SMS Wespe (1876)
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mücke |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 46.4 m (152 ft) |
| Beam | 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 3.2 to 3.4 m (10 ft 6 in to 11 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power | 800 PS (790 ihp) |
| Propulsion | 2 × double-expansion steam engines |
| Speed | 10.4 kn (19.3 km/h; 12.0 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | 1 × 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun |
SMS Wespe was the lead ship of the Wespe class of ironclad gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s.
Design
Wespe was 46.4 meters (152 ft) long overall, with a beam of 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in) and a draft of 3.2 to 3.4 m (10 to 11 ft). She displaced 1,098 metric tons (1,081 long tons) as designed and 1,163 t (1,145 long tons) at full load. The ship's crew consisted of 3 officers and 73 to 85 enlisted men. She was powered by a pair of double-expansion steam engines that drove a pair of 4-bladed screw propeller, with steam provided by four coal-fired cylindrical boilers, which gave her a top speed of 10.4 knots (19.3 km/h; 12.0 mph) at 800 metric horsepower (790 ihp). At a cruising speed of 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph), she could steam for 700 nautical miles (1,300 km; 810 mi).[1]
The ship was armed with one 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun in a barbette mount that had a limited arc of traverse. The armored barbette was protected by 203 mm (8 in) of wrought iron, backed with 210 mm (8.3 in) of teak. The ship was fitted with a waterline armor belt that was 102 to 203 mm (4 to 8 in) thick, with the thickest section protecting the propulsion machinery spaces and ammunition magazine. The belt was backed with 210 mm of teak. An armor deck that consisted of two layers of 22 mm (0.87 in) of iron on 28 mm (1.1 in) of teak provided additional protection against enemy fire.[1][2]
Service history
The keel for Wespe was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in May 1875, and she was launched on 6 July 1876. Work on the ship was completed later that year, and she was moved to Wilhelmshaven to have her gun installed, along with other fitting-out work. The ship was commissioned into active service on 26 November. She then began initial sea trials, which lasted until 9 February 1877. Next, she conducted test firings of her gun in the Schillig roadstead from 24 March to 9 April. Wespe was thereafter laid up in reserve.[1][3]
Wespe next recommissioned on 20 September 1880, under the command of Kapitänleutnant (Captain Lieutenant) Fritz Rötger. She conducted training operations with her sister ship Crocodill, before being decommissioned again on 15 October. The following year, she was recommissioned on 20 September to train cohorts of sailors to man her sisters that had been completed that year. The work lasted until 17 October, when she was decommissioned again for the winter. In 1882, the German government considered activating Wespe and some of her sisters to send them to an international naval demonstration to protest the Anglo-Egyptian War, but they were not activated for that purpose.[3]
By 1883, the ship had been refitted with an additional 8.7 cm (3.4 in) L/24 built-up guns, a pair of machine guns, and two 35 cm (14 in) torpedo tubes in her bow, both of which were above the waterline.[4]
Wespe was struck from the naval register on 28 June 1909. She was sold the following year in Düsseldorf, and was thereafter used as a barge. Her ultimate fate is unknown.[4]
Notes
References
- 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. 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.