SMS Saxony (1877)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
War Ensign of Germany (1892–1903) .svg
SMSSachsen.PNG

Side view and deck plan of the tank corvette SMS Sachsen , gun placement as a citadel ship
Construction data
Shipyard AG Vulcan in Szczecin
Keel laying April 1875
Launch July 21, 1877
completion October 21, 1878
Whereabouts February 19, 1910 Retired
May 5, 1919 Sold for scrapping
Technical specifications
Displacement 7,677 ts
Maximum: 7,935 t
Length waterline
length over all
93 m
98.2 m
width 18.3 m
Draft 6.53 m
Armament 6 × 26 cm L / 22 Rk
From 1886: 5 torpedo tubes
(2 × 45 cm in the sides, 2 × 35 cm in the bow and 1 × 35 cm in the stern)
Armor Citadel : 203-254 mm.
Deck: 51-64 mm
Propulsion system 8 suitcase boiler in boiler rooms 2 + 2
2 lying 3-cyl steam engines
2, four bladed screw 5 m
Machine performance 5,000 PSi
Fuel supply 420–700 tons of coal
speed 13.5 kn
Driving range 1,940 nm at 10 kn
crew 317-436 men

The tank corvette SMS Sachsen was the type ship of the Sachsen class named after it , a class of four warships of the Imperial Navy . The keel was laid in April 1875 at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin . The launch took place on July 21, 1877, the commissioning on October 21, 1878.

The Saxony class

The first plans for the ships of the class were made as early as 1861. The four planned ships were primarily intended for coastal defense in the Baltic Sea area . Since the construction contract at the Szczecin shipyard was completed sooner than the first order at the Imperial Shipyard in Kiel , the Sachsen (household name: Panzerschiff B ) unexpectedly gave its class its name. Typschiff would otherwise have become her sister ship Bavaria ( Panzerschiff A ). From 1884 all four ships were operational. In the years 1896 to 1899 they were rebuilt and received new boiler systems with only one large chimney.

Technical specifications

The ship had a length of 97.8 m and a width of 18.3 m. The armament consisted of six 26 cm ring cannons with a 22 caliber length . Four of the six guns were positioned in the center of the ship and two in front open barbettes . From 1886 the ship also had 5 torpedo tubes (2 × 45 cm in the sides, 2 × 35 cm in the bow and 1 × 35 cm in the stern). The armor was made of wrought iron. The armor plates of the citadel were 203-254 mm thick. The deck had armor plates 51-64 mm thick. The crew numbered between 317 and 436 men. The drive consisted of two horizontally installed single expansion machines with eight suitcase boilers in two separate machine rooms. The chimneys were therefore arranged side by side in pairs; this led to the nickname "cement factory". The ships of this class were the first of the Imperial Navy to be built without auxiliary sails.

Detail of the armor of the ironclad SMS Sachsen

fate

On September 4, 1901, the Saxons collided with the Aviso Wacht off Rügen . She was placed on standby in 1902 and on second standby in 1906. From 1910 to 1918 the ship served as the target hulk of the fleet off the coast of Schwansen . The Sachsen was scrapped in Wilhelmshaven in 1919 .