SMS Blitz (1882)

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Aviso (small cruiser) SMS Blitz
Aviso (small cruiser) SMS Blitz
Overview
Type Aviso
Shipyard

Germania shipyard in Kiel,
construction no .: 1

Order 1879
Keel laying 1881
Launch August 26, 1882
delivery 1883
Namesake Natural lightning event
Commissioning March 28, 1883
Decommissioning 1919
Removed from ship register March 8, 1921
Whereabouts Scrapped in Wilhelmshaven in 1921
Technical specifications
displacement

Construction: 1381 t
Maximum: 1486 t

length

KWL : 75.3 m
over all: 78.43 m

width

9.9 m

Draft

4.07-4.4 m

drive
  • 8 locomotive boilers
    from modification:
    8 transverse cylinder boilers
  • 2 horizontal 2-cylinder double expansion steam engines
  • 2700 PSi
speed

16 kn

Range

2440  nm at 9 kn

Armament

from renovation 1891/92:

  • 6 Sk - 8.8 cm L / 30
    600 rounds
  • 2 torpedo tubes - 35 cm (additional, on deck)
Volume

817  BRT
367  NRT

stock

185–220 tons of coal

The Aviso SMS Blitz (from 1899: small cruiser ) was the type ship of a class of two ships of the same name, to which the sister ship SMS Pfeil also belonged. Construction began in the summer of 1881 at Norddeutsche Schiffbau AG - later Germania shipyard  - in Kiel, where it was launched a year later on August 26, 1882. In 1883 the Blitz was completed and handed over to the Imperial Navy . Both ships were built of steel, but otherwise unarmored.

The 75 m long, 10 m wide and 4.2 m deep lightning bolt displaced 1,382 tons. In eight cylinder boilers , steam was generated for the two horizontal double expansion machines, which acted on the two propeller shafts with 2700 hp. At a speed of 10 kn, the amount of coal on board was sufficient for 250 hours or a range of 2500 nm. The maximum speed was 15 kn.

The original boilers and machines were supplied by Märkisch-Schlesische Maschinenbau- und Hütten-AG, formerly FA Egells , Berlin-Moabit . During the renovation in 1891/92 in the Imperial Shipyard in Danzig, cylinder boilers from the shipyard's own production were installed.

The flat silhouette with the continuous deck was determined by two chimneys, a small bridge structure with a wheelhouse in front of the front chimney, and two masts, one on the fore and one on the stern.

The armament consisted of six 8.8 cm L / 30 sea target rapid-loading cannons, two of which were positioned amidships on the bow and stern, and two on each side, so that one broadside comprised four guns. There were also four 8 mm machine guns and three 35 cm torpedo tubes. One was installed under the ramming stem in the bow, firing ahead, two were in deck arrangement on the sides, immediately behind the second chimney.

The crew consisted of six officers, seven deck officers and 122 non-commissioned officers and men. When used as a flagship of a torpedo boat - Flotilla of Flottillenstab of three officers and 16 other sailors were also on board.

As early as 1900, the Blitz class was considered obsolete and had no combat value. From then on, the ships were used as tenders in Kiel. The lightning was in World War I of the First Squadron Seas Fleet assigned and even drove yet in October 1917 during the occupation of the Baltic islands (see Battle of Moon Sound and " Operation Albion ") as a support ship. The occupation of Kronstadt and Petrograd  was also planned for the “ Operation Keystone ” in September 1918.

Both ships survived the World War and were only deleted from the list of warships and canceled in 1921 (SMS Blitz ) and 1922 (SMS Pfeil ).

SMS Blitz and the "Riddle of the Sandbank"

In the classic novel " The Riddle of the Sandbank " by Erskine Childers (published 1903), the two protagonists Davies and Carruthers with their yacht Dulcibella during their stay on the East Frisian Islands in autumn 1902 are driven by a warship of the Imperial Navy called "Blitz" shaded. However, the fictional vessel commanded by Frigate Captain von Brüning, referred to as a torpedo gunboat and used in fishery protection, does not take the historical Aviso as a model, despite the authentic name: From the dimensions mentioned (140 feet long, 25 feet wide) and the one chimney , the vehicle in the novel even corresponds more closely to the first SMS Blitz from 1862, a steam gunboat of the Camaeleon class , which, however, was canceled in 1878.

In the 10-part German television series from 1984 that plays Lightning also a prominent role; It is represented by a coaster of around 40 m in length that has been converted for production. Its silhouette (ram bow, guns fore and aft, two funnels and masts) comes very close to the historical lightning (in contrast to the novel); also the technical details mentioned in several places (dimensions, armament, type description). Overall, the series tries to pay attention to historical details. In addition, the authentic Blitz corresponds more to the image of a Wilhelmine warship than the small vehicle depicted in the novel.

In the English adaptation of The Riddle of the Sands from 1979 (in German: By Night and Fog ), however, the lightning does not appear at all.

literature

  • Erich Gröner, Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 Volume 1. Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 .
  • B. Weyer (Hrsg.): Pocket book of the German war fleet. JF Lehmann, Munich 1900, p. 57
  • B. Weyer (Hrsg.): Taschenbuch der Kriegsflotte - XV. Born in 1914. JF Lehmann, Munich 1914, p. 18
  • E. Childers: The Riddle of the Sandbank . Diogenes, Zurich 1975, pp. 92 and 153

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