SMS Charlotte
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The SMS Charlotte was a cruiser frigate of the Imperial Navy . Until 1884, during the planning and construction, the ship was classified as a covered corvette , from 1893 she was used as a training ship .
construction
In the early 1880s, the Imperial Navy needed a new training ship. The plans for a new building took place in 1881 and 1882. The Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven stretched the keel for the ship on April 2, 1883. However, due to cuts and postponements of funds by the Reichstag , the new building was only ready for launch on September 5, 1885. The christening of the ship in the name of the Prussian Princess Charlotte was to be carried out by her older brother, Prince Wilhelm . However, since this was prevented, the head of the Admiralty , Leo von Caprivi , took over the baptism. The Charlotte was completed in the autumn of 1886 as the last sailing warship with auxiliary engine drive for the Imperial Navy.
technology
The design for the Charlotte was based heavily on the cruiser frigates of the Bismarck class , but was slightly larger than these. The ship was 83.85 m long and 14.6 m wide. With a maximum displacement of 3,763 t, it had a draft of 6.86 m. The constructive displacement was 3,288 t. The hull of the ship, which was designed as a transverse frame, was made of iron and was divided into ten watertight compartments . The engine room had a double floor. The frigate did not have armor.
The electrical equipment is of two generators powered operating at a voltage of 67 V a power of 19.5 kW produced.
The target crew strength of the Charlotte was originally 20 officers and 486 men . The crew count was later reduced to 475. The crew consisted of 50 midshipmen and 230 cabin boys .
Propulsion system
The Charlotte was initially rigged as a full ship and obtained her propulsion energy mainly from the approximately 2,360 m² sail area. The ship also had a steam-powered auxiliary drive. This consisted of two coupled two-cylinder compound steam engines , which were housed in two machine rooms arranged one behind the other. The machines generated a maximum of 3,119 PSi and acted on a two-winged screw with a diameter of 5.35 m. This was originally heatable , but this was changed in 1899 and the screw was firmly mounted. The necessary steam was supplied by eight transverse cylinder boilers, which were divided into two boiler rooms also arranged one behind the other. The boilers had 16 furnaces and a total heating surface of 1,064 m². They generated a vapor pressure of 5 atmospheres . The propulsion system helped the ship to a maximum speed of 13.5 knots. The fuel supply of 528 t of coal on board enabled the ship to travel 2,300 nm at a cruising speed of 11 knots.
As part of a made from 1903 to 1905 restructuring of the Imperial Shipyard in Kiel was Charlotte to Bark umgetakelt. This reduced the sail area to 1,580 m². The boilers were also modernized, reducing their number to six. One of the two steam engines was also removed. The drive power sank to 1,437 PSi, the top speed to 11.4 kn.
Armament
The main armament of the Charlotte originally consisted of 18 15 cm L / 22 ring cannons , for which 1,868 rounds were carried. In addition, there were two 8.8 cm L / 30 quick-loading cannon and six 3.7 cm - revolver cannon on board.
In 1899 six of the 15 cm cannons were dismantled. During the rebuilding in 1903/05, the remaining ring cannons were replaced by two 10.5 cm L / 35 and 14 8.8 cm L / 30 rapid-loading cannons. The number of revolver cannons was reduced to four.
commitment
The Charlotte was first put into service on November 1, 1886, to carry out test drives until January 28, 1887. During this, the ship's good sea skills were determined, but also its difficult maneuverability.
It was not until September 22, 1888 that the Charlotte was used for active service to replace the Friedrich Carl as a training ship. The ship was assigned to the school squadron, which was under the command of Rear Admiral Friedrich von Hollmann . The flagship of the squadron was the Stosch . The Charlotte took 50 midshipmen and 230 cabin boys on board and began her first training trip to the Mediterranean on September 29. There the ship took part in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the throne of George I and then visited several Austro-Hungarian , Italian and Turkish ports. The Charlotte returned home on April 16, 1889. Shortly thereafter, the school squadron was disbanded and the cruiser frigate decommissioned on April 25th.
It was not until April 22, 1897 that the Charlotte was reactivated after a major overhaul. After exercises in the Baltic Sea, the ship accompanied the imperial couple to Kronstadt and took part in the autumn maneuvers in August. On September 16, the frigate left for its second major training voyage. She met Stein in Charlotte Amalie at the end of November . Both ships went to Port-au-Prince , where a diplomatic incident required the presence of German warships. The Charlotte made on 4 December a stopover in Puerto Plata in order to from Haiti to take refugees German minister on board. Two days later the sailing ships were at Port-au-Prince. To back up an ultimatum that had been handed over, both took up combat positions and aimed their guns at the three Haitian warships present, the port fort and the presidential seat . But it was not until the Haitian ships had been occupied that President Tirésias Simon-Sam gave in to the German demands. The Germans, evacuated on two HAPAG steamers as a precaution , then went ashore again. On December 10th, a cruiser of the United States reached the port, which should act against the German ships in the event of an annexation of Haiti by Germany. After the incident was resolved, they were able to leave Port-au-Prince on December 14th. The Charlotte started her journey home on January 10, 1898, after the Geier had arrived as a new stationary , and reached Kiel on March 25.
On May 31, 1898, the Charlotte embarked on a cruise in the Baltic Sea, which had to be interrupted due to a measles epidemic among the cadets and cabin boys. After participating in the autumn maneuvers again, the ship began the training voyage on September 8th. First, several Atlantic islands were called. In January 1899, Charlotte went to Tangier together with the Stosch , as unrest in Morocco endangered German economic interests there. As a result, both ships called at the French ports of Oran , Algiers and Tunis . Since France and the German Empire had come closer for the first time since the Franco-Prussian War , the visits were intended to further improve relations. After calling at Spanish ports, the Charlotte returned to Kiel on March 23, 1899, where the number of 15 cm guns was initially reduced. This was followed by a short cruise in the Baltic Sea and the winter trip. This led to Rio de Janeiro and Essaouira , among other places, and ended on March 23, 1900.
In the summer of 1900, trips were made in the Baltic Sea and Norwegian waters. On September 19, the big training trip to the Mediterranean started, during which Moroccan ports, Alexandria and Corfu, among others, were called. On December 17th, the Charlotte received the order to go to Malaga and there to carry out salvage work on the Gneisenau , which had sunk the day before . On December 22nd, the Charlotte reached the Spanish port city and continued the work begun by the British devastation . The last corpses were recovered and secret documents and valuables were also removed from the wreck. After a brief interruption due to the transport of the envoy for Morocco to Tangier, the work in Málaga could be completed by January 12, 1901. The Charlotte then visited Italian ports and was back in Kiel on March 9th.
On April 18, 1901, the new midshipmen crew of the year 1901 and with them Prince Adalbert came on board the Charlotte . Before the usual trips in the Baltic Sea, the ship took part in the surveying work in the Adlergrund , which was due to the run-up of the ship of the line Kaiser Friedrich III. had become necessary. The training trip that began on August 14th led again to the Mediterranean. Among other things, Piraeus , Constantinople and Trieste were called. The trip ended on March 16, 1902 in Kiel.
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After another training trip was undertaken in the Baltic Sea in the early summer of 1902, the Charlotte set out on the next big training trip on July 12th. This involved calling at Kronstadt, Bilbao and ports in Brazil , Uruguay and the West Indies . Finally, the Charlotte was ordered off the Venezuelan coast, where she joined the East American Cruiser Division . This was formed due to tensions between Venezuela and Great Britain , Italy and the German Empire. However, the cruiser frigate did not have to take part in combat operations, but served as a stage base . She was released from the division on January 19, 1903 and returned to Kiel on March 23. The Charlotte was decommissioned on April 2nd and modernized at the Kaiserliche Werft Kiel, with the changes described above being made.
The Charlotte was put back into service as a training ship on April 1, 1905. The ship began its first major training trip after the modernization on July 18. It led around Scotland into the Mediterranean Sea and ended on March 30, 1906. The winter voyage of 1906/07 had the same sea area as its destination. The Charlotte attended a memorial service for the fallen of during this in Málaga Gneisenau part. In 1907/08 and 1908/09 the West Indian waters were the destination of the training trips. After her return to Kiel, the Charlotte was decommissioned on March 31, 1909 in Kiel as the last sailing training ship of the Imperial Navy. On May 26, 1909, it was deleted from the list of warships. From then on, the frigate was used as a residential ship and hulk for the ship boy training ship König Wilhelm . In October 1909 both ships were towed to Flensburg - Mürwik .
The outbreak of the First World War surprisingly brought about a reactivation of Charlotte . After the König Wilhelm was ordered as a depot ship on the Elbe , the ship's boy training was initially interrupted. After a short time, however, the Reichsmarineamt realized that the training had to be continued. For this purpose, the Charlotte was put back into service on October 20, 1914 and added to the list of warships. The fact that a ship that had already been deleted was re-included in the list is a unique event in German naval history. However, this renewed mission was only brief. On November 4th, the Charlotte was decommissioned and finally deleted from the list of warships, as the König Wilhelm was again available for training purposes in Flensburg-Mürwik.
Whereabouts
The Charlotte was used as a living room and hospital ship for the King Wilhelm during the First World War . In 1921 the frigate was sold to Hamburg and the hull was used there as a warehouse hulk.
Commanders
| November 1, 1886 to January 28, 1887 | Lieutenant Paul Hofmeier |
| September 22, 1888 to April 25, 1889 | Sea captain Ernst von Reiche |
| April 22, 1897 to April 12, 1898 | Sea captain August Carl Thiele |
| April 12, 1898 to March 31, 1902 | Friedrich Vüller's sea captain |
| April 1, 1902 to April 2, 1903 | Sea captain Otto Mandt |
| April 1, 1905 to March 30, 1906 | Sea captain Johannes Meier |
| March 31, 1906 to March 31, 1908 | Sea captain Friedrich Musculus |
| April 6, 1908 to March 31, 1909 | Sea captain Otto Back |
| October 20 to November 4, 1914 | Sea captain Andreas Fischer |
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. 72 .
- 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. 174-178 .
- Rheder: The military enterprise SMSS "Charlotte" and "Stein" against Haiti in December 1897. In: Marine-Rundschau. Volume 41, 1937, pp. 761–765.
- Olaf Rahardt: SMS CHARLOTTE. SCHIFF-Profile booklet 18, UNITEC-Medienvertrieb Stengelheim, 2015.
