SMS Frithjof
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The SMS Frithjof was the third ship in the Siegfried class , a class of eight coastal armored ships of the Imperial Navy . The ships were originally designated as armored ships IV. Class, but classified as coastal armored ships from 1899.
construction
In February 1890 the keel of the armored ship IV. Class Q was laid at the Bremer Werft AG Weser . Around 15 months later, on July 21, 1891, the new building was ready for launch. He was baptized by the chief of the North Sea naval station , Vice Admiral Wilhelm Schröder , in the name of the hero of the Norse Frithjofssage . The further expansion of the ship took another 14 months. In November 1892 the shipyard was able to start the first test drives.
commitment
Peace time
The Frithjof was first put into service on February 23, 1893 in Wilhelmshaven . The ship was initially used in the II. Division of the maneuvering fleet, in which she replaced the Siegfried . The test drives were completed in March. After the exercises and maneuvers carried out during the summer, the Frithjof became the parent ship of the newly formed reserve division of the North Sea on October 1st. On February 1, 1894, the Beowulf took over this function, the Frithjof was part of the Reserve Division with a temporarily reduced crew. In April, the crew number was replenished to the target strength, as various association exercises were carried out during the spring and summer, in some cases together with the maneuvering fleet. A second squadron was temporarily formed for the autumn maneuvers, to which the Frithjof belonged until September 29th. After completing the maneuvers, the ship returned to Wilhelmshaven, where it remained with again reduced crew during the winter.
The service in 1895 was largely similar to that of the previous year. As a special event, the inauguration of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal took place on June 21 , in which Frithjof took part. After the autumn maneuvers, the ship was decommissioned on September 28. From August 1 to September 21, 1896, it was reactivated to take part in the autumn maneuvers again.
Since the Beowulf had to go to the shipyard for a long time due to a serious machine failure , the Frithjof was put back into service by the crew of her sister ship on November 14th. She took over again the function of the master ship of the reserve division of the North Sea, which she exercised in the following four years. During this time, the Frithjof was involved in various maneuvers of the fleet. From May 31 to June 11, 1898, the ship together with the Beowulf undertook a training voyage in Norwegian waters, while the Molde , Ålesund and Stavanger were called. In June 1899 the Frithjof was in Copenhagen for a long time . During the autumn maneuvers, the ship again belonged to the temporarily formed II. Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral Paul Hoffmann , which consisted of six Siegfried- class units . On September 21, 1900, when she was decommissioned, her time as the parent ship of the Reserve Division of the North Sea ended.
In the spring of 1902, the Imperial Shipyard Danzig began to convert the Frithjof , as was done on all other Siegfried- class ships . The ship was cut in the middle and extended by an intermediate section. This enabled the fuel supply and thus the range of the ship to be increased significantly. In addition, a new boiler system was installed, a second chimney was installed and changes to the armament were made. The renovation cost around 2.8 million marks and was completed by September 1903.
The Frithjof was put back into service on September 29, 1903 and initially carried out the usual test drives. After its completion, the ship was assigned to the now permanent II. Squadron of the Active Battle Fleet, referred to as the deep sea fleet from 1907 . With this association, the Frithjof took part in July and August 1904 on a voyage of the active battle fleet to the Netherlands, the Shetland Islands and Norway. After the autumn maneuvers, the ship left the II. Squadron and became the parent ship of the reserve squadron newly formed in Danzig . In May 1905, the Frithjof , like the Aegir , the second parent ship of the reserve squadron, belonged to the temporarily formed school association under Rear Admiral Hugo Zeye . With this association, exercises were carried out off Rügen and in the central Baltic Sea. In July, various devices for the scientific investigation of the weather were tested on board the two coastal armored vehicles. Participation in the autumn maneuvers took place in September and October. The missions in 1906, during which the Frithjof was also sailing in the North Sea, were similar to those of the previous year.
In January 1907, the Frithjof , the Aegir and the small cruiser SMS Nymphe, which was used as a training ship for machine weapons, carried out joint exercises in the Bay of Danzig . After individual exercises in February and March, from April 15 to May 4, there was a renewed mission in the association of training and test ships, which was again commanded by Rear Admiral Zeye. In the months that followed, the two parent ships carried out several exercises. During the autumn maneuvers they belonged to the temporarily trained III. Squadron. On August 31 , the Frithjof rammed the nymph on port stern slightly, whereupon the cruiser had to be decommissioned and repaired in Danzig. The activities of Frithjof in the two following years were very similar to that of 1907. In August 1909, the reserve squadron was fully activated and took as III. Squadron of the Reserve Fleet took part in the autumn maneuvers. After its completion, the Frithjof was replaced as the parent ship of the reserve squadron by the liner SMS Kaiser Barbarossa and decommissioned on September 15.
First World War
After the outbreak of the First World War , the Frithjof and her sister ships were reactivated on August 12, 1914. The coastal armored ships were to VI. Squadron grouped under Rear Admiral Richard Eckermann and used for coastal protection in the North Sea. After association exercises in the Baltic Sea, the ships of the squadron were distributed to the various estuaries on the German North Sea coast in mid-September. The Frithjof was assigned the Ems estuary as an operational area. The ship was used there until the beginning of 1916 in the outpost and security service. On January 5, 1916, the Frithjof was first transferred to Kiel and five days later continued with the Hildebrand and the Odin to Danzig. There, the now completely outdated ship was decommissioned on January 16.
Whereabouts
The Frithjof was until the war ended in Gdansk used as an accommodation ship for inspection of Ubootwesens. On June 17, 1919, the ship was removed from the list of warships.
As a result, the Hamburg shipowner Arnold Bernstein bought the Frithjof , as well as the Odin and the Aegir . In 1923 the ship was converted into a motor cargo ship by the German shipyard in Rüstringen . The superstructures, armor, machines and the few remaining guns were removed. The ship received two engines from submarines, each with 550 hp . The Frithjof was used as a cargo ship until 1930 and was finally broken up in Gdansk.
In accordance with the 20-year lifespan of ships of the line stipulated in the Second Fleet Act, which in this context also included armored ships, the large-scale ship SMS Oldenburg was launched as a replacement for the Frithjof in 1910 .
Commanders
| February 23, 1893 to February 1894 | Corvette Captain Alfred Gruner |
| February to April 1894 | Captain Ludwig Bruch (reduced crew) |
| April to May 1894 | Corvette Captain August Carl Thiele |
| May to June 1894 | Corvette Captain Oelrichs |
| June to July 1894 | Corvette Captain Hermann da Fonseca-Wollheim |
| July to September 1894 | Corvette Captain August Carl Thiele |
| September 1894 to February 1895 | Captain Ludwig Bruch (reduced crew) |
| March to July 1895 | Corvette Captain Georg Alexander Müller |
| July 1895 | Captain Ludwig Bruch (reduced crew) |
| August 28th to September 28th 1895 | Corvette Captain Oelrichs |
| August 1 to September 21, 1896 | Corvette Captain Carl Derzewski |
| November 14, 1896 to September 1897 | Corvette Captain August von Heeringen |
| October 1897 to October 1898 | Corvette captain / corvette captain with the rank of lieutenant colonel Alfred Ehrlich |
| October 1898 to September 1899 | Corvette Captain Eugen Kalau from the court |
| October 1899 to September 29, 1900 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Gildemeister |
| September 29, 1903 to October 1904 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Johannes Recke |
| October 1904 to September 1905 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Bossart |
| September 1905 to May 1906 | Corvette Captain Max Witschel |
| May 1906 to October 1907 | Corvette Captain Siegfried von Jachmann |
| October 1907 to September 1908 | Corvette Captain Carl Hollweg |
| September 1908 to September 15, 1909 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Ferdinand Bertram |
| August 12, 1914 to October 1915 | Frigate Captain von Lessel |
| October to November 1915 | Corvette Captain Samuelson (deputy) |
| November 1915 to January 16, 1916 | Sea captain Paul 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. 73-75 .
- 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. 159-161 .
