Habicht-class gunboat
 Habicht probably in the 1880s
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Wolf class |
| Succeeded by | SMS Hay |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 59.2 m (194 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 3.52 m (11 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Range | 2,010 nmi (3,720 km; 2,310 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
The Habicht class of screw gunboats was a class of three vessels built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1870s and early 1880s. The class comprised Habicht, the lead ship, along with Möwe and Adler.
Design
[edit]By the mid-1870s, the large screw frigates and screw corvettes that formed the backbone of the German cruiser force were beginning to need to be replaced. Some of these ships had been in service for twenty years, and in that time spent considerable periods on deployments overseas. To replace these older vessels, the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) ordered the six Carola-class corvettes and three Habicht-class gunboats.[1] The three gunboats were the first vessels of the type to use compound steam engines, which increased speed and engine efficiency.[2]
Characteristics
[edit]
The first two ships of the Habicht class were 59.2 meters (194 ft 3 in) long overall, with a beam of 8.9 m (29 ft 2 in) and a draft of 3.52 m (11 ft 7 in) forward. They displaced 840 metric tons (830 long tons) as designed and 1,005 t (989 long tons) at full load. Adler differed slightly in dimensions, being 58.1 m (190 ft 7 in) long at the waterline and 61.8 m (202 ft 9 in) overall. Her beam was reduced slightly, to 8.8 m (28 ft 10 in), and draft reduced to 3.11 m (10 ft 2 in) forward and 4.02 m (13 ft 2 in) aft. Her displacement increased slightly to 880 t (870 long tons) as designed and 1,040 t (1,020 long tons) at full load.[3]
Their hulls were constructed with transverse iron frames and were divided into nine watertight compartments. Wooden hull planks were sheathed with zinc to protect the ships from marine biofouling during extended voyages abroad. The ships' crew varied over the course of their careers, and consisted of 6–7 officers and 121–126 enlisted men. Each vessel carried a number of small boats, including one picket boat, one pinnace, two cutters, one yawl, and one dinghy. The ships handled well under sail, they were maneuverable, and were very responsive to commands from the wheel. Steering was controlled with a single rudder.[4]
They were powered by a double-expansion steam engine that drove a 2-bladed screw propeller, which was 3.23 m (10.6 ft) in diameter for the first two ships, but Adler received a slightly smaller 2.8 m (9 ft 2 in) wide screw. Steam was provided by two coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube boilers aboard the first two ships, while Adler received four boilers. Exhaust was vented through a single funnel located amidships. To supplement the steam engine on long voyages, the ships were fitted with a schooner sailing rig that had 847 m2 (9,120 sq ft) of surface area.[4] While cruising under sail, the screw could be raised.[5]
The ships' propulsion system was rated to produce a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) at 600 metric horsepower (590 ihp), though Adler's additional boilers increased power to 700 PS (690 ihp). All three ships exceeded that speed in service, reaching between 11.3 and 11.7 knots (20.9 and 21.7 km/h; 13.0 and 13.5 mph) on their sea trials. The first two ships carried 100 t (98 long tons; 110 short tons) of coal, while Adler could carry 110 t (110 long tons; 120 short tons). At a cruising speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph), they could steam for 2,010 nautical miles (3,720 km; 2,310 mi).[4]
The ships were armed with a single 15 cm (5.9 in) K L/22 built-up gun, which supplied from a magazine with 115 shells. They also carried four 12 cm (4.7 in) K L/23 built-up guns, which were supplied with a total of 440 rounds of ammunition. In the early 1880s, the ships' armament was standardized on a uniform battery of five 12.5 cm (4.9 in) K L/23 built up guns and five 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon. The 12.5 cm guns were supplied with a total of 620 shells, and had a maximum range of 5,600 m (18,400 ft). In 1890, when Möwe was converted into a survey ship, her main battery was reduced to two 12.5 cm guns, though those were eventually removed as well, leaving her armed with just the revolver cannon.[6]
Ships
[edit]| Ship | Builder[3] | Laid down[3] | Launched[3] | Commissioned[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Habicht | Schichau-Werke, Elbing | 1878 | 13 May 1879 | 18 March 1880 |
| Möwe | 8 October 1879 | 31 May 1880 | ||
| Adler | Königlich Werft, Kiel | 1882 | 3 November 1883 | 27 May 1885 |
Service history
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Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
- 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. 1. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0237-4.
- 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. 4. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0382-1.
- 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. 6. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0237-4.
- Lyon, David (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. pp. 240–265. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
- Nottelmann, Dirk (2022). "The Development of the Small Cruiser in the Imperial German Navy Part III: The Gunboats". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 63–79. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.