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Charlotte in 1897 | |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Preceded by | Nixe |
Succeeded by | None |
History | |
German Empire | |
Name | Charlotte |
Namesake | Princess Charlotte of Prussia |
Builder | Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven |
Laid down | 2 April 1883 |
Launched | 5 September 1885 |
Commissioned | 1 November 1886 |
Decommissioned | 26 May 1909 |
Fate | Sold in 1921 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Screw corvette |
Displacement | Full load: 3,763 t (3,704 long tons) |
Length | 83.85 m (275 ft 1 in) o/a |
Beam | 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) |
Draft | 6.04–6.86 m (19 ft 10 in – 22 ft 6 in) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion |
|
Sail plan | 2,360 m2 (25,400 sq ft) full-rigged |
Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
Range | 2,300 nmi (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
Complement | 20 officers, 486 enlisted |
Armament |
|
SMS Charlotte was a German screw corvette built for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1880s, being laid down in April 1883, launched in September 1885, and commissioned in November 1886. The only vessel of her class, Charlotte was the last sailing warship built for the German navy. She was armed with a battery of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns.
Charlotte spent her career as a training ship, responsible for the training of naval cadets and apprentice seamen. This duty frequently took the ship on overseas cruises, and on one such cruise in 1897, she and the corvette Stein participated in the Lüders affair, a diplomatic humiliation of Haiti over the arrest and jailing of a German national. Charlotte also took part in other diplomatic initiatives, including in 1899 the first visit of a German warship to French ports since the Franco-Prussian War.
The ship remained in service until May 1909, when she was stricken from the naval register and thereafter converted into a barracks ship and tender. She served in these capacities to the outbreak of World War I in July 1914; in August, she was briefly reactivated, the only time in the history of the German navies that a vessel that had been stricken was re-commissioned. In October, she was again removed from service and returned to barracks ship duties. In 1921, after the war, she was sold to a firm in Hamburg and hulked; her ultimate fate is unknown.
After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the Kaiserliche Marine began an expansion program to strengthen the fleet to meet the demands imposed by Germany's increased economic activities abroad and to prepare it for a potential future conflict with France. Through the mid and late 1870s, the German fleet ordered twelve corvettes of the Bismarck and Carola classes; these vessels had limited combat capabilities, emphasizing long range cruising rather than engaging hostile cruisers. This program began under the direction of General Albrecht von Stosch, the chief of the Kaiserliche Admiralität (Imperial Admiralty); he was replaced in 1883 by General Leo von Caprivi. Caprivi believed that all new cruisers should have a more balanced design that placed greater emphasis on combat power. Nevertheless, he authorized two new corvettes that were laid down in 1883, Charlotte and a smaller vessel, Nixe. [1] [2]
The design for Charlotte had been prepared in 1881–1882, [3] essentially as a repeat of the Bismarck design, though she was slightly larger and carried a heavier armament. [2] Due to the time the ship was built, a transitional period between traditional sail-powered ships armed with slow-firing breech-loading guns and modern cruisers armed with quick-firing guns and powered solely with steam engines, Charlotte emerged as an anachronism compared to contemporary cruising vessels in other fleets. But the German navy still placed an emphasis on training its sailors to use sails, so the full rigging was retained, making Charlotte the last vessel of the Kaiserliche Marine to be equipped with a sailing rig. In addition, despite Caprivi's insistence that new cruisers should be capable of combat, Charlotte was designed with the role as a training ship in mind, which was better suited to the characteristics of the earlier corvettes. [4] [5]
Charlotte was 76.85 meters (252 ft 2 in) long at the waterline and 83.85 meters (275 ft 1 in) long overall. She had a beam of 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in) and a draft of 6.04 m (19 ft 10 in) forward and 6.86 to 6.3 m (22 ft 6 in to 20 ft 8 in). She displaced 3,288 metric tons (3,236 long tons ) normally and up to 3,763 t (3,704 long tons) at full load. The ship's hull was constructed with transverse iron frames with one layer of wood planks, which were sheathed with Muntz metal to prevent biofouling on extended cruises abroad, where shipyard facilities were not readily available. She had a double bottom below the engine room and her hull was divided into ten watertight compartments. [3] [6]
The ship's crew consisted of 20 officers and 486 enlisted men, though as a training ship later in her career, her complement amounted to 20 officers and 475 sailors, of whom 50 were naval cadets and 230 were Schiffsjungen (apprentice seamen). She carried a variety of small boats, including one picket boat, two launches, six cutters, one yawl, and one dinghy. Steering was controlled with a single rudder. The vessel was a good sea boat, but she made bad leeway in even mild winds and she was difficult to maneuver. She lost a significant amount of speed in a head sea, and she had limited performance under sail. [3]
The ship was powered by a pair of 2-cylinder marine steam engines that were coupled together driving a single shaft with one 2-bladed screw propeller. Steam was provided by eight coal-fired fire-tube boilers, which were ducted into two retractable funnels. The ship had a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) at 3,119 metric horsepower (3,076 ihp ). Coal storage amounted to 528 t (520 long tons). She had a cruising radius of 2,300 nautical miles (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph), though this fell to 2,200 nmi (4,100 km; 2,500 mi) at 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). As built, Charlotte was equipped with a full ship rig to supplement their steam engines on overseas cruising missions, but this was later reduced to a barque rig. [6] [7]
In 1903–1905, Charlotte was modernized, which involved the removal of the second engine and two of the boilers. The remaining six boilers were replaced with newer equipment. This reduced her speed to 11.4 knots (21.1 km/h; 13.1 mph) from 1,473 PS (1,453 ihp), though her cruising range was increased to 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at her maximum speed. [7]
Charlotte was armed with a battery of eighteen 15 cm (5.9 in) L/22 breech-loading hoop guns, six of which were later removed in 1899; these were supplied with a total of 1868 shells for her guns. These guns had a range of 5,500 m (18,000 ft). She also had two 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 quick-firing guns and six 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon. In 1899, her secondary armament was revised to a pair of 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/35 guns, sixteen of the 8.8 cm SK L/30 guns and four of the Hotchkiss cannon. [6] [7] [8]
The keel for Charlotte was laid down on 2 April 1883 at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven, under the contract name Ersatz Victoria, as a replacement for the older corvette. She was launched on 5 September 1885; this was delayed significantly by budget cuts from the Reichstag (Imperial Diet). At her launching ceremony, then-prince Wilhelm christened the ship for his sister, Princess Charlotte. The corvette was commissioned on 1 November 1886 and she began sea trials, which ended on 28 January 1887, though she remained out of service for more than a year. [5] [7]
Charlotte was commissioned for active service on 22 September 1888 to replace the corvette Prinz Adalbert, which was in need of repair. Charlotte took her place in the Training Squadron, and she took aboard her first contingent of 50 cadets and 230 Schiffsjungen from the 1887 crew year. She joined the rest of the Squadron for a training cruise to the Mediterranean Sea, leaving Wilhelmshaven on 29 September. While on the cruise, Charlotte participated in a celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of King George I of Greece from 27 October to 5 November in Piraeus. The ships of the squadron also visited ports in Austria-Hungary, Italy, and in the Levant in the course of their voyage. They arrived back in Kiel, Germany on 16 April 1889, after which Charlotte moved to Wilhelmshaven, where she was decommissioned on 25 April. She underwent an overhaul and then remained in reserve for nearly a decade. [5]
On 22 April 1897, Charlotte was reactivated for additional training duties. She took part in training exercises in the Baltic Sea before joining the main fleet to accompany now-Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht, Hohenzollern on a visit to Kronstadt, Russia, where he met Czar Nicholas II in early August. Later that month, Charlotte took part in the annual fleet training exercises. She embarked on a cruise to Central America on 16 September. While in Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas, Charlotte met the corvette Stein on 29 September; both ships were ordered to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where a German national, Lüders, had been arrested and sent to prison. Since the Haitian government refused demands for his release from the German ambassador, the two corvettes were sent to secure Lüders's release, resulting in the Lüders affair. [9] [10]
Charlotte and Stein arrived on 6 December, where Charlotte's commander, August Carl Thiele, issued an ultimatum to pay an indemnity of 20,000 dollars, suspend Lüders's conviction, and protect him while he was still in the country, to be completed within thirteen hours. The Haitian government refused the demands, so Charlotte and Stein went to battle stations and prepared to open fire on the Haitian naval vessels in the port, the fortress protecting the harbor, and the Government Palace in Haiti. After the German ships fired a warning shot, the Haitian government acquiesced, though it requested an extension of two hours to arrange the payment of the indemnity. To gain leverage to secure the payment, German sailors went aboard the three Haitian naval vessels in the port to neutralize them. Once the terms of the ultimatum were fulfilled, the German commanders went ashore to make a formal visit to the government, and on their departure, the Germans fired salutes as a sign of good will. The United States informed the German government that it would take action against the German corvettes if they made further demands on Haiti or attempted to annex the country, but the issue came to nothing. Charlotte left the West Indies on 10 January 1898, having been replaced by the unprotected cruiser Geier. [11]
After arriving back in Germany, Charlotte underwent an overhaul, which was completed on 31 May. Her training activities were interrupted by an outbreak of measles among the cadets and Schiffsjungen, which lasted until early July when she began a cruise in the Baltic. In August, she joined the temporarily-formed V Division for the annual fleet exercises. Charlotte embarked on another major training cruise on 8 September in company with the corvette Stosch. They visited several islands in the Atlantic before proceeding to Tangier, Morocco in January 1899, since civil disturbances in the country threatened German interests. There, they forced the Moroccan government to pay an indemnity it had agreed to pay and then delayed repeatedly. At the time, Franco-British relations had soured, leading to a rapprochement between France and Germany, the first time relations between the two countries had thawed since the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. In a show of good will, Charlotte and Stosch were sent to visit French ports in North Africa, including Oran, Algiers, and Tunis, where they received a friendly welcome. The ships then visited Spanish cities before returning to Germany; Charlotte arrived in Kiel on 23 March. [12]
Charlotte then went into the shipyard for a modernization that included a revision of her armament. She then went on a short cruise in the Baltic before beginning the next overseas training cruise in July. This trip went to the southern Atlantic Ocean, as far south as Rio de Janeiro, and she arrived back in Kiel on 23 March 1900. The ship made two short cruises in the Baltic and to Norway in May and September, respectively, before beginning the year's major cruise to the Mediterranean on 18 September. This trip included stops in Moroccan ports and Alexandria, Egypt. While in Corfu on 17 December, Charlotte was ordered to steam to Málaga, where the corvette Gneisenau had been wrecked in a gale. Charlotte arrived on 22 December, along with the British ironclad HMS Devastation, which helped to remove the remains of crewmen who had been killed in the accident and salvage valuable equipment. This work lasted until 12 January 1901, after which Charlotte left to transport the German ambassador to Morocco from Mogador to Tangier. She then visited ports in Italy before returning to Kiel on 9 March. [8]
The ship had another overhaul in March and returned to service on 18 April and embarked cadets from the 1901 crew year, which included Price Adalbert, the Kaiser's son. Charlotte participated in a survey of the Adlergrund in the aftermath of the grounding of the pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Friedrich III, which had been badly damaged in the accident. Charlotte then went on a cruise to Kronstadt, followed by another cruise to the Mediterranean on 14 August. During the voyage, she stopped in Piraeus, Constantinople, and Trieste, before arriving back in Kiel on 16 March 1902. After another overhaul, she went on a training cruise in the Baltic from 12 May to 12 July before starting another major cruise to South American waters. She visited Brazil and Uruguay before being recalled to Venezuela late in the year during the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903; she did not take an active role in the conflict and she was used to support the more modern German warships in the East American Cruiser Division. She was detached from the unit on 19 January 1903 and sent home, arriving in Kiel on 23 March. [8]
In addition to periodic maintenance, additional modernization work was carried out beginning in early 1903, including the installation of new boilers, the removal of the rest of the 15 cm guns, and the reduction of her sailing rig. Charlotte returned to service on 1 April 1905, and she began an overseas cruise on 18 July, first visiting Scotland and then cruising in the Atlantic and stopping in Mogador, before entering the Mediterranean. The cruise ended on 30 March 1906 in Kiel, and the cruise of 1906 followed a similar to the 1905 voyage. During this trip, she took part in a memorial service in Málaga in remembrance of those killed in the sinking of Gneisenau. Charlotte arrived back in Kiel on 23 March 1907; the rest of the year was filled with a long cruise in the Baltic and another major voyage to the West Indies that lasted until 16 March 1908. The 1908–1909 cruise also went to the West Indies, during which her crew helped suppress a fire in Santiago de Cuba. Charlotte, the last sailing ship of the Kaiserliche Marine was decommissioned on 31 March 1909 in Kiel. [8]
Charlotte was stricken from the naval register on 26 May 1909 and converted into a barracks ship and tender for the old ironclad König Wilhelm, which was used as a training ship for cadets, beginning in 1910. Following the outbreak of World War I and the general mobilization of forces in 1914, Charlotte was reinstated into the Navy List under the command of Andreas Fischer on 20 October, to replace König Wilhelm, which had been redeployed as a depot ship in the Elbe; this was the first and only time a warship of the Kaiserliche Marine that had been stricken from the register was replaced on it. This proved to be short-lived, and the naval command ordered that Charlotte be stricken once again on 4 November, when König Wilhelm returned. In 1917, Charlotte was replaced as König Wilhelm's tender by the light cruiser Medusa. Charlotte was sold to a private company in Hamburg in 1921 and was subsequently used as a storage hulk. Her ultimate fate is unknown. [13] [14]
SMS Friedrich der Grosse was an ironclad turret ship built for the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was the second of three Preussen-class ironclads, in addition to her two sister-ships Preussen and Grosser Kurfürst. Named for Frederick the Great, she was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel in 1871 and completed in 1877. Her main battery of four 26 cm (10 in) guns was mounted in a pair of twin gun turrets amidships.
SMS Zähringen was the third Wittelsbach-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the German Imperial Navy. Laid down in 1899 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, she was launched on 12 June 1901 and commissioned on 25 October 1902. Her sisters were Wittelsbach, Wettin, Schwaben and Mecklenburg; they were the first capital ships built under the Navy Law of 1898, brought about by Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. The ship, named for the former royal House of Zähringen, was armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots.
SMS Gneisenau was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1870s. The ship was named after the Prussian Field Marshal August von Gneisenau. She was the fifth member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Gneisenau was laid down in June 1877, launched in September 1879, and was commissioned into the fleet in October 1880. She was armed with a battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.
SMS Moltke was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1870s. The ship was named after the Prussian Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. She was the fourth member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Moltke was laid down in July 1875, launched in October 1877, and was commissioned into the fleet in April 1878. She was armed with a battery of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.
SMS Wettin was a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Wittelsbach class of the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was built by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Danzig. Wettin was laid down in October 1899, and was completed October 1902. She and her sister ships—Wittelsbach, Zähringen, Schwaben and Mecklenburg—were the first capital ships built under the Navy Law of 1898. Wettin was armed with a main battery of four 24 cm (9.4 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots.
SMS Württemberg was one of four Sachsen-class armored frigates of the German Kaiserliche Marine. Her sister ships were Sachsen, Bayern, and Baden. Württemberg was built in the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin from 1876 to 1881. The ship was commissioned into the Imperial Navy in August 1881. She was armed with a main battery of six 26 cm (10.2 in) guns in two open barbettes.
SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1890s. She was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in 1895, launched in March 1897, and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1899. She was named after Princess Victoria Louise, the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19.2 knots.
SMS Vineta was a protected cruiser of the Victoria Louise class, built for the German Imperial Navy in the 1890s. Vineta was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in 1895, launched in April 1897, and commissioned into the Navy in July 1898. The ship, named for the semi-legendary medieval town of Vineta, was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19 knots.
SMS Amazone was the sixth member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots.
SMS Berlin was the second member of the seven-vessel Bremen class of light cruisers, built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the early 1900s. She and her sister ships were ordered under the 1898 Naval Law that required new cruisers be built to replace obsolete vessels in the fleet. The design for the Bremen class was derived from the preceding Gazelle class, utilizing a larger hull that allowed for additional boilers that increased speed. Named for the German capital of Berlin, the ship was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 22 knots.
SMS Stein was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1870s. The ship was named after the Prussian statesman Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein. She was the sixth member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Stein was laid down in 1878, launched in September 1879, and was commissioned into the fleet in October 1880. She was armed with a battery of twelve 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.
SMS Stosch was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy in the late 1870s. The ship was named for Admiral Albrecht von Stosch, the first chief of staff of the newly created Imperial Navy. She was the third member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Stosch was laid down in November 1875, launched in October 1876, and was commissioned into the fleet in June 1879. She was armed with a battery of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.
The Bismarck-class corvettes were a class of six corvettes built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the 1870s. The six ships were Bismarck, Blücher, Stosch, Moltke, Gneisenau, and Stein. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and they were designed to serve as fleet scouts and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. The ships were armed with a battery of between ten and sixteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and they had a full ship rig to supplement their steam engine on long cruises abroad. One ship, Blücher, was converted into a torpedo testing and training ship shortly after she was completed, having her guns replaced with a variety of torpedo launchers.
SMS Blitz was an aviso of the German Kaiserliche Marine built in the early 1880s. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other vessel, SMS Pfeil. Her primary offensive armament consisted of a bow-mounted torpedo tube, and she was armed with a battery of light guns to defend herself against torpedo boats, a sign of the growing importance of torpedoes as effective weapons in the period. The Blitz class featured a number of innovations in German warship design: they were the first steel hulled warships and the first cruiser-type ships to discard traditional sailing rigs.
SMS Pfeil was an aviso of the Imperial German Navy, the second and final member of the Blitz class. Her primary offensive armament consisted of a bow-mounted torpedo tube, and she was armed with a battery of light guns to defend herself against torpedo boats, a sign of the growing importance of torpedoes as effective weapons in the period. The Blitz class featured a number of innovations in German warship design: they were the first steel hulled warships and the first cruiser-type ships to discard traditional sailing rigs.
SMS Nixe was a screw corvette built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the 1880s. She was laid down in August 1883, launched in July 1885, and commissioned into the fleet in April 1886. Hopelessly out of date even by the time she was ordered in 1882 and possessing insufficient gun power or speed, she was nevertheless completed as designed. In addition to those shortcomings, she proved to be difficult to handle in service and was particularly affected by wind.
SMS Luise was a steam corvette of the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was the second member of the Ariadne class, which included two other ships, Ariadne and Freya. Ordered as part of a large naval expansion program after the Austro-Prussian War, she was laid down in 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. She was launched in December 1872 and completed in June 1874. Luise was a small vessel, armed with a battery of just eight guns.
SMS Freya was a steam corvette of the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was the third member of the Ariadne class, which included two other ships, Ariadne and Luise. Ordered as part of a large naval expansion program after the Austro-Prussian War, she was laid down in 1872 after the Franco-Prussian War. She was launched in December 1874 and completed in October 1876. Freya was built to a different design than her sisters, being longer and carrying a heavier battery of twelve guns.
SMS Prinz Adalbert was a steam corvette of the German Kaiserliche Marine, the second and final member of the Leipzig class. She was laid down in 1875 at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, was launched in June 1876, and was commissioned into the fleet in August 1877. Originally named Sedan after the Battle of Sedan of the Franco-Prussian War, she was renamed Prinz Adalbert to avoid antagonizing France in 1878, less than a decade after the battle.