======================================================================
= SMS Friedrich Carl =
======================================================================
Introduction
======================================================================
|Ship displacement= *Normal: 9087 MT *Full load: |Ship length= o/a
|Ship beam= |Ship draft= |Ship power= *14 × Dürr water-tube boilers
*17000 PS |Ship propulsion= *3 × screw propellers *3 ×
triple-expansion steam engines |Ship speed=20 kn |Ship range=5080 nmi
at 12 kn |Ship complement= *35 officers *551 men |Ship armament= *4 ×
21 cm SK L/40 *10 × 15 cm SK L/40 naval gun *12 × SK L/35 *4 ×
torpedo tubes |Ship armor= *Belt: *Turrets: *Deck: *Conning tower:
150 mm }}
SMS was a German armored cruiser built in the early 1900s for the
German (Imperial Navy). She was the second and final member of the ,
which was built to provide scouts for the German fleet and station
ships in Germany's colonial empire. was built by the Blohm & Voss
shipyard in Hamburg. She was laid down in August 1901, launched in
June 1902, and commissioned in December 1903. She was armed with a
main battery of four 21 cm guns and could reach a top speed of 20 kn.
served with the scouting forces of the Active Battle Fleet for the
first few years of her career, including a stint as the flagship of
the reconnaissance squadron. She went on cruises abroad, including
voyages escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II on tours in the Mediterranean Sea.
She also participated in extensive training exercises in the Baltic
and North Seas. In 1909, she was withdrawn from front-line service and
used as a torpedo training ship until 1914.
After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, returned to active
service for operations in the Baltic Sea against the Imperial Russian
Navy. She served as the flagship of the cruiser squadron in the Baltic
and participated in patrols in the Gulf of Finland. The ship was
modified to carry a pair of seaplanes. In mid-November, the cruiser
squadron was tasked with attacking the Russian base at Libau, but
while en route on 17 November, struck a pair of naval mines. She
remained afloat long enough for most of her crew to be taken off by
the light cruiser before sinking; seven or eight men died as she
sank.
Design
======================================================================
was the second ship of the , which was ordered under the Second Naval
Law of 1900. The law called for a force of fourteen armored cruisers
able to serve in Germany's colonial empire and scout for the main
German fleet in home waters. The need for one type of ship to fill
both roles was the result of budgetary limitations, which prevented
Germany from building vessels specialized to each task. The design
was based on the previous armored cruiser, , but it incorporated more
powerful armament and more comprehensive armor protection.
The ship was 126.5 m long overall, and had a beam of 19.6 m and a
draft of 7.43 m forward. She displaced 9087 t as built and up to 9875
t fully loaded. was powered by three vertical triple expansion
engines driving three screws, steam being generated by fourteen
coal-fired water-tube boilers. Her engines were rated at 17000 PS to
yield a maximum speed of 20 kn, though she slightly exceeded these
figures on speed trials. She carried up to 1630 t of coal that enabled
a maximum range of up to 5080 nmi at a cruising speed of 12 kn. Her
standard crew consisted of 35 officers and 551 enlisted men.
was armed with four 21 cm SK L/40 guns arranged in two twin gun
turrets, one on either end of the superstructure. Her secondary
armament consisted of ten 15 cm SK L/40 guns mounted in casemates in a
two-story arrangement amidships. For defense against torpedo boats,
she carried twelve 8.8 cm guns in both single pedestal mounts and
casemates. was also equipped with four torpedo tubes submerged below
the waterline, one in the bow, one in the stern, and one on each
broadside.
The ship was protected by Krupp armor; her armored belt was 100 mm
thick amidships and reduced to 80 mm forward and aft. The deck armor
was 40 to thick, and on her forward conning tower the plating was 150
mm thick. The main battery turrets had 150 mm thick sides and the
casemate guns were protected with 100 mm of Krupp steel.
Construction through 1905
===========================
was ordered under the provisional name and built at the Blohm &
Voss shipyard in Hamburg under yard number 155. Her keel was laid down
in August 1901 and she was launched on 21 June 1902. At the launching
ceremony, Prince Friedrich Leopold of Prussia gave a speech; he was
the son of the ship's namesake, Prince Friedrich Carl. Friedrich
Leopold's wife, Louise Sophie, christened the ship. Fitting-out work
followed, and in November 1903 a shipyard crew began builder's trials
before she was moved to Wilhelmshaven to have her artillery installed.
Work on the vessel was completed by 12 December 1903, the day she
began sea trials; her first commander was ('KzS'—Captain at Sea)
Johannes Merten.
The trials were interrupted in March 1904 when was tasked with
escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II aboard the Norddeutscher Lloyd steamer on
a trip to the Mediterranean Sea. On 12 March the ships left
Bremerhaven and steamed to Vigo, Spain, where the Spanish king,
Alfonso XIII, visited on 15 March. Three days later the ships arrived
in Gibraltar, where they met the British Channel Squadron. They then
proceeded to Naples, Italy, by way of Mahón, where on 24 March Wilhelm
II transferred to his yacht, . King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy
visited at Mahón before she, , and the dispatch boat began a tour of
Mediterranean ports. was in need of repairs, so she left and on 26
April and began the voyage back to Germany; she stopped in Venice,
Italy, on 7 May and arrived back in Kiel on 17 May. There, she was
assigned to the reconnaissance force of the Active Battle Fleet,
taking the place of the protected cruiser .
Beginning in June 1904, joined II Squadron for a tour of Dutch,
British, and Norwegian ports that lasted until August. During the
voyage, had to tow two torpedo boats in company with the coastal
defense ship and the torpedo boat to Stavanger, Norway. On returning
to Germany, the German fleet conducted its annual maneuvers in August
and September in the North and Baltic Seas. Following the conclusion
of the maneuvers in September, Merten was replaced as the ship's
commander by ('FK'—Frigate Captain) Hugo von Cotzhausen. The ship's
sea trials were also officially ended at this point. In November, the
crew briefly staged a mutiny against Cotzhausen, citing his inept
leadership, though he remained in command. ('KAdm'—Rear Admiral)
Gustav Schmidt, who was the commander of reconnaissance forces of the
Active Battlefleet, transferred from , making the new flagship of the
reconnaissance squadron.
From January to February 1905, participated in training exercises in
the Baltic. While cruising north of the Great Belt, she struck a
submerged shipwreck but suffered no significant damage. Beginning on
23 March, she again accompanied Wilhelm II, who was aboard the HAPAG
steamship , for another voyage to the Mediterranean. While the ships
were in Lisbon, they were visited by King Carlos I of Portugal. The
German Chancellor, Bernhard von Bülow, sent a message to Wilhelm II in
Lisbon suggesting he visit Morocco, and on 31 March and arrived in
Tangier, where they met the French cruisers and . Wilhelm II made a
speech supporting Moroccan independence, which led to the First
Moroccan Crisis. The following day, the two German vessels steamed to
Gibraltar, where accidentally collided with the British
pre-dreadnought battleship . It is not known if either ship suffered
any damage. During the cruise, Schmidt transferred to . On her return
to Germany in June, resumed her role as flagship, apart from during a
maintenance period from 10 to 26 August.
1905–1914
===========
In July, joined the rest of the fleet for a cruise in the North and
Baltic Seas, during which she ran aground but was not damaged. She
then participated in squadron exercises in the Baltic. In February
1906, she went on a training cruise to Denmark. The new armored
cruiser replaced as the squadron flagship in late March. in turn
replaced as the flagship of the deputy commander, (Commodore)
Raimund Winkler. She remained in this role until the new armored
cruiser took her place on 15 August. The autumn maneuvers of 1906
were conducted in Norwegian waters and the western Baltic. After the
maneuvers, 'FK' Franz Hipper took command of the ship. resumed her
role as the deputy commander flagship on 31 October when 'KzS' Eugen
Kalau vom Hofe came aboard the ship; she held the position until 5
March 1908. The year 1907 passed uneventfully for ; she briefly served
as the squadron flagship from 11 September to 28 October after
suffered an accident. went on a major training cruise into the
Atlantic Ocean in early 1908 and on her return to Wilhelmshaven was
decommissioned on 5 March for lengthy repairs.
On returning to service on 1 March 1909, 'KzS' Friedrich Schultz
assumed command of the ship, which was to be used as a torpedo test
ship. In this role, she replaced the protected cruiser ; Schultz was
also the commander of the Torpedo Testing Inspectorate. On 30 March,
was assigned to the temporary Training and Testing Ship Unit for
maneuvers off the island of Rügen in April. The unit was dissolved on
24 April, and from mid-August to early September, participated in the
autumn maneuvers as part of the Reconnaissance Group of the Reserve
Fleet. The years 1910 and 1911 followed a similar training routine to
that of 1909, and Schultz had been replaced by 'KzS' Ernst Ritter von
Mann und Edler von Tiechler as the ship's captain in September 1909
and by 'KAdm' Wilhelm von Lans as commander of the Torpedo Testing
Inspectorate on 19 December 1909. Tiechler was in turn replaced by
'FK' Andreas Michelsen in September 1911; he held the command until
the outbreak of World War I in July 1914.
In July 1911, conducted torpedo tests with the light cruiser in
Norwegian waters. The winter of 1911-1912 was particularly severe, and
in early 1912 was used to rescue merchant ships that had been trapped
in the iced-over Baltic. That year, the Training and Testing Ship Unit
was reactivated as the Training Squadron for exercises. 'KAdm'
Reinhard Koch replaced Lans on 1 October 1912 and kept as his
flagship. During the autumn maneuvers that year, was assigned to II
Scouting Group of what was now the High Seas Fleet. The training
routine in 1913 and the first half of 1914 followed the same pattern
as in previous years. On 6 April 1914, she ran aground off Swinemünde
but was pulled free without damage. During the Kiel Week sailing
regatta in July 1914, (Grand Admiral) Alfred von Tirpitz came aboard
to observe the festivities, which coincided with a visit from the
British 2nd Battle Squadron. During the visit, British ambassador
Edward Goschen visited Tirpitz aboard the ship, when news of the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrived. On 31 July, days
after Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia but before Germany
entered the war, went into drydock at the (Imperial Shipyard) in
Kiel for repairs in preparation for the coming conflict.
World War I
=============
On 28 August 1914, returned to service under the command of 'KzS' Max
Schlicht; he held the position for just two months before being
replaced by 'FK' Loesch. was assigned to the Cruiser Division of the
Baltic Sea, taking the place of the protected cruiser and becoming
the flagship of 'KAdm' Robert Mischke. In late September, the division
supported the laying of a defensive minefield off Langeland. The ship
was transferred to the unit commanded by 'KAdm' Ehler Behring, serving
as his flagship. At the time, the unit included the protected cruisers
, , and and the light cruisers , , and , along with attendant torpedo
boats and U-boats. The division was based in Neufahrwasser in Danzig.
took part in a sortie into the Gulf of Finland on 24 October to sweep
for Russian warships and British submarines that were operating in the
area, though the Germans failed to locate any hostile vessels. By this
time, the ship had been modified to carry seaplanes; she carried two
planes provisionally and had no permanent modifications made to
support them. On 30 October another patrol was carried out, again
without success.
In early November, was withdrawn for repairs, which were completed by
mid-month. In the meantime, the German naval command, which was aware
that British submarines were operating in the Baltic Sea, had ordered
Behring to attack the Russian port at Libau to prevent it being used
as a British submarine base. was assigned to the attack force, and
she left Memel on 16 November to bombard Russian positions around
Libau. At 01:46 on 17 November, while 33 nmi west of Memel, she struck
a naval mine that had been laid by Russian destroyers in October. The
ship's crew initially thought the shock of the explosion was from
striking a submarine; Loesch immediately altered course to return to
Memel, at which point she struck a second mine at 01:57. She began to
take on water, though she remained afloat for some time. At 6:20,
arrived on the scene and evacuated the crew, and was abandoned to
sink, which she did at 07:15. Seven or eight men died in the sinking.
License
=========
All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA
License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Friedrich_Carl