SMS Hansa (1872)

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For other ships with the same name, see SMS Hansa.
Hansa in Kiel in the 1880s
Class overview
Operators Imperial German Navy
Preceded byKönig Wilhelm
Succeeded byPreussen class
Completed1
Scrapped1
History
German Empire
NameSMS Hansa
Builder
Danzig
Laid down1868
Launched26 October 1872
Commissioned19 May 1875
Stricken6 August 1888
FateBroken up, 1906
General characteristics
TypeArmored corvette
Displacement
  • Design: 3,950 t (3,890 long tons)
  • Full load
    : 4,404 t (4,334 long tons)
Length73.50 m (241.1 ft)
Beam14.10 m (46.3 ft)
Draft5.74 m (18.8 ft)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 1 ×
    single-expansion steam engine
  • 1 ×
    screw propeller
Sail plan
Ship rig
, 1,760 m2 (18,900 sq ft)
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range1,330 nmi (2,460 km; 1,530 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Boats & landing
craft carried		10
Crew
  • 28 officers
  • 371 enlisted men
Armament8 x 21 cm (8.3 in) L/19 guns
Armor
  • Belt: 114 to 152 mm (4.5 to 6.0 in)
  • Battery: 114 mm (4.5 in)

SMS Hansa 

Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in May 1875. Designed as for coastal bombardment, Hansa was classed as an armored corvette and armed with eight 21 cm (8.3 in) guns in a central battery
.

Hansa saw little use in her first years of service, and only took part in fleet exercises in the 1875 training year. She made a major overseas cruise to Central and South America from 1878 to 1880, during which time she protected German nationals in the region during the

naval register and used as a barracks ship in Kiel. She was moved to Mönkeberg
in 1905, where she continued to train boiler room personnel until 1906, when she was sold to ship-breakers and dismantled for scrap.

Design

Development of a small armored

casemate ship similar to the British Edward Reed-designed HMS Pallas.[1]

General characteristics and machinery

Plan and profile drawing of SMS Hansa

Hansa was 71.73 meters (235.3 ft)

watertight compartments.[4]

The German navy found the ship to be very stiff in her sea-keeping qualities. Steering was controlled by a single

Anti-torpedo nets were briefly fitted to the ship from 1885 to 1888.[4]

Hansa was powered by a single horizontal three-cylinder

nominal horsepower with a top speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). On trials, her propulsion system managed 3,275 indicated horsepower (2,442 kW) and 12.7 knots (23.5 km/h; 14.6 mph). The ship carried 310 t (310 long tons; 340 short tons) of coal for the boilers, which enabled a maximum range of 1,330 nautical miles (2,460 km; 1,530 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[3] Hansa was fitted with a full sailing rig to supplement the steam engine, and it had a sail area of 1,760 m2 (18,900 sq ft).[4]

Armament and armor

Hansa was armed with a

amidships; four were mounted in a broadside casemate, two on either side of the ship.[4] The other four guns were mounted in casemates on the corners of the lower casemate, which gave the ship a degree of end-on fire capability.[5] The lower guns could depress to −5° and elevate to 13°; at maximum elevation, the guns could reach targets out to 3,200 m (3,500 yd). The upper guns had a wider range of elevation; they could depress to −8° and elevate to 14°. At maximum elevation, the guns had a range of 5,700 m (6,200 yd).[4]

Hansa's armor consisted of

armored belt was 152 mm (6 in) thick amidships, where it protected the ship's vitals. On the bow and stern, the belt was reduced to 114 mm (4.5 in) in thickness. The entire belt was backed with 306 mm (12 in) of timber. The casemates were armored with 114 mm thick sloping iron plates. The lower battery casemate had 114 mm thick transverse armored bulkheads on either end of the side armor.[4]

Service history

Construction and initial service

Hansa in Kiel

Hansa was

Swinemünde.[7]

From there, she was to sail to

Kapitän zur See (KzS—Captain at Sea) Adolph Berger, the director of the naval artillery depot in Kiel, though without having been commissioned. On 16 December, while attempting to leave Swinemünde, the ship ran aground and had to return to port. She was not damaged, but she was escorted by the transport ship SS Eider for the voyage out to sea on 31 December. After arriving in Kiel on 3 January 1875, she was taken into a floating dry dock for final fitting-out on 24 February.[7] Hansa was finally commissioned into the German fleet on 19 May, two and a half years after her launch. By comparison, all of the earlier foreign-built ironclads were completed in less than a year after their launching; the delays between launching and completion with Hansa were largely the result of the inexperience of the shipyards with building ironclad warships.[9][10]

Through the 1870s, the German armored fleet typically saw active service during the summer months. Over the winter, most of the vessels were placed in reserve with one or two kept in a state of reduced commission as

Kaiser Wilhelm I on 22–23 September. The next day, the Training Squadron was disbanded and Hansa was decommissioned on 4 November.[7][11]

Overseas deployment

Map of the Caribbean showing many of the ports Hansa visited during her deployment

She remained out of commission until 22 July 1878, when she returned to service for a deployment to the

steam corvette Nymphe in La Guaira. The two ships acted to protect German nationals in Puerto Cabello, and also came to the aid of United States citizens in La Guaira. While in the latter port, Hansa's engines broke down after weighing anchor; she only avoided colliding with other ships in the harbor by the crew's skillful seamanship and quickly transitioning to sail power. Nymphe left the area on 28 January but Hansa remained off Venezuela until 20 February, by which time it had become apparent that the unrest was nearing its end.[12]

After leaving Venezuelan waters, Hansa sailed for

Valparaiso, Chile, on 19 August. From there, she continued on to Callao, Peru. By that time, the Peruvian government had seized the German steamer SS Luxor of the Kosmos Reederei company for carrying contraband, and processed the seizure through a prize court. Following Hansa's arrival, she received the steamer's crew, who had been sheltering aboard a British gunboat. But the Germans were unable to secure the vessel's release, so on 8 September Hansa left the port.[b] Heusner was under strict orders to remain neutral while in the region, and he lacked the necessary force to take direct action in any event.[c] Meanwhile, the German naval command commissioned the steam corvette Freya and the gunboat Hyäne to reinforce Hansa.[13]

Following the Chilean victory in the Battle of Angamos on 8 October, the Chilean Navy planned to bombard Callao, which had been declared an open city. Heusner protested the planned attack, which led the Chilean government to cancel it.[13] Hansa cruised off the Peruvian and Chilean coast through June 1880,[11] and throughout this period, she repeatedly sent landing parties ashore in Callao, Lima, and Arica to protect Germans in those cities. Hyäne arrived in Valparaiso on 1 February 1880 and Freya joined the German ships there on 3 March. The war soon turned decisively in Chile's favor, which permitted the Germans to recall Hyäne on 3 April, followed quickly by Freya on 14 April. The steam corvette Bismarck arrived in the area on 26 May, the same day that Chile defeated Bolivia in the Battle of Tacna, knocking the latter out of the war. Bismarck operated with Hansa until July, when the latter vessel began the voyage home. In mid-August, the steam corvette Ariadne met Hansa in Coronel, Chile, where they officially transferred responsibility for the region on 11 August. Hansa thereafter departed for Germany, eventually arriving back in Kiel on 22 October. There, she was decommissioned on 8 November.[16]

Later career

After being decommissioned, the ship underwent an overhaul and then remained out of service until February 1884.

Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, after which she conducted shooting practice and training cruises.[20]

By early 1888, it was found that her hull was badly corroded;

marks. Hansa was broken up later that year in Swinemünde.[4][18][17]

Footnotes

Notes

  1. Seiner Majestät Schiff
    ", or "His Majesty's Ship".
  2. ^ Peru eventually released the vessel in January 1880, citing the loyalty of the German expatriate community in the country.[13]
  3. Cantonal Revolution in Spain in 1873, Reinhold von Werner significantly exceeded his authority by directly engaging the rebel faction with a German and British force he commanded. His actions prompted an uproar in Germany and upon his return, Otto von Bismarck relieved him of command and forbade any further attempts at gunboat diplomacy.[14][15]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Dodson, p. 19.
  2. ^ Sondhaus 2001, pp. 59–61.
  3. ^ a b Gröner, p. 4.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gröner, p. 5.
  5. ^ a b Lyon, p. 244.
  6. ^ Sondhaus 2001, p. 120.
  7. ^ a b c d Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 89.
  8. ^ Lyon, pp. 242–244.
  9. ^ Gröner, pp. 1–5.
  10. ^ Dodson, p. 20.
  11. ^ a b Dodson, pp. 25–26.
  12. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 88–90.
  13. ^ a b c Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 90.
  14. ^ Sondhaus 1997, pp. 118–120.
  15. ^ Sondhaus 2001, p. 122.
  16. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 90–91.
  17. ^ a b Dodson, p. 32.
  18. ^ a b c Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 91.
  19. ^ Dodson, p. 30.
  20. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 88, 91.

References

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