His Majesty's Amazone is the sixth ship of the ten light Gazelle class cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy . In 1899 it was laid on Germaniawerft in Kiel, launched in October 1900, became part of Gokhzeflott ( Open Sea Fleet ) in November 1901. It was armed with a main battery of ten 105 mm guns and two 45-meter torpedo tubes. Could reach speeds of 21.5 knots (39.8 km / h).
| Amazon | |
|---|---|
| SMS [~ 1] Amazone | |
 | |
| Service | |
  Germany | |
| Ship class and type | Armored cruiser "Gazelle" |
| Manufacturer | Germaniawerft , Kiel |
| Construction started | 1899 |
| Launched | October 6, 1900 |
| Commissioned | November 15, 1901 to 1931 |
| Removed from the fleet | March 31, 1931 |
| Status | cut into metal 1954 |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 3082 t |
| Length | 105.1 m 108.7 m (after modernization) |
| Width | 12.2 m |
| Draft | 4.84 m |
| Booking | Armored decks 20-25 mm |
| Engines | 2 three - cylinder steam engines |
| Power | 8 thousand hp (6 thousand kW) |
| Travel speed | 21.5 knots (39.8 km / h) |
| Navigation range | 6610 km at 10 knots |
| Crew | 14 officers 243 sailors |
| Armament | |
| Artillery | 10 × 105 mm SK L / 40 guns SK L / 45 (after upgrading) |
| Mine-torpedo armament | 2 × 450 mm torpedo tubes 2 × 500 mm torpedo tubes (after retrofit) |
In peacetime, he served in the intelligence forces of Gokhzeeflott. After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, it became a coastal defense ship. In 1916 he was disarmed and used as a training ship. In 1917 it was transformed into a floating barracks. After the war, he remained in the Reichsmarine and in 1920 returned to active service in the new German fleet. After 1931, he carried a support service and until the 1950s remained in service as a floating barracks. In 1954 it was cut into metal.
Description
Amazon was laid under the contract “F”, the hull was laid down at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in 1899. Launched on October 6, 1900, after which work began on the completion of the ship. November 15, 1901 became part of the Open Sea Fleet [1] . It was 104.8 m long, 12.2 m wide, had a draft of 5.12 m, a displacement of 3082 tons with a full combat load [2] . The propulsion system consisted of two three-cylinder machines designed for the development of power of 8 thousand horsepower (6 kW), the ship developed a speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km / h). Steam for the car was formed in nine coal water-tube boilers of the Schulz system. The cruiser could carry 560 tons of coal, which provided a cruising range of 3,560 nautical miles (6,590 km) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km / h). The crew of the cruiser consisted of 14 officers and 243 sailors [1] .
The armament of the cruiser consisted of ten 105 mm SK L / 40 quick-fire guns on single supports, Two guns were placed side by side, six along the sides, three on each side and two side by side on the stern. The total ammunition left 1000 shots, 100 shots per gun. The guns had a target range of 12,200 m. The ship was also armed with two 450 mm torpedo tubes with five torpedoes. The devices were installed in the hull of the vessel along the sides of the water [3] . The ship was protected by an armored deck with a thickness of 20 to 25 mm. The thickness of the walls of the cabin was 80 mm, the tools were protected by thin shields 50 mm thick [4] .
Service
After joining Gokhzeeflot, Amazon served as part of the fleet intelligence forces [3] . In 1902 he was assigned to the division of the cruisers of the 1st squadron of the German internal fleet. The division consisted of the armored cruiser " Prince Heinrich " (flagship), armored cruisers " Victoria-Louise " and " Freya " and light cruisers " Hela " and " Niobe " and participated in the fleet summer maneuvers in August-September 1902 [5] . In 1905, the ships of the class "Gazelle" " Ariadne " and " Medusa " replaced the "Helu" and "Niobe" [6] . Amazon continued to remain in the role of a scout until the beginning of World War I in August 1914, after its role it was reduced to a ship of coastal defense [3] .
On May 8, 1915, while patrolling Cape Arkona , Amazon was attacked by a British submarine E1. The submarine fired a torpedo from a distance of 1,100 meters but missed [7] . On September 9, another British submarine E18 also unsuccessfully attacked Amazon during the battle of the Gulf of Riga [8] .
In 1916, the Amazon was disarmed and used as a base training ship for naval cadets. The following year, she was transformed into a floating barracks and stood in Kiel until the end of the war. According to the Versailles Treaty of Germany was allowed to leave six light cruisers. Amazon has become part of the newly organized Reichsmarine. In 1921-23, the cruiser was upgraded at the Reichsmarine shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, its nose was redone by the type of clipper. Ten 105 mm guns of the SK L / 45 system on submarine-type supports and two 500 mm torpedo tubes on deck starters were installed [9] .
Amazon has served in the Reichsmarine from 1923 to 1930 [10] . In 1926, the corvette captain Alfred Saalwachter , the future admiral during the Second World War, took command of the ship [11] . March 31, 1931 "Amazon" was removed from the lists of the fleet. Later, the ship was used as a floating barracks for the commission for the acceptance of submarines in Kiel and then as a vessel to provide a group of submarines for control over the construction of ships. "Aamazone" survived the Second World War and after 1945 served as a floating barracks in Bremen. In 1954 the old cruiser was cut into metal in Hamburg [10] .
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Gröner, pp. 99-101
- ↑ Gröner, p. 100
- ↑ 1 2 3 Gröner, p. 101
- ↑ Gröner, p. 99
- ↑ Brassey, p. 155
- ↑ Courtney, p. 22
- ↑ Polmar & Noot, p. 39
- ↑ Polmar & Noot, p. 43
- ↑ Gröner, pp. 100–101
- ↑ 1 2 Gröner, p. 102
- ↑ Tucker, p. 639
- Comments
- ↑ him. Seiner Majestät Schiff Ship of His Majesty.
Literature
- Brassey's Naval Annual. - London: J. Griffin & Co., 1903.
- none // The Fortnightly Review / Courtney, WL. - London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1905. - T. LXXVII .
- Gröner, Erich. German Warships: 1815–1945. - Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990. - ISBN 0-87021-790-9 .
- Polmar, Norman. Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718–1990 / Norman Polmar, Jurrien Noot. - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991. - ISBN 0-87021-570-1 .
- Tucker, Spencer. World War II at Sea: An Encyclopedia. - Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. - ISBN 9781598844573 .