SMS Freya
 Freya early in her career, before her 1907 reconstruction
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Freya |
| Namesake | Freya |
| Builder | Danzig |
| Laid down | 2 January 1896 |
| Launched | 27 April 1897 |
| Commissioned | 20 October 1898 |
| Stricken | 25 January 1920 |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1921 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Victoria Louise-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 110.6 m (363 ft) |
| Beam | 17.4 m (57 ft) |
| Draft | 6.58 m (21.6 ft) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 18.4 knots (34.1 km/h; 21.2 mph) |
| Range | 3,412 nmi (6,319 km; 3,926 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
SMS Freya was a
Freya served in the German fleet for the initial years of her career, unlike her sister ships, all of which served abroad on foreign stations. As a result, she led a fairly uneventful career in the fleet. After a modernization in 1905–1907, Freya was used as a
Design
In the early 1890s, elements in the German naval command structure grappled with what type of cruiser ought to be built to fulfill the various needs of the fleet. The
Freya was 110.6 meters (363 ft)
The ship was armed with a
In 1916, all of the ships of the class were disarmed, with the exception of Freya, which was re-equipped with a single 15 cm gun, four 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns, and fourteen 8.8 cm guns of both the L/30 and L/35 versions, for use as a gunnery training ship.[4]
The ship was protected with
Service history
Construction and fleet service
Freya was ordered under the contract name "
In the interest of developing the capabilities of the fleet's gunners, the navy established the Artillery Testing Command on 14 December 1901, and on 3 May 1902, Freya was recommissioned to join the new establishment. Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain) Hermann Jacobsen took command of the vessel at that time. She began training activities on 15 May, based in Kiel. Later that year, she was allocated to the training fleet for use as a scout for the annual large-scale maneuvers held every August and September. During the exercises, Freya suffered damage to her boilers that necessitated repairs that were completed on 15 September. She thereafter resumed her gunnery training duties, along with her tender, the old armored gunboat Brummer. The two vessels accidentally collided on 13 November but suffered no significant damage. The year 1903 passed much the same as the previous one, with gunnery training interrupted only by the fleet maneuvers in August and September. On 11 January 1904, Freya was again decommissioned in Wilhelmshaven.[5]
Cadet training ship
By this time, the naval command had decided to convert the Victoria Louise-class ships into dedicated
Freya next embarked on a major training cruise on 19 July that included visits to Norway, various ports on the Atlantic coast of Europe, and the
Freya's third major cruise began on 2 June 1909, first with a visit to Norway, followed by a short return to Cuxhaven and then Wilhelmshaven, to make preparations to go abroad. From Wilhelmshaven, she got underway for the Mediterranean, stopping in Funchal in Madeira and Tenerife in the Canaries on the way. She steamed as far as the eastern Mediterranean, visiting Alexandria again, where she rendered assistance after a major fire in the city, along with ports in the Levant. Freya arrived back in Wilhelmshaven on 28 March 1910, where she went into dry dock for an overhaul that lasted until 2 May. She then moved to Kiel, where she took on another crew of cadets for a short training cruise to Norwegian waters that ended in Wilhelmshaven on 20 July.[10]
On 1 August 1910, Freya departed for her next major voyage overseas; unlike previous years that included numerous stops while on the way, the ship steamed directly to Mexico with a special envoy aboard. There, she met the
World War I
Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Freya was mobilized for active service, but she was initially only activated for use as a training ship for boiler room personnel. She was briefly commanded KzS Max Schlicht from 4 to 27 August, before being replaced by Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain) Eduard Bartels. Following the reestablishment of the Training Inspectorate in April 1915, which had been closed at the start of the conflict, Freya returned to her old training duties in the Baltic. At that time, she moved from Kiel to Flensburg, where she remained through the end of the war. KzS Ernst-Oldwig von Natzmer took command of the vessel at that time, but he remained aboard only for four months, when he was replaced by KzS Wilhelm Goetze The old aviso Grille became Freya's tender starting in July. She was stricken on 25 January 1920 and used briefly as a barracks ship for police in Hamburg. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in Harburg in 1921.[7][11]
Notes
- ^ Dodson, p. 44.
- ^ a b c Gröner, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Lyon, p. 254.
- ^ a b Gröner, p. 47.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 101–102.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 101–103.
- ^ a b c Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 101, 103.
- ^ Colby, p. 514.
- ^ Hadley & Sarty, p. 49.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 103.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 48, 84.
References
- Colby, Frank Moore, ed. (1909). The New International Year Book. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-229-5.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
- Hadley, Michael L. & Sarty, Roger Flynn (1991). Tin-pots and Pirate Ships: Canadian Naval Forces and German Sea Raiders, 1880–1918. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0773507787.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 3. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0211-4.
- Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
Further reading
- Nottelmann, Dirk (2023). Wright, Christopher C. (ed.). "From "Wooden Walls" to "New-Testament Ships": The Development of the German Armored Cruiser 1854–1918, Part IIIb: "Armor—Light Version"". Warship International. LX (3): 184–228. ISSN 0043-0374.