuming calm seas, ran up to 9.3 knots . The boat was not particularly fast, and its seaworthiness left a lot to be desired. The crew consisted of four officers and 67 men . The armament consisted of a rifled 24-pounder and two rifled 12-pounders.
The lightning was just like the basilisk on July 26, 1861 laid the keel. The name of the boat had already been determined on May 23, 1861, as the customs authorities required proof of the state's needs for the building material, some of which was obtained from abroad. The boat was launched on August 27, 1862 and was initially held in reserve after its completion.
Working time
On June 13, 1863, the Blitz was officially put into service for the first time, after test drives had been carried out since May 27. Together with the basilisk and the Aviso Prussian eagle , the boat left Prussian waters for the Mediterranean on August 18. There the three ships initially had to ensure the protection of Germans during unrest in Greece. However, the association was ordered back in December. The conflict between Prussia and Denmark intensified at this time and made war seem likely. As intermediate ports had to be called several times due to damage on board the Prussian Eagle , the association only learned of the outbreak of the German-Danish War on April 14, 1864 off Den Helder . Since the commandant of the association, Korvettenkapitän Gustav Klatt , a breakthrough into the Baltic Sea did not seem possible, the Prussian units joined the Austrian association under Wilhelm von Tegetthoff on May 1st . The small Austro-Prussian squadron reached Cuxhaven on May 4th . Five days later it struck three Danish warships off Heligoland . During the developing naval battle , the Prussian ships could not intervene decisively in the battle.
Together with the Basilisk and the Austrian gunboats Seehund and Wall , the Blitz was subsequently involved in the occupation of the North Frisian Islands . The four boats were under the command of frigate captain Karl Kronowetter. They had to take action against two Danish steamers, six rowing dinghies and 18 smaller vessels. The gunboats were supported by two Austrian associations under Rear Admiral Bernhard von Wüllerstorf-Urbair and Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, who, however, could not move freely in the Wadden Sea due to the greater draft of the ships . From July 13, the larger islands of Sylt , Föhr and Amrum were occupied. Six days later the Danish commander, Kapitänleutnant Otto Christian Hammer, surrendered . His sword was handed over to Prince Adalbert by the Commander of the Blitz , Lieutenant Captain Archibald MacLean . The captured Danish ships were initially brought to Cuxhaven and remained in Prussian possession. The Blitz ran into the Baltic Sea on November 28th together with the Basilisk and Augusta around Cape Skagen and was decommissioned on December 10th on Dänholm .
The next activation of the Blitz took place shortly before the outbreak of the German War on June 10, 1866. The boat was initially used in the Baltic Sea, but was sent to the North Sea at the beginning of July. There it belonged to the unit stationed on the Elbe under Corvette Captain Reinhold von Werner on the Arminius . Its main task was the occupation and securing of the Hanoverian coastal fortifications , which was completed by the end of June . The association was dissolved on September 25th and the Blitz was briefly relocated to the newly formed naval depot in Geestemünde .
At the beginning of October, the boat set out for the Mediterranean and reached Constantinople on January 12, 1867 . From Smyrna , the Blitz and the Gazelle brought food and blankets to the earthquake-affected Mytilene island on March 3rd and 16th . Refugees were transported on the way back to the mainland. In the autumn of 1867 the gunboat called at Crete , as a revolt of the Greek population against the Ottoman authorities had broken out there. The Blitz evacuated over 500 women and children to Milos and Piraeus from mid-September . She then stayed in Cretan waters together with the Medusa until the end of November . On December 4th the boat was back in Smyrna. A little later, the Blitz ran with the Hertha to Chios , where the French corvette Roland had run into a rock. After they were eased , the ship was able to get afloat again. Captain Jung was later awarded the Knight's Cross of the Legion of Honor for the help provided , an honor that only a few German navy members received. The Blitz initially stayed in Smyrna. On April 22, 1868, the boat ran to the Sulina mouth where Prussia according to the Crimean War terminating third Paris Peace could deploy two warships. From there the Danube should be navigated to Galatz . However, the boat received the order to travel home on May 2nd. On July 3, the Blitz reached Stralsund and was decommissioned there. The following year the Royal Shipyard in Gdansk carried out an overhaul of the boat.
On July 24, 1870, five days after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War , the Blitz was put back into service. The boat was first assigned to the flotilla under Corvette Captain Franz von Waldersee on the Grille , which also included the dragons and the salamanders . With this association, the gunboat took part in a sea battle near Rügen on August 12 . On September 10, the flotilla was disbanded and the Blitz moved first to Kiel and later to Wilhelmshaven . From October 9th, she stepped up the defense of the jade there . At the end of January 1871, the boat and the dragon towed several cannon barrows from Tönning to Wilhelmshaven.
After the end of the war, the Blitz was used as a stationary on the Lower Elbe, with the boat mostly staying in front of Glückstadt . From July 1871 it was used in fishery protection in the North Sea. In one case near Norderney it took a sharp shot to force a British fisherman to enter German territory. On July 24th, Crown Prince Friedrich and Princess Victoria were on board the Blitz with their sons Wilhelm and Heinrich . From October 7, 1871 to June 1872, the gunboat was a guard ship in front of Altona . On June 24th, fisheries protection was resumed. Five days later the Blitz had to call at Aberdeen to have a broken mast repaired. In early July the boat was sailing near the Shetland Islands and visited Lerwick on July 9th . From July 20 to 30, the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven carried out an overhaul of the Blitz . The boat was then stationed in Cuxhaven, where it was visited by Prince Friedrich Carl . From September 5 until it was decommissioned on September 23, the gunboat served again as a watch ship off Altona.
The Blitz was put back into service on April 16, 1873. From May 2nd, the boat was prepared for its future use as a survey ship. From May 16, the Blitz worked together with the Pommerania off the Mecklenburg coast, mainly in the area off Wismar . On November 12, the boat was taken out of service for the winter in Wilhelmshaven. Reactivated on April 15, 1874, the Blitz continued surveying work in the Baltic Sea, but this time in Holstein waters. With the decommissioning in Wilhelmshaven on October 31, the active service time of the Blitz ended .
Whereabouts
The Blitz was removed from the list of warships on December 28, 1876. The Imperial Shipyard Gdansk then used the hull as a coal hulk for some time before the boat was scrapped. Some parts of the machinery were reused for the Wolf gunboat .
Commanders
| June 13, 1863 to December 10, 1864 | Captain Archibald MacLean |
| June 10, 1866 to July 7, 1868 | Leutnant zur See / Kapitänleutnant Max Jung |
| July 24, 1870 to July 1871 | Lieutenant Matthesen |
| July 1871 to September 23, 1872 | Captain Glomsda von Buchholz |
| April 16 to November 12, 1873 | Lieutenant to the sea Ernst Aschmann |
| April 15 to October 31, 1874 | Lieutenant to the sea Aschmann |
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. 85-88 .
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.
- ↑ a b c The rank corresponds to a first lieutenant at sea.