Bussard Cruisers

Bussard-class cruisers were designed to serve abroad in German colonial possessions and were more advanced than previous armored Schwalbe- type cruisers . The design of the Bussards was developed in 1888. The ships were much larger and faster than the Schwalbe type cruisers, nevertheless they carried the same number of guns, although only one Bussard carried the same type of guns, the rest were equipped with newer rapid-fire guns ^{[1] [2]} . The Bussard type was the last series of cruisers of the German Kaiserlichmarine equipped with sailing weapons , the subsequent armless cruiser Gefion was driven exclusively by steam ^[3] .

General Features

Ships of the Bussard type differed in their characteristics. The first two: Bussard and Falk were 79.62 meters long along the waterline , and the total length of the 82.6 m. Their width was 12.5 m, draft - 4.45 inland and 5.63 m in the stern. The displacement of ships was 1559 tons under the project, with a full combat load, the displacement was 1868 tons. The following three ships: the Seeadler, Cormoran, and Condor, were 79.62 meters long along the waterline and had the same total length as earlier ships of this type. Their width was 12.7 m, draft - 4.42 in front and 5.35 m in the stern. The design displacement of the ships was 1612 tons, with a full combat load, the displacement was 1864 tons. The last Geyer ship had a waterline length of 79.62 m, a maximum length of 83.9 m, a width of 10.6 m and a draft of 4.74 bow and 5.22 m stern ^[4] .

Cruiser hulls transverse steel set, yellow deck formwork of the upper deck. The body was covered with a covering made of a layer of Muntz metal to protect the tree from a sea ​​worm . The stem and stern post were built of steel and wood. A bronze ram was mounted on the nose. The case was divided into ten waterproof compartments. There was a double bottom under the boiler compartments. The ships had a good move, but badly rolled along the waves, sponsons for the main guns caused a strong vibration. On the Geyer, which was laid down after the commissioning of the remaining five ships, the sponsons were liquidated and the cruiser did not suffer from vibrations. The ships were highly maneuverable, with the exception of turns under the wind at low speed. The crew of cruisers consisted of 9 officers and 152 sailors. The ships were equipped with the following boats: one picket boat, one cutter , two skiffs and two boats ^[4] .

Power plant

The power plant of cruisers of this type consisted of two horizontal three - cylinder steam engines powered by four cylindrical coal boilers. Machines could theoretically develop power up to 2800 horsepower (2100 kW) and were installed in separate engine rooms . The machines powered a pair of 3-blade propellers with a diameter of 3 meters. The boilers were located in two boiler rooms, chimneys went into one pipe. The ships were additionally equipped with sailing armaments of the barquentines , the total area of ​​the sails ranged from 856 to 877 m². Management was carried out by one ship steering wheel . Each ship was equipped with two electric generators with a total capacity of 24 kW, voltage of 67 volts ^[4] .

The power plant gave the ship the opportunity to reach a maximum speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km / h), although all six ships of this type exceeded the estimated speed on sea trials, developing from 15.7 to 16.9 knots (from 29.1 up to 31.3 km / h). Ships could carry from 170 to 205 tons of coal. Thanks to additional bunkers, the capacity could be increased to 305-320 tons of coal. This exceeded the cruising range to 2990 - 3610 nautical miles (5540 - 6690 km) on the move 9 knots ^[4] .

Armament

The first ship of this type was armed with eight 105-mm KL / 35 non-firing guns on single pedestals; the total ammunition left 800 shots. The guns were hit at 8,200 m. Five subsequent ships of this type were equipped with newer 105 mm SK-L / 35 quick-firing guns. Two guns were placed side by side on the bow, two on each side in sponsons and two aft. There were no sponsors on the Geyer cruiser; a pair of airborne guns was simply mounted on the upper deck. The armament of the cruisers was strengthened by five revolving guns ^[2] . The first five ships were armed with two 350 mm deck torpedo tubes . On the cruiser "Geyer" were installed torpedo tubes of larger caliber - 450 mm. Each ship carried five torpedoes ^[4] .

All six ships of this type spent most of their service abroad, mainly in German colonial possessions off the coast of Africa and the Pacific Ocean. The Seeadler in March 1893, together with the armored cruiser Kaiserin Augusta , paid a visit to the United States to take part in the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus sailing across the Atlantic ^[6] . In July of that year, the Bussard and Falk, assigned to the East Asian squadron , took part in the suppression of the rebellion raised by Mataafa Josefo Samoa acting together with the British corvette ^[7] . In the 1890s, Seeadler was in German colonies in eastern and southwestern Africa , suppressing local uprisings there ^[8] .

In November 1897, “Cormoran” took part in the capture of a concession in the Jiao-Zhou Bay of the Shandong Peninsula of Qing China ^[9] . "Geyer" in 1898 was present in the Caribbean during the Spanish-American War , but did not take an active part in the conflict ^[10] . Between 1898 and 1900, the Bussard and Seeadler underwent modernization in Germany ^[4] . From 1898 to 1900, the Seeadler took part in the suppression of the Ihe-Tuan uprising , and also carried out the blockade of the Chinese coast ^[11] . In December 1902, the Falk and the armored cruiser Vineta joined the British forces during the Venezuelan crisis of 1902-1903 , after the Venezuelan authorities seized the British merchant ship. Two German cruisers fired at the coastal fortifications of Venezuela and blocked the coast ^[12] .

From 1907 to 1909, Cormoran and Geyer underwent modernization. Of the ships of this type, only the Falk and the Condor never returned for major repairs at the docks ^[4] . In January 1911, the Condor and Cormoran, together with the light cruiser Leipzig, participated in the suppression of the Sokekh uprising in the Caroline Islands ^[13] . In 1912, with the outbreak of the Second Balkan War , Geyer was based in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to observe military operations ^[14] . On October 25, 1912, Bussard and Falk were removed from the naval register and the following year they were disassembled for metal in Hamburg and at the Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig, respectively ^[5] .

With the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the Seeadler was converted into a mine block in Wilhelmshaven. In April 1917, a spontaneous explosion occurred that destroyed the ship; the hull was never raised. The Condor also served as a mineblock in Kiel, he survived the war and in 1921 was disassembled for metal in Hamburg. The "Cormoran", still in Qingdao, was flooded in the bay due to the poor condition of the vehicles ^[15] . After the outbreak of the war, Geyer took action against British merchant shipping in the Pacific. In October, he ran out of coal and was cut off from any sources of supply, so he went to Hawaii , where he was interned by the US Navy. After the United States declared war on Germany on April 6, 1917, the cruiser was captured and entered into the US Navy under the name USS Schurz and served as an escort ship. In June 1918, the ship sank as a result of a collision with a merchant ship ^[1] .

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