SMS Wasp (1860)

wasp

The identical fox

Ship data flag  Prussia North German Confederation German Empire     Ship type Gunboat class Hunter- class Shipyard Zieske , Szczecin building-costs 48,500 thalers Launch February 14, 1860 Commissioning February 11, 1864 Removal from the ship register March 19, 1872 Whereabouts Used up as a cream

Ship dimensions and crew length 41.2 m ( Lüa ) 38.0 m ( KWL ) width 6.69 m Draft Max. 2.2 m displacement Construction: 237 t Maximum: 283 t   crew 40 men

Machine system machine 4 transversely stationary suitcase boiler 2 horizontal 1-cyl steam engines 1 Rowing Machine performance 220 hp (162 kW) Top speed 9.0 kn (17 km / h) propeller 1 three-leaf, ø 1.88 m

Rigging and rigging Rigging More beautiful Number of masts 3 Sail area 300 m²

Armament 1 × pulled 24 pounder (= 15 cm) 2 × pulled 12 pounders (= 12 cm)

The SMS Wespe was a Jäger class ship , a class of fifteen steam cannon boats, 2nd class, of the Royal Prussian Navy , the Navy of the North German Confederation and the Imperial Navy .

Construction and service time

The wasp was commissioned from the Zieske shipyard in Szczecin in mid-1859 and was launched on February 14, 1860. After completion, the ship was transferred to Dänholm , where the gunboat base was located, and mothballed there. After a short time, however, it was found that the wood of the trunk was infected with a sponge .

The Wasp was first used during the German-Danish War . She was put into service for the first time on February 11, 1864 and belonged to the 1st  Flotilla Division. On March 17, the ship was involved in the naval battle near Jasmund against Danish warships. On October 8, the gunboat's first operational period ended. It was again placed on the Dänholm.

It was not until almost six years later, on July 24, 1870, that the Wasp was reactivated to be used in the Franco-German War . The ship was assigned to the defense of the mouth of the Ems and was therefore moved through the Eider Canal into the North Sea , with Kiel and Cuxhaven being called as intermediate ports. On May 13, 1871, the Wasp was decommissioned in Kiel without having come into contact with the enemy during the war.

Whereabouts

Since an examination of the ship found that a basic repair was not worthwhile, the Wasp was removed from the list of warships on March 19, 1872. Nevertheless, the gunboat was used for another brief period, which can be regarded as quite unusual. Several smaller vehicles were required during an exercise by the sea artillery department, but only the Hay was available. That is why they resorted to the wasp and used it from July 22 to August 5, 1872 in the Kiel Fjord . Then the ship was disarmed and when mines barge in Wilhelmshaven depleted.

Commanders

February 14th to October 8th, 1864	Ensign to the sea / Unterleutnant zur See / Leutnant zur See Karl Eduard Heusner
July 24 to September 1870	Lieutenant to the Sea Meller
September to October 1870	Unterleutnant zur See Graf von Haugwitz
October to November 1870	Lieutenant to the Sea Holzhauer
November 1870 to May 13, 1871	Lieutenant to the Sea Meller
July 22 to August 5, 1872	Lieutenant to the Sea Meller

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. 160 f .
• Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 8 : Ship biographies from Undine to Zieten . Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 68 .

Footnotes

1. ↑ 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.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} The rank corresponds to a lieutenant at sea.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} The rank corresponds to a first lieutenant at sea.