SMS Loreley (1859)
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SMS Loreley was an Aviso from the Prussian and Imperial Navy . The ship, launched in 1859, took part in the German-Danish and German wars and was a station ship in the Middle East for along time. From 1870 to 1873 there was a complete renovation at the Imperial Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven . The Aviso was decommissioned and sold in 1896.
history
Development and construction
In 1855 the Prussian Navy acquired the frigate SMS Thetis in exchange for the two Radavisos SMS Nix and SMS Salamander from the British Royal Navy . As a result, there was a lack of a smaller machine-driven ship that could serve the rowing cannon sloops and dinghies as a guide ship in the event of war. The SMS Grille , commissioned in 1856, was unsuitable for this purpose, as it was planned as a royal yacht . The technical department of the Admiralty therefore constructed a design for a wheel-driven Aviso in 1857. Both the use of a screw drive and an iron hull were refrained from due to concerns about usability. The Royal Shipyard in Danzig , commissioned with the construction, stretched the keel of the ship on February 1, 1858 . The naming of the new building after the famous Loreley rock was determined on March 5th by an “ Very Highest Cabinet Order ”. The launch took place on May 20, 1859. The Loreley was then completed within four months. The total costs for the new building amounted to 103,000 thalers .
First period of use
The first commissioning of the Radavisos took place on September 28, 1859. The test drives carried out showed that the performance of the steam engine built by the machine factory of the Prussian Sea Trade in Berlin-Moabit turned out to be less than the contractually required. Despite this, there was no improvement. After a short time the Loreley was taken out of service again.
First foreign service
The riots in Italy in the wake of the Risorgimentos and the advance of the irregulars under Giuseppe Garibaldi in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies made the protection of the citizens of Prussia and other German federal states living there desirable. The Loreley was therefore reactivated on July 23, 1860 and equipped for use abroad. Cannons, which had been used on the SMS Preussischer Adler in 1848/49, were used as armaments . The foundry had not yet delivered the two guns actually intended for the Loreley . In order to be able to evacuate German residents if necessary , the Navy chartered the screw steamer Ida from the JW Klawitter shipyard in Gdańsk . In addition to the civilian crew, the ship received a military command, consisting of a lieutenant 1st class , three mates and five sailors, and was subordinated to the commandant of the Loreley , Corvette Captain Hans Kuhn .
The Loreley left Danzig on July 31, the Ida followed her on August 9. Both ships met on August 31 off Naples . On September 7th, Garibaldi's troops entered Naples after King Francis II and his wife Marie had fled to Gaeta on a Spanish warship the day before . The two Prussian ships then had to bring the Prussian and Austrian embassies and two papal secretaries to Gaeta as well. For the Loreley a trip to Messina followed to deliver a letter from the king to the governor there. Back in Naples, both ships had to give the resident Germans protection from the fighting. As a result, they incurred the displeasure of those in favor of Italian unification.
The Loreley received orders in October to be transferred to Greece and Turkey . First the Aviso called Piraeus . Since Prussia was granted the right to permanently station a warship on the Sulina estuary after the end of the Crimean War , the Loreley then had to continue steaming into the Black Sea . In June 1861 the ship was available for the Prussian embassy in Constantinople . A trip to Mount Athos was also made. In the summer of 1862, the Loreley finally began its journey home. On August 7th, the Radaviso was decommissioned on Dänholm .
German-Danish War
At the end of 1863 the danger of another war with Denmark increased steadily. The Prussian Navy was therefore made ready for war on December 8th. Nine days later, the organizational summary of the gunboats of CAMäleon - and the hunter class and the gunboats and -jollen a flotilla under the command of Hans Kuhn, at that same time for Captain transported. The Loreley was intended as the flagship for this association, which was divided into five divisions . The Radaviso was put into service after the beginning of the German-Danish War on February 21, 1864 and was given Swinoujscie as the main port of call. On March 15, the Loreley and three of the gunboat divisions carried out exercises in the waters around Rügen . A maneuver planned for the next day with the I. Division, consisting of SMS Comet , SMS Hay , SMS Hyäne , SMS Pfeil , SMS Scorpion and SMS Wespe , had to be carried out close under land due to a storm that had occurred.
After returning to Stralsund , the Loreley received the order from the chief of the naval station and commander of the armed forces, Captain Eduard Jachmann , to sail again into the waters east of Rügen. Danish blockade ships were sighted there on March 16, but were not attacked because of the falling darkness. The Loreley ran together with the I. Division and the III. Division belonging to SMS Sperber . In the morning of March 17th, the Aviso sighted the five Danish ships Skjold , Tordenskjold , Själland , Heimdal and Thor in Prorer Wiek and reported them to Jachmann at around 1 p.m. The attack of the Prussian ships on the Danes began around 2.30 p.m. In addition to the Loreley , the SMS Nymphe and Jachmann's flagship SMS Arcona were directly involved in this sea battle, while the gunboats advanced towards Granitz due to a misunderstood order . During the battle, the Loreley was hit in the davit of the starboard cutter . This was torn away and a man of the crew was killed. After 4 p.m. the attack was canceled. The defeated Prussian ships could not win. However, the battle prevented the feared narrow Danish blockade around the German ports. While the two corvettes left for Swinoujscie, the Loreley and the gunboats headed for Stralsund again.
On March 27, Prince Adalbert of Prussia became the commander of the naval forces. Two days later, all the steam cannon boats in Stralsund were pulled together. The four boats of the Camaeleon class in service formed the Reserve Division from then on. On April 14th and again on July 3rd, the III. Division, on May 6th the reserve and 1st divisions in combat contact with Danish ships. The Loreley was not involved in any of the three skirmishes, although the gunboat was still in the lead. However, the Aviso led the parade of the divisions in front of King Wilhelm I on June 5 near Swinoujscie . The flotilla command was disbanded on August 31, after several boats had been decommissioned on May 31 and June 25. On September 23, the Loreley in Gdansk was also decommissioned.
1865 to 1868
In the following years, the notification was activated in the summer. The Loreley was also in service during the German War , for example during the conquest of Stade and the non-combat occupation of the Hanoverian coastal batteries in Emsmüdung on June 22, 1866. In 1868 there was initially a short deployment from April 21 to May 6, another followed this year from July 13th to November 1st.
modification
At the end of the 1860s, the condition of the Loreley made an extensive overhaul necessary. The newly established Royal Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven , which they carried out under construction number 1, was commissioned with the work . The renovation was so extensive that it was officially called a "new building". In fact, the Loreley was not removed from the list of warships, so no new ship was created in this regard. In 1870, work began on the ship, which was mainly given a new hull with iron frames, but wood-planked. Due to the war against France there were delays, which is why the Aviso could not be launched again until August 19, 1871. The renovation was completed by the beginning of 1873. The total cost was 151,500 thalers.
The scope of the work and the official designation as a new building on the one hand, as well as the consistent management of the ship in the shipping register of the Navy on the other hand, lead to different classifications as new or conversion in the specialist press. Erich Gröner , for example, speaks of a renovation that "almost only served the purpose of deforestation".
Second period of use
Tender of the North Sea naval station
The Loreley was put back into service on April 16, 1873. The Aviso was assigned to the North Sea naval station as a tender . In July and August, the ship served Crown Prince Friedrich and his family during a stay on Föhr . A coastal voyage followed in September, during which officers of the General Staff were on board. On November 3rd, the Loreley was decommissioned.
From March 17, 1874, the Aviso was reactivated and kept in service as a tender for the North Sea naval station for almost five years. On June 18, 1878, received Loreley command at salvaging the front Folkestone defunct SMS Great Elector participate. The crew of the Loreley also had to supervise the burial of the recovered corpses . After completing this work, the Aviso was back in Wilhelmshaven on September 21st and resumed service as a tender. This ended four months later on January 23, 1879.
Stationary in Constantinople
In the spring of 1879 the Loreley was made into a stationary station for Constantinople by the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven , and a new boiler was installed. The Mediterranean station had only been manned occasionally up to this point, but the Navy planned to permanently station a warship. This should also be available to the German embassy. After the Loreley was put into service on July 1, 1879, she left the country on July 20 and reached the Bosporus on August 30 . Until April 1880 there was a round trip through the station area. Representing the German Reich, protecting and promoting its economic interests were among the main tasks of the Aviso. Accordingly, a round trip was also made in 1881.
The Urabi uprising and the British intervention in Egypt in 1882 led to the use of German ships in the southeastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea . The Loreley was also used in the crisis area. In 1883 the Aviso made the usual trips in the station area, as well as several trips with the German ambassador Joseph Maria von Radowitz and his guests on board. In November, the Loreley was supposed to accompany the Crown Prince on a trip to Spain together with SMS Prinz Adalbert and SMS Sophie . The ship therefore left its berth off Bujukdere on November 2 and met the two other units in Genoa on November 15 . In the Golfe du Lion , the association got caught in a severe storm, during which the Loreley was towed by the Sophie . A tow rope got into one of the paddle wheels, which threatened to overturn the Loreley and both ships had to turn. After the crew had succeeded in clearing the paddle wheel, the Aviso was able to call at Valencia on November 22nd . The Loreley was released from the association and headed for Valletta , which it reached on December 19. In the following months, the damage caused was repaired at the shipyard there. The ship was back in the Bosporus on April 10, 1884 and was again doing normal station duty. From January 20 to February 12, 1885, another stay at the shipyard took place in Malta .
From 1886, the German conscripts residing in the Middle East had to appear on board the Loreley to be recorded in the regular roll . For this purpose, the ship headed for Rhodes , Cyprus and the Levant, among others . Since the danger of a war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire increased that year, blockade measures were initiated by the great powers. The German ambassador and the commandant of the Loreley , Kapitänleutnant Draeger, however, received an order from Otto von Bismarck to visit the Ottoman officer 's hospital in the Sultan's palace . This was intended to show the sympathy of the German Reich. However, the visit also caused a stir among foreign governments. Towards the end of the year, the Loreley called again in Valletta for a major overhaul. This ended on April 20, 1887.
In 1888 the Loreley changed its permanent berth. It was now in front of Therapia , where the German ambassador had his new summer residence . During the winter months, however, Pera continued to be the ship's main mooring port. From October 21 to 30, 1889, the Loreley belonged to the armored training squadron, which was due to the visit of the imperial couple on the occasion of the wedding of Sophie of Prussia and Crown Prince Constantine of Greece in front of Piraeus . The Aviso then ran back to Constantinople in order to make preparations for the visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to the Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamit II . The years 1890 to 1892 were characterized by everyday station life and did not show any special events. During a trip to Greece in 1893, a machine failure forced the Loreley to stay in the shipyard in Salamis .
In May 1894, took Loreley at the opening along with other naval powers of stationary Sulinaarmes as a waterway to the Black Sea in part, in the presence of the Romanian King Charles I took place. In June and July a trip through the Cyclades and soil surveys in Alexandria followed . On July 10th, the Aviso was back at its berth. The Loreley set out on a round trip through the Black Sea on October 6, for which the German naval attaché for Russia, Kapitänleutnant Eugen Kalau vom Hofe , embarked on board. During this voyage, Russian ports were also called, which the German Empire was allowed by the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856. However, the reception by the Russian authorities was rather unfriendly. This was due, among other things, to the political tensions between the Tsarist Empire and Great Britain, as whose ally the German Reich was still seen at the time.
The Loreley landed several times on the Turkish coast in 1895 in order to protect German interests during the raging unrest among the Armenian population . Overall, however, the German Empire held back, especially in comparison with the other great powers, because it did not want to interfere in the still existing question of the Orient to the detriment of the Ottoman Empire. In addition, in addition to the school frigate SMS Moltke, only the SMS Hagen , which was in Tangier , would have been available as reinforcement. In the spring of 1896 the Loreley undertook another round trip during which various Black Sea ports were called. Since the ship was meanwhile heavily worn, it was decommissioned in Constantinople on September 7th.
Whereabouts
As early as August 10, 1896, the Loreley was struck off the list of warships with the effect of its decommissioning. The crew of the Aviso started their journey home, which, as with the previous years, took place on Danube steamers. A watch command took over the supervision of the Loreley . The Radavisos were sold on October 23. His whereabouts are unknown.
At the beginning of 1896 the Imperial Navy had bought the steam yacht Mohican, launched in 1885 at the Scottish shipyard D. & W. Henderson & Company . This was determined by a cabinet order on May 5th as the new stationery for Constantinople and was temporarily designated the replacement Loreley . Under this name, the ship was put into service on August 6th and reached its destination on September 7th. When the old station ship was decommissioned on the same day, its name passed to its successor. The second SMS Loreley served as a station tender in the Mediterranean until 1918.
technology
The Loreley was originally designed as a cross - frame - Kraweelbau and completely made of wood. To protect the planking, the hull was fitted with copper fittings. The construction displacement was calculated to be 430 t , the maximum displacement was 470 t. The ship was a total of 47.08 m long, the construction displacement measured 43.34 m. The hull was, without the wheel arches, up to 6.6 m wide, the draft at maximum displacement was 2.5 m forward and 3.02 m aft .
During the renovation from 1870 to 1873, the Loreley received a new iron hull, but still with copper-clad wooden planking. The watertight subdivision of the hull by six transverse bulkheads was new . The width of the hull remained the same, but the construction length was reduced to 42.84 m and the total length to 46.6 m. The draft changed only slightly to 2.51 m forward and 3.05 m aft. The structural displacement of the conversion amounted to 395 t, the maximum displacement of the Loreley from 1873 was 450 t.
The crew had a nominal strength of 65 men in total. In addition to four officers , it included 61 NCOs and men . From 1873, the crew decreased to 57 men, with the number of officers remaining the same.
The Loreley was considered a good seagoing ship. The only disadvantages were the poor controllability and the large loss of speed when the sea crossed. In return, however, the loss of travel to each other was only minor.
Propulsion system
The drive system of the Loreley was housed amidships in separate boiler and engine rooms. There was a suitcase boiler from AG Vulcan Stettin on board, which had two firing systems and generated a steam pressure of 1.6 atmospheres . The machine system consisted of an upright, oscillating two-cylinder steam engine that worked with simple steam expansion. The machine generated a maximum output of 350 PSi and acted on the two side drive wheels. These each had 24 blades and a diameter of 5.36 m. The drive system enabled the Loreley to reach a top speed of 10.5 knots .
During the major renovation in 1870/73, the drive system was taken over unchanged. Nevertheless, the old maximum speed could no longer be reached, from now on only 9.1 kn were possible. At this speed, the fuel supply of 34 t of coal carried was sufficient for a distance of 450 nm . It was not until the beginning of 1879 that the Loreley received a new suitcase boiler when it was upgraded to be stationary . This had three furnaces and generated a steam pressure of 2 atmospheres.
Rigging
The Loreley was equipped with a rig to support the propulsion system. Aviso was a gaff schooner rigged and had a sail area of 310 sqm on two masts. In the course of the renovation, the sail area was reduced to 200 m². Driving alone under sails was not possible, the rigging only had support value.
Armament
The original armament was two long 12 pounders. For these cannons, the Loreley had an ammunition supply of 240 rounds on board. In the course of the renovation, the old guns were replaced by three more modern ring cannons . The main armament was a 12.5 cm L / 23 Rk, which reached a maximum firing range of 5.2 km. Furthermore, two 8 cm L / 23 Rk came on board. 142 rounds were carried for the larger gun and 190 rounds for the two smaller ones.
Commanders
| Fall 1859 | Second Class Lieutenant Heinrich Koehler |
| July 23, 1860 to June 1861 | Corvette Captain Hans Kuhn |
| June 1861 to August 7, 1862 | Lieutenant to the sea 2nd class Otto Livonius |
| February 21 to September 1864 | Second Class Lieutenant / Lieutenant First Class / Captain Alexander von Monts |
| September 1864 | Unterleutnant zur See Fritz von Lindequist (deputy) |
| May 24 to October 23, 1865 | Lieutenant to the Sea Max Jung |
| April 3 to November 10, 1866 | Lieutenant Ratzeburg |
| April 24 to October 26, 1867 | Corvette Captain Paul Grapow |
| April 21 to May 6, 1868 | Corvette Captain Paul Grapow |
| July 13 to November 1, 1868 | Corvette Captain Paul Grapow |
| April 16 to November 3, 1873 | Lieutenant Sattig |
| March 17, 1874 to October 1875 | Captain Lieutenant Count von Reichenbach |
| October 1875 to March 1877 | Captain Karl von Reibnitz |
| March 1877 to June 1878 | Lieutenant Dautwiz |
| June to September 1878 | Corvette Captain Fritz von Lindequist |
| September 1878 to January 23, 1879 | Lieutenant Dautwiz |
| July 1, 1873 to April 1881 | Lieutenant Captain Friedrich von Wietersheim |
| April 1881 to September 1883 | Lieutenant Captain / Corvette Captain Walther Koch |
| September 1883 to September 1885 | Lieutenant Commander / Corvette Captain Rudolf Rittmeyer |
| September 1885 to March 1887 | Lieutenant Draeger |
| March 1887 to April 1889 | Captain Emil von Lyncker |
| April 1889 to March 1891 | Lieutenant Captain / Corvette Captain Otto von Henk |
| March 1891 to March 1893 | Lieutenant / Corvette Captain Friedrich von Moltke |
| March 1893 to November 1894 | Captain Lieutenant / Corvette Captain Grolp |
| November 1894 to September 1895 | Captain Erich Gühler |
| September 1895 to September 1896 | Captain Joachim von Bredow |
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. 113 .
- Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 5 : Ship biographies from Kaiser to Lütjens . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 224-229 .
References and comments
- ↑ a b c d Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: Ship biographies from Kaiser to Lütjens. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen o. J., p. 225. ( The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Vol. 5.)
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gröner, Erich: The German warships. Vol. 1, p. 113.
- ↑ 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. See: Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: Ship biographies from Prussian eagle to Ulan. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen o. J., p. 101. ( The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Vol. 7).
- ↑ a b c The rank corresponds to a lieutenant commander.
- ↑ a b c d Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 5, p. 226.
- ↑ Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: Historical overview, ship biographies from Adler to Augusta. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen o. J., p. 240. ( The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Vol. 1).
- ^ Mirko Graetz: From Helgoland to Agadir - Combat missions of Prussian and German warships before 1914 , 2nd exp. Edition, Lulu Enterprises Inc., Morrisville, 2008, ISBN 978-1-4092-2130-2 , pp. 43-44.
- ↑ a b Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 5, p. 224.
- ↑ a b c d e Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 5, p. 228.
- ↑ a b c d e f Hildebrand / Röhr / Steinmetz, Vol. 5, p. 229.
- ↑ Gröner, vol. 1, p. 168 f.
- ↑ a b c The rank corresponds to a first lieutenant at sea.
- ↑ The rank corresponds to a lieutenant at sea.