Wolf-class gunboat
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Otter |
| Succeeded by | Habicht class |
| Completed | 3 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | 570 t (560 long tons) |
| Length | 47.2 m (154 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 7.66 m (25 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 1 × Marine steam engine |
| Speed | 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) |
| Range | 1,640 nmi (3,040 km; 1,890 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
The Wolf class of steam gunboats comprised three ships: Wolf, Hyäne, and Iltis, which were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s.
Design
[edit]German economic activity in Qing China in the 1870s faced significant threats from piracy and resistance from local officials, so the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) stationed warships in East Asia to protect its trade interests. At the same time, the old Jäger-class gunboats that had been ordered in 1859 needed to be replaced. The two Albatross-class gunboats and the rebuilt Cyclop were too few for the task of patrolling the Far East, so another three vessels were ordered according to the fleet plan that had been approved in 1872. The design for the new ships was completed in 1876, and it called for reusing the engines from three of the Camäleon-class gunboats that had also been ordered in the 1859 plan. These three ships became the Wolf class.[1][2]
Unlike the earlier German gunboats, which were entirely of wood construction, the Wolf class would be built with iron. The designers considered copper sheathing for the hulls of the new ships, since the gunboats were intended to serve abroad, and the sheathing would have protected the hulls from marine biofouling. But they ultimately decided against it, fearing that the iron hull and copper plating would cause galvanic corrosion.[2] The three gunboats were nevertheless used extensively abroad to support the fleet's larger cruising screw corvettes and screw frigates.[3]
Characteristics
[edit]
The ships of the Wolf class were 44.5 meters (146 ft) long at the waterline and 47.2 m (154 ft 10 in) long overall, with a beam of 7.66 m (25 ft 2 in). They had a draft of 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) forward, which increased slightly to 3.4 m (11 ft 2 in) aft. They displaced 490 metric tons (480 long tons) as designed and 570 t (560 long tons) at full load. Their hull was constructed with transverse iron frames and timber hull and deck planks, and was divided into six watertight compartments. The ships had a raised forecastle and sterncastle decks, and minimal superstructure.[4][5]
Steering was controlled by a single rudder. The ships handled and maneuvered well, but pitched and rolled severely. They handled well under sail, but had difficulty making forward progress in a head sea. For Wolf and Iltis, their crew consisted of 5 officers and 80 enlisted men, while Hyäne was manned by 5 officers and 101 enlisted sailors. Each vessel carried a number of small boats, including one pinnace, two cutters, one yawl, and one dinghy.[4][5]
They were powered by a marine steam engine that drove a 2-bladed screw propeller that was 2.53 m (8 ft 4 in) wide, which could be retracted while the ships were operating under sail. Steam was provided by two coal-fired trunk fire-tube boilers that were vented through a single funnel. The engines were taken from the older Camäleon-class gunboats Blitz, Basilisk, and Delphin. Their propulsion system was rated to produce a top speed of 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) at 340 metric horsepower (340 ihp), but they reached 9.2 to 9.9 knots (17.0 to 18.3 km/h; 10.6 to 11.4 mph) in service. They could store 95 to 112 t (93 to 110 long tons; 105 to 123 short tons) of coal for the boilers. At a cruising speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph), they could steam for 1,640 nautical miles (3,040 km; 1,890 mi). To supplement the steam engine on long voyages, the ships were fitted with a barque sailing rig with a total surface area of 541 m2 (5,820 sq ft).[4][5]
The ships were armed with a pair of 12.5 cm (4.9 in) K L/23 built-up guns, which were supplied with a total of 270 rounds of ammunition. These guns had a range of 5,200 m (5,700 yd). The Wolf-class ships carried an additional pair of 8.7 cm (3.4 in) K L/24 built up guns, which were supplied with 200 rounds of ammunition. Three 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon rounded out the armament.[4][5]
Modifications
[edit]
Wolf and Hyäne received new boilers in 1885 and 1888, respectively. At some point in their careers, all three ships had their sailing rig cut down to a schooner barque rig, with a total area of 290 m2 (3,100 sq ft), and eventually, Hyäne had only auxiliary sails. Wolf was later rearmed, losing both of her 12.5 cm guns and one of the 8.7 cm pieces, with ammunition storage for the remaining gun reduced to 113 shells. One of her Hotchkiss revolvers was also removed. In place of these removed weapons, she received a 5 cm (2 in) SK L/40 quick-firing gun, supplied with 250 rounds of ammunition. In 1897, Hyäne was disarmed altogether.[4][5]
Ships
[edit]| Ship | Builder[4] | Laid down[4] | Launched[4] | Commissioned[4] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf | Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven | 1876 | 21 March 1878 | 1 October 1878 |
| Hyäne | 27 June 1878 | 7 September 1879[6] | ||
| Iltis | Königlich Werft, Danzig | 1877 | 18 September 1878 | 2 March 1880 |
Service history
[edit]
Iltis sank in a typhoon while cruising in the Yellow Sea on 23 July 1896.[4][5] Fatality figures vary; out of a crew of 82, 71 died according to Nottelmann,[7] but Gröner states that 76 men died in the sinking.[4]
Wolf was struck from the naval register on 3 February 1906 and thereafter converted into a repair ship based at Danzig. She served in this capacity until after World War I, and was sold to ship breakers on 26 April 1919.[4]
Hyäne was converted into a survey ship in 1898, and after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she was stationed as a guard ship on the Eider river. In May 1916, she returned to surveying duties. After the war, she was struck from the register on 7 April 1920, after having already been sold to a merchant shipping company on 15 July 1919. Renamed Seewolf, she served as a commercial vessel until 2 May 1924, when her cargo caught fire in Dieppe, France. She sank in the harbor, but was later raised and scrapped.[4]
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. 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. 8. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag.
- 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.