SMS Falke (1865)
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SMS Falke was a paddle steamer of the German Imperial Navy . The ship was bought in 1870 and served as an Aviso until 1888 .
history
The steamer was built in 1865 as a speculative building at the Henderson, Coulborn & Company shipyard in Glasgow . It was originally intended as a possible blockade breaker for the Confederate States , but this failed with the end of the war of secession . The following year, a Rotterdam shipowner bought the ship. It was named Heinrich Heister and was unused in Dordrecht until 1870 . In August 1870, Korvettenkapitän Franz von Waldersee , who pretended to be British agent John Smith as a camouflage , was able to purchase the paddle steamer for the Navy of the North German Confederation .
The Navy had made attempts to introduce the Harvey system tug torpedoes and needed a suitable ship. Since a new building at a German shipyard would have taken too much time and the German merchant navy did not have a suitable vehicle either, Waldersee was commissioned with the purchase of a used ship abroad. Since the Franco-German War had already broken out at this point in time , this could only be done covertly so as not to endanger the purchase by violating the neutrality of the seller's country. Waldersee initially went to Great Britain, but could not find a suitable ship there. However, he received the information about the Heinrich Heister lying in Dordrecht , which met the requirements of the navy. On August 25, Waldersee was able to buy the paddle steamer for £ 12,500 .
The ship officially set sail for London with a Dutch crew . Waldersee changed course and gave Delfzijl as a new destination. In the Ems estuary , in whose waters the navigation signs due to the war had been removed, which met Heinrich Heister on August 30 on a gunboat of the hunter class and was from that of Emden escorted after Waldersee had informed the commander of the boat of his journey from the actual background . On September 4th, the paddle steamer was officially put into service as a warship of the North German Navy and was provisionally named Emden for the transfer to Wilhelmshaven . In Wilhelmshaven, the ship was fitted out, including its reinforcement, for which it was temporarily decommissioned. On September 12, the final name Falke was determined by cabinet order.
The falcon was put back into service on October 4th and initially took test drives. Just a few days later, a serious accident occurred off Wilhelmshaven, in which the Arminius rammed the Aviso amidships. The hawk leaked and began to sink. But it could be brought in and sealed. The ship was decommissioned on November 21. The repair of the damage suffered only began in January 1871, when the only dock in Wilhelmshaven at that time became vacant. The falcon could no longer be used in the war against France and remained without use in the following years.
The falcon did not return to service until May 19, 1875 . Since the navy had meanwhile abandoned the use of towed torpedoes, the ship was assigned to the tank training squadron and served this as an advisory and signal repeater. During an exercise off Saßnitz as part of the summer maneuvers , at which Kaiser Wilhelm I was also present, the falcon simulated an enemy ship that was being attacked by the training squadron. After the end of the maneuvers, the paddle steamer in Wilhelmshaven was decommissioned again.
The Falcon served from 7 May 1877 again as Aviso Panzer training squadron. To the squadron were at this time the ironclads SMS Germany , SMS Friedrich Carl , SMS Prussia and as a flagship acting SMS Kaiser . The outbreak of the Russo-Ottoman War in April 1877 made it necessary to send a strong unit of the navy to protect German citizens and interests. In addition, Austria-Hungary and Russia also requested German protection for their citizens in the Ottoman Empire . Accordingly, on June 1, the training squadron left German waters for the Mediterranean . The falcon initially remained in Bremen due to a machine failure. The local AG Weser exchanged the broken eccentric rod for a newly manufactured, 5 t heavy spare part within 36 hours. This made it possible for the paddle steamer to follow the training squadron as early as June 3 and to meet with them ten days later in Gibraltar . This was followed by trips to the eastern Mediterranean and stays in Port Said , Jaffa , Thessaloniki and Piraeus, among others . Since the situation in Turkey remained calm and other ships were on their way to the Mediterranean to replace them, the training squadron returned home on October 5th. The falcon again suffered machine damage and drove alone from Malta . It reached Wilhelmshaven four days after the rest of the squadron on October 25 and was decommissioned there on November 5. In the following time, the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven overhauled the Aviso's machinery and installed new steam boilers .
The falcon returned to the training squadron on May 27, 1878, after having been commissioned three weeks earlier. On May 29, the squadron received the order to sail into the Mediterranean, despite the short training period. The falcon again suffered machine damage while sailing and stayed in Wilhelmshaven until May 31. The Aviso then ran to Portsmouth , where the rest of the squadron stayed in the English Channel after the collision between the SMS Großer Kurfürst and the SMS König Wilhelm and the sinking of the Großer Kurfürst . With shipwrecked people on board, the falcon reached Wilhelmshaven on June 6th. Since the training squadron was disbanded that day, the paddle steamer provided fishery protection in the North Sea over the next few weeks and was decommissioned on July 17.
In the course of 1879 the falcon received electric room lighting, a spotlight and an ammeter to determine ocean currents at the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven . Siemens & Halske supplied the corresponding systems . The Falcon was the first ship of the Imperial Navy with such equipment.
On April 1, 1879, the falcon 's longest uninterrupted period of service began. From then on, the ship was mainly used as a tender for the North Sea naval station in Wilhelmshaven. Between May and July 1879 the falcon stayed in the area between Amrum and Sylt to carry out flow measurements there. From July 26th to August 28th of the same year, Field Marshal Friedrich Karl Nikolaus von Prussia brought them to Sweden to visit Oskar II . On April 26, 1881, the ship had to bring injured people from the roadstead in front of Schillig to Wilhelmshaven when a gun explosion occurred on board the SMS Mars . On July 7, 1881, the falcon set out for West Scotland to help the Vandalia , a HAPAG ship, which was in distress . The falcon was finally decommissioned on August 25, 1881.
In 1883 the ship underwent major repairs. After its completion, the falcon was in service for test drives from October 2nd to 20th. In addition, the admiral's staff was on board the paddle steamer for a trip during this time . It was not until 1886 that the ship was put back into service. The falcon was used from March 24th to September 30th as a fisheries protection ship in the North Sea and as a training ship for machine personnel. From March 29 to September 26, 1887, the ship was again active in fisheries protection. On May 17, it brought up the British cutter Lady Goodwill , who had violated German territorial waters .
The last active period for the falcon began in April 1888. The ship subsequently made several trips in the North and Baltic Seas , for which the admiral's staff was on board. In September 1888 the falcon was finally taken out of service for the last time. On November 18, 1890, the paddle steamer was deleted from the list of warships. The ship was sold in 1892 for 18,000 marks and then scrapped.
technology
The iron hull of the falcon , executed in transverse frame construction, was divided into six watertight compartments. The ship was 77.5 m in the construction waterline and a total of 78.4 m long. The ship was 11.7 m wide across the wheel arches, and the hull measured 8.56 m at its widest point. The draft varied slightly between 2.6 m forward and 2.5 m aft . The construction displacement of Falke was 1002 t, a maximum of the ship displaced 1230 t.
drive
The Falke had a two-cylinder, oscillating steam engine that worked with a steam pressure of 1.33 atmospheres and produced 1,100 PSi . The machine worked on two side wheels, each with ten blades and 6.55 m in diameter. The necessary steam generated two with superheaters equipped suitcase boiler . They each had three firings. The falcon carried up to 200 tons of coal as fuel . This enabled her to cover 1400 nm at a speed of 12 kn . The paddle steamer reached a top speed of 15 knots. In addition to the machinery, the Falke also had a schooner rig . However, this only served to support the drive and was not intended for the sole propulsion.
Armament
The falcon's armament initially consisted of two ring cannons of 12.0 cm L / 23 caliber . These guns had a maximum range of 5 km. 670 rounds of ammunition were carried for them. In the course of their working lives which received Falke five revolver cannon of type Hotchniss with the caliber 3.7 cm. In addition, a device for the use of towed torpedoes was available in accordance with the originally intended use.
Commanders
| September 4 to November 21, 1870 | Corvette Captain Franz von Waldersee |
| May 19 to October 10, 1875 | Corvette Captain von Treuenfeld |
| May 7 to October 1877 | Lieutenant Captain von Koppy |
| October to November 5, 1877 | Corvette Captain Georgi |
| May 6 to July 17, 1878 | Captain Friedrich von Levetzow |
| April 1 to July 1879 | Lieutenant Dautwiz |
| July to August 1879 | Corvette Captain Meller |
| August 1879 to April 1881 | Lieutenant Dautwiz |
| April to August 25, 1881 | Captain Friedrich Graf von Baudissin |
| October 2nd to 20th, 1883 | unknown |
| March 24 to September 1886 | Corvette Captain Franz Junge |
| September 1886 | Leutnant zur See Grolp (deputy) |
| March 29 to September 26, 1887 | Corvette Captain Wilhelm Geiseler |
| April to September 1888 | Lieutenant Grätschel |
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. 116 .
- Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 3 : Ship biographies from the Elbe to Graudenz . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 74–76 (Licensed edition by Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, approx. 1990).
Footnotes
- ↑ a b c d e Gröner / Jung / Maass: The German warships. Volume 1, p. 116.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Volume 3, p. 75.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships . tape 4 : Ship biographies from Greif to Kaiser . Mundus Verlag, S. 232 (Licensed edition by Koehler's Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, approx. 1990).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Volume 3, p. 76.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Volume 4, p. 233.
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships . tape 5 : Ship biographies from Kaiser to Lütjens . Mundus Verlag, S. 126 (Approved licensed edition by Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, approx. 1990).
- ↑ Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz: The German warships. Volume 5, p. 127.
- ↑ According to Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Gröner states 1878 (cf. Gröner / Jung / Maass: Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe. Volume 1, p. 116).
- ↑ 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 current lieutenant at sea. Cf. Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 7 : Ship biographies from Prussian eagle to Ulan . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 101 (Licensed edition by Koehler's Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, approx. 1990).