SMS Kaiserin Augusta
SMS Kaiserin Augusta in 1893
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Class overview | |
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Preceded by | Irene class |
Succeeded by | Victoria Louise class |
History | |
German Empire | |
Name | Kaiserin Augusta |
Namesake | Empress Augusta |
Builder | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
Laid down | 1890 |
Launched | 15 January 1892 |
Commissioned | 17 November 1892 |
Stricken | 1 October 1919 |
Fate | Scrapped 1920 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Unique protected cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | 123.2 m (404 ft) oa |
Beam | 15.6 m (51 ft) |
Draft | 6.48 m (21.3 ft) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 21 knots (38.9 km/h) |
Range | 3,240 nmi (6,000 km; 3,730 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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SMS Kaiserin Augusta was a unique
Kaiserin Augusta served abroad between 1897 and 1902, primarily in the
Background
Design work on Kaiserin Augusta began in 1887 and was completed in 1889. At the time, the Chief of the
Up to the mid-1880s, German cruising vessels were primarily intended for overseas service or training duties; the
For the 1889 fiscal year, approved in early 1888, the
Design
Wilhelm II overruled Caprivi's decision on omitting armor protection, instructing that an armor deck must be incorporated into the new ship.[7] Chief Constructor Alfred Dietrich carried out work on the new design.[1] The top speed of the new cruiser, 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), required an elongated hull compared to the Irenes, since the longer, finer hull had improved hydrodynamic efficiency. In this effort, Dietrich was limited by the size of existing dry docks and other port infrastructure. Higher speed came at the cost of reduced maneuverability, which would hamper the ship's ability to fight in a fleet action. Further changes were incorporated, including strengthening the armament, which further delayed the commencement of work on the ship.[8]
Dietrich continued to work on the revised design through late 1888, one of the chief difficulties being the necessary improvements to the propulsion system to retain the desired top speed. The larger, heavier ship would require around 50% more horsepower compared to Irene's propulsion system. The armor deck complicated arrangement of the engines, since mounting vertical engines of the required power needed to reach 20 knots on two shafts would have necessitated a heavy
The armament was also an issue to be solved while the design was refined. The naval command initially rejected the 15 cm (5.9 in) RK L/30 gun, which was incapable of penetrating deck armor. Since quick-firing guns had been developed up to 10.5 cm (4.1 in) caliber, the design staff initially opted to standardize on a battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/35 guns, on the basis that the much-faster-firing guns could smother a target and destroy unarmored sections of the enemy ship. But as the new ship was enlarged, the designers reverted to the larger, but slower 15 cm guns, despite their disadvantages. By 1891, the new 15 cm SK L/35 gun had been developed, and Dietrich modified the design for Kaiserin Augusta—construction of which had already begun—to incorporate the much-improved weapon. These guns had not been produced in sufficient numbers to equip Kaiserin Augusta by the time she was completed, and so she was armed with a mixture of the old 15 cm and 10.5 cm guns.[10]
Kaiserin Augusta was in essence an enlarged version of the aviso Greif, with increased speed, a more powerful main battery, and heavier armor.[3]
General characteristics and machinery
Kaiserin Augusta was 122.2 meters (400 ft 11 in)
Kaiserin Augusta's crew consisted of 13 officers and 417 enlisted men. She carried several smaller boats, including two picket boats, one launch, one pinnace, two cutters, two yawls, and two dinghies. The ship suffered from severe pitch and roll, though these effects were reduced in heavy winds and a beam sea. The forecastle shipped excessive amounts of water in a head sea. The ship maneuvered poorly, though this was improved at high speed. The transverse metacentric height was 0.78 m (2 ft 7 in).[11] The ship vibrated excessively at high speeds, earning her the nickname "cocktail shaker"; this was most likely the result of placing the propeller shafts too close to the hull.[9]
The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder
The engines were rated at 12,000
Armament
As built, Kaiserin Augusta was initially armed with a main battery of four 15 cm K L/30 guns with a total of 292 rounds of ammunition. This was supported by a secondary battery of eight 10.5 cm SK L/35 guns with 777 rounds of ammunition. She also carried eight 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns with 1,361 rounds of ammunition and four machine guns. The medium-caliber 15 cm and 10.5 cm guns were mounted in sponsoned casemates in the main deck of the ship. The ship was also equipped with five 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes with thirteen torpedoes; four were placed in swivel mounts on the broadside and one was placed in the bow, below the waterline. In 1893–1895, during a refit to correct defects in her construction, her armament was updated; the old 15 cm and 10.5 cm guns were replaced with twelve 15 cm SK L/35 guns that had a maximum range of 12,600 m (41,300 ft). The guns were supplied with a total of 1,064 shells; like the previous battery, these guns were placed in casemates in the hull. After 1907, the swivel-mounted torpedo tubes were removed, leaving only the tube in the bow with three torpedoes.[11]
Armor
The ship's armor consisted primarily of a curved armor deck of
Service history
Construction – 1896
The
The voyage had revealed structural problems with the ship, and so she was decommissioned for modifications on 21 June. During this period, her standard armament was installed as well. Work was completed by mid-1894, but Kaiserin Augusta's engines broke down during initial trials and had to be rebuilt completely. Repairs were not finished until early 1895, and she was finally ready to be recommissioned on 3 April. Further trials followed, and on 9 May she accidentally ran aground in the
Two German merchants had been murdered in Morocco; the protected cruiser
1897 – 1902
In February 1897, an international naval demonstration took place off Crete to protest Greece's attempted annexation of the island and prevent another Greco-Turkish war. Kaiserin Augusta was the sole German contribution to the International Squadron, receiving orders to join the fleet on 6 February and arriving in Souda Bay on 21 February. Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Leopold Koellner, the ship's commander, was under orders to act on his own discretion, but also in accordance with the warships of the other Great Powers. Kaiserin Augusta and other vessels shelled Greek volunteers that were attacking Chania on 21 February. On 15 March, she sent fifty men ashore to reinforce the international landing party that had gone ashore to stop the fighting. The ship operated as part of a "Light Division", along with the Italian torpedo cruiser Caprera, the Austro-Hungarian cruiser Tiger, the French destroyer Faucon, and the Russian gunboat Grosjaschtschi. The ships were tasked with blocking Greek attacks on the area around Souda Bay; for her efforts in stopping their attacks, the Greek volunteers nicknamed her "the damned white ship".[22][24]
Despite the efforts of the Great Powers, the
Kaiserin Augusta remained in
In October, the ship brought a detachment of infantry to
Kaiserin Augusta served briefly as the squadron flagship, under VAdm
Later career
Obsolescent by the early 1900s, Kaiserin Augusta went into drydock for an extensive modernization that began in May 1903.[4] During the refit, the ship's generators were replaced with more powerful units that more than doubled electrical output, at 124 kW at 110 V. Her bridge was significantly expanded, with a second deck and extended aft of the foremast. The three funnels were lengthened by 2 m (6 ft 7 in) and one searchlight was installed on each of the mast tops. The four swivel-mounted torpedo tubes were also removed during this period.[11] After emerging from the modernization in late 1905, the ship was placed in reserve. She remained out of service until 1914, following the outbreak of World War I in July that year. Kaiserin Augusta was reactivated for use as a gunnery training ship, to replace the more modern armored cruiser SMS Blücher, which joined the High Seas Fleet. Her first commander during the war, from August to November, was KzS Ferdinand Bertram. Kaiserin Augusta was stationed in the Baltic Sea and was assigned to the coastal defense division of the Baltic in anticipation of a British attack through the Danish straits.[30][31]
To facilitate the training of gunners, the ship's armament was diversified several times throughout the war. The first change was completed on 30 October, when her 15 cm guns were removed. By the end of 1914, the threat of a direct British attack on the Baltic had receded, and so on 12 December, Kaiserin Augusta was removed from the coastal defense division. The ship largely remained in the relative safety of the western Baltic for the rest of the war. Further alterations were made to her armament as the war progressed. By the end of the conflict, she carried one
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 74.
- ^ a b Campbell & Sieche, p. 142.
- ^ a b c Dodson, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d e f Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 76.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 135.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 135, 138.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 138.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 138–140.
- ^ a b Nottelmann, p. 141.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 143–144.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gröner, p. 46.
- ^ Lyon, p. 254.
- ^ a b Nottelmann, pp. 141–142.
- ^ Weyl, p. 17.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 142.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 143.
- ^ Nottelmann, p. 144.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 73–74.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 206.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 74–75.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 199.
- ^ a b c Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 75.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 200.
- ^ Sondhaus, p. 220.
- ^ Gottschall, p. 165.
- ^ Gottschall, p. 173.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 73, 75.
- ^ Gottschall, p. 184–185.
- ^ Gottschall, p. 214.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 73, 76.
- ^ Gröner, p. 53.
References
- Campbell, N. J. M. & Sieche, Erwin (1986). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 134–189. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- ISBN 978-1-84832-229-5.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
- Gottschall, Terrell D. (2003). By Order of the Kaiser. Annapolis: ISBN 978-1-55750-309-1.
- 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. 5. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ASIN B003VHSRKE.
- 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.
- Nottelmann, Dirk (2023). Wright, Christopher C. (ed.). "From "Wooden Walls" to "New-Testament Ships": The Development of the German Armored Cruiser 1854–1918, Part III: "Armor—Light Version"". Warship International. LX (2): 118–156. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Oldknow, R. C. (1893). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Marine Engineering". Brassey's Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin and Co.: 99–117.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.
- Weyl, E. (1893). Brassey, Thomas A. (ed.). "Progress of Foreign Navies". Brassey's Annual. Portsmouth: J. Griffin and Co.: 1–33.