Tsingtau class
 The Tsingtau
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The Tsingtau class was a class of two river gunboats of the Imperial Navy , the Tsingtau and the Fatherland . Both boats were used in China from 1904 to 1914 .
development
The Beijing Convention of 1860 allowed foreign fleets to navigate the Chinese river network. At the end of the 19th century, German economic interests in China grew and German companies also settled in the interior of the country. Due to isolated riots and the threat to shipping from pirates , the German Reich was finally forced to use its own shallow warships on the great Chinese rivers. For this purpose, the steam launch Schamien was purchased in 1899 and the river steamer Vorwärts in 1901 .
After a short time, however, it became apparent that the makeshift shamia in particular could not meet the requirements. Because of this, the Reichsmarineamt applied for funds for the construction of a river gunboat for the 1901/02 budget year. A second was to be financed by the money raised by the main association of German fleet associations abroad . The construction of the gunboats was entrusted to the Elbinger Werft F. Schichau , which also received the order for the construction of the boats and their shipment to East Asia.
technology
The draft envisaged boats with a construction displacement of 223 t and a maximum displacement of 280 t. The total length was 50.1 m, with the waterline measuring 48.0 m. With a maximum width of 8.0 m, the maximum displacement resulted in a draft of 0.94 m. The ship's hull was designed in pontoon construction , also with a view to shipping it, and consisted of nine individual steel pontoons that were connected by screw bolts. The pontoons also represented the watertight compartments . To protect against light weapons, the hull was also provided with light special steel armor 8 to 12 mm thick. However, the boats did not have a double floor.
A generator was on board for the power supply, which generated a voltage of 67 V and an output of 5 kW .
The crew of the boats consisted of a total of 58 people, including three officers and 44 men . There were also eleven Chinese trimmers, cooks and pilots on board.
Propulsion system
The boats of the Tsingtau class were propelled by two standing three-cylinder triple composite steam engines, which were housed in Ponton IV. There were two Thornycroft- Schulz steam boilers in pontoons V and VI to generate steam . The boilers each had two firings and a heating surface of 250 m² in total and generated a steam pressure of 12 atmospheres . The engine system developed 1,300 PSi and helped the boats to a top speed of 13 knots . Both machines acted on a screw with a diameter of 0.95 m each, which was housed in a Yarrow tunnel . The boats had two oars. The carried coal supply of 85 t allowed a maximum driving range of 1630 nm at a speed of 9 kn.
Armament
The armament of the boats consisted of a rapid-loading cannon of caliber 8.8 cm L / 30 located on the front superstructure . For this gun, which had a maximum range of 6.9 km, 100 rounds of ammunition were carried. There was also a 5 cm L / 40 Sk on the aft superstructure, for which 200 rounds of ammunition were in stock. In addition, there were two to three machine guns on board the boats.
commitment
According to the plans, both boats were brought to China in dismantled condition and reassembled there. Its main task was to represent the German Reich, to safeguard its economic interests and German citizens, and to fight piracy. The Tsingtau was used on the Pearl River and its tributaries and replaced the SMS Schamien there. The Vaterland received the Yangtze River as an operational area and supported the SMS Vorwärts , which was already active there . Until 1914, both boats were sailing in the river areas assigned to them. With the outbreak of the First World War they were decommissioned.
Tsingtau- class ships
- Tsingtau : Launched on April 18, 1903. After the Chinese declaration of war on the German Reich on March 21, 1917, it was sunk by its own garrison near Canton .
- Fatherland : Launched on August 26, 1903. At the start of the war in Nanking, sold to a front company and renamed Landesvater . Confiscated by China on March 20, 1917 and used on the Amur under the name Li-Sui . In 1932 passed to Manchukuo and renamed Risui . Decommissioned in 1942 and later scrapped.
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. 171 f .
- Hildebrand, Hans H. / Albert Röhr / Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships . Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . 10 volumes. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen.
