SMS Elisabeth
 Sketch of Elisabeth
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} Prussia | |
| Name | SMS Elisabeth |
| Builder | Königliche Werft, Danzig |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Arcona-class frigate |
| Displacement | 2,504 t (2,464 long tons) |
| Length | 79.3 m (260 ft 2 in) |
| Beam | 13.2 m (43 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
| Speed | 12.1 knots (22.4 km/h; 13.9 mph) |
| Range | 1,900 nmi (3,500 km; 2,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament | 28 × 68-pounder guns |
SMS Elisabeth was a member of the Arcona class of steam frigates built for the Prussian Navy in the 1860s. The class comprised five ships, and were the first major steam-powered warships ordered for the Prussian Navy.
Design
[edit]In the immediate aftermath of the First Schleswig War against Denmark, Prince Adalbert began drawing up plans for the future of the Prussian Navy; he also secured the Jade Treaty that saw the port of Wilhelmshaven transferred to Prussia from the Duchy of Oldenburg, and which provided the Prussian fleet with an outlet on the North Sea. Adalbert called for a force of three screw frigates and six screw corvettes to protect Prussian maritime trade in the event of another war with Denmark. Design work was carried out between 1854 and 1855, and the first two ships were authorized in November 1855; a further pair was ordered in June 1860, and the final member of the class was ordered in February 1866.[1][2]
Elisabeth was 79.3 meters (260 ft 2 in) long overall and had a beam of 13.2 m (43 ft 4 in) and a draft of 5.5 m (18 ft 1 in) forward. She displaced 2,454 metric tons (2,415 long tons) as designed and 2,912 t (2,866 long tons) at full load. The ship had short forecastle and sterncastle decks. Her superstructure consisted primarily of a small deckhouse aft. She had a crew of 35 officers and 345 enlisted men.[3]
Her propulsion system consisted of a single horizontal single-expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-burning fire-tube boilers. Exhaust was vented through a single funnel located amidships. Elisabeth was rated to steam at a top speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph), but she significantly exceeded this speed, reaching 12.1 knots (22.4 km/h; 13.9 mph) from 2,440 metric horsepower (2,410 ihp). The ship had a cruising radius of about 1,900 nautical miles (3,500 km; 2,200 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). To supplement the steam engine on long voyages abroad, she carried a full-ship rig with a total surface area of 2,200 m2 (24,000 sq ft).[3] The screw could be retracted while cruising under sail.[4]
Elisabeth was armed with a battery of twenty-eight 68-pounder guns. By 1869, she had been rearmed with a battery of seventeen 15 cm (5.9 in) K L/22 guns.[3]
Service history
[edit]
The keel for Elisabeth was laid down at the Königliche Werft (Royal Dockyard) in Danzig in 1866. She was launched on 18 October 1868. After completing fitting out work, she was commissioned into active service on 29 September 1869.[5]
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. 3. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0211-4.
- 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 (2022). Wright, Christopher C. (ed.). "From "Wooden Walls" to "New-Testament Ships": The Development of the German Armored Cruiser 1854–1918, Part I: "Humble Beginnings"". Warship International. LIX (2): 102–129. ISSN 0043-0374.
- Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.