SMS Helgoland (ship, 1912)

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Heligoland
SMS Helgoland 1916
SMS Helgoland 1916
Ship data
flag Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary (naval war flag) Austria-Hungary Italy (1919–1937)
ItalyKingdom of Italy (trade flag) 
other ship names

Brindisi

Ship type Small cruiser
class Helgoland class
Shipyard Cantiere Navale Triestino, Trieste
Keel laying October 28, 1911
Launch November 23, 1912
Commissioning October 30, 1914
Whereabouts Wrecked in 1937
Ship dimensions and crew
length
130.60 m ( Lüa )
129.75 m ( KWL )
125.20 m ( Lpp )
width 12.77 m
Draft Max. 4.95 m
displacement 3,540 t (empty)
4,010 t (max)
 
crew 340 men
Machine system
machine 16 Yarrow boiler
2 AEG - Curtis turbine
Machine
performance 		29,000 PS (21,329 kW)
Top
speed 		27.3 kn (51 km / h)
propeller 2 screws
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: up to 60 mm
  • Deck: 20 mm

SMS Helgoland was a Rapidkreuzer ( small cruiser ) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy . She was one of the cruisers of the improved Admiral Spaun - or Helgoland class . SMS Helgoland got its name after the successful naval battle off Helgoland under the liner captain Tegetthoff against the Danes on May 9, 1864. The Helgoland served in the First World War and then under the name Brindisi in the Italian Navy until it was scrapped in 1937.

Building history

When Austria-Hungary decided on a program to modernize the fleet in March 1911 , this also included the small cruiser (also known as Rapidkreuzer in Austria) SMS Helgoland . This was an improved ship of the Admiral Spaun class from 1906. The keel was laid on October 28, 1911 at the Ganz et Cie shipyard . - Danubius in Fiume , (today: "Shipyard 3. May"). By reducing the weight of the machinery (51 t) (the marching turbines were omitted) it was possible to reinforce bulkheads and hulls (21 t) and to increase the main artillery by 2 guns (31 t). Although the planned armament with only 10 cm guns was not considered sufficient at the start of planning, the proponents of a 15 cm main artillery could not prevail. During the war this proved to be a serious shortcoming. The launch took place on November 23, 1912 and the commissioning on October 30, 1914.

Mission history

  • November 2, 1914 - Advance against the French troops landed on the island of Lissa
  • 21./22. Futile attempt the French cruiser - December 1914 Jules Michelet to provide
  • 18./19. February 1915 - Advance into the Strait of Otranto . Visual contact with the Greek cruiser Elli
  • May 23, 1915 - Use of the entire kuk fleet against the Italian east coast. The SMS Helgoland shoots at targets in Barletta . Skirmish with the Italian cruiser Libia , the auxiliary cruiser Città di Catania and the destroyer Turbine . The latter is badly damaged and sunk by artillery on the same day by the Austro-Hungarian destroyers Csepel and Tatra .
  • 22./23. July 1915 - Ortona bombardment
  • August 17, 1915 - In association with SMS Saida, the island of Pelagosa is bombarded
  • 22./23. November 1915 - In association with SMS Saida reconnaissance in the Strait of Otranto
  • 5th / 6th December 1915 - In association with SMS Saida reconnaissance in the Strait of Otranto
  • December 29, 1915 - Reconnaissance in the Straits of Otranto. French submarine Monge rammed, bombardment of Durazzo (Durres / Albania), enemy contact with British cruiser HMS Dartmouth and Italian cruiser Quarto on the return journey . Deposition battle across the Adriatic to Bari , at night the SMS Helgoland can break away from the enemy and run to Sebenico .
    Own losses: two men dead, with five hits received.
  • February 3, 1916 - In association with the armored cruiser SMS Sankt Georg bombardment of St. Vito and Ortona.
  • 4th / 5th July 1916 - Reconnaissance voyage to the closure of the Strait of Otranto
  • 28/29 August 1916 - Advance with the entire kuk fleet to the Italian east coast

Battle of Otranto

On May 14 and 15, 1917, the SMS Helgoland ran out under the command of Erich Heyssler in association with SMS Novara and SMS Saida to attack the security vehicles of the Otranto lock . Two destroyers launched a diversionary attack near the Albanian coast early in the morning, and the net-layers (fishing vessels armed with a cannon) fleeing towards Italy were caught by the three lurking cruisers, which sank 14 of them and set others on fire. SMS Helgoland rescued 18 sailors from the sunken net layers before the fleet withdrew. Three French destroyers and the Italian "esploratore" Carlo Mirabello caught up with the fleet, but were too weak to fight a fight. However, two better armed British protected cruisers, HMS Bristol and HMS Dartmouth , hit SMS Novara and SMS Helgoland hard with five 152 mm shells. One seaman was killed and 17 wounded. The pursuers broke off on news of the approach of an Austro-Hungarian reinforcement fleet. The SMS Novara had to be towed by the Saida .

On October 19, 1917, the cruiser shelled Italian installations in Valona .

Sailors' revolt

Under the impression of a very poor supply situation, an uprising broke out on February 1, 1918 in the bay of Cattaro among the crews of several kuk ships. The crew of SMS Helgoland and other smaller ships did not join. The lead ship of the mutineers, the armored cruiser SMS Sankt Georg , then directed its main artillery towards the Heligoland , so that Captain Heyssler was forced to raise the red flag. However, the rebels did not trust the Heligoland crew and illuminated the ship with searchlights throughout the night. When loyal army troops began to lock in the port the next day, the Helgoland cast off under the pretext of wanting to move out of the range of their guns. Heyssler managed to get his crew back to the Kaiser with a speech and the ship played a key role in ending the uprising.

On June 9, 1918, an association of two cruisers, Helgoland and Novara , and four destroyers were put together as an attack group in the Bay of Cattaro . The goal was again the Otranto lock. However, because the battleship Szent István was sunk in the meantime , the company was canceled.

On 9/10 October 1918, the Helgoland formed the security group for the Durazzo convoy together with the Novara and four destroyers.

After the world war

At the end of the war, the ship was in Gjenovic (Bay of Cattaro). It was towed to Bizerta at the end of 1919 under French supervision . At the end of January 1920, the Allied naval delegation in Paris awarded the Heligoland to Italy as spoils of war and on September 19, 1920, it was enlisted in the Italian Navy as Brindisi . On November 25, 1929, the ship went out of service. After being used as a residential ship, it was deleted from the fleet list on March 11, 1934 and then scrapped in Trieste in 1937.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Paul G. Halpern in " Naval Mutinies of the Twentieth Century: An International Perspective ", Frank Cass, 2003, ISBN 0203584503 , p. 45 and following

literature

  • Klaus Gröbig: Rapid cruiser SMS “Helgoland”. Austro-Hungarian Navy in the Adriatic. 1914–1918 (= ships, people, fates. No. 152, ZDB -ID 1325248-3 ). Rudolf Stade Publishing House, Kiel 2006.
  • Erwin S. Sieche: The cruisers of the k. and k. Navy (= naval arsenal with international naval news and naval overview 27). Podzun-Pallas et al., Wölfersheim-Berstadt et al. 1994, ISBN 3-7909-0506-2 .
  • Nikolaus A. Sifferlinger: Rapid cruiser Helgoland. In use for Austria-Hungary and Italy (= Austria's shipping in old views. Album 7). NWV - Neuer Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Vienna et al. 2006, ISBN 3-7083-0133-1 .

Web links

Commons : SMS Helgoland  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files