SMS Greif (1914)
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SMS Greif (1914)
SMS ''Greif'' was a German cargo steamship that was converted into a merchant raider for the Imperial German Navy. Construction and conversion Built as ''Guben'', she was a steel-hulled ship owned by the German-Australian Line (DADG), Hamburg. She was converted for naval service at Kaiserliche Werft Kiel in 1915 and commissioned as ''Greif'' on 23 January 1916. Service history ''Greif'' sailed from the Elbe port of Cuxhaven on 27 February 1916Poole (July 1975) pp. 52–57 under the command of ''Fregattenkapitän'' Rudolf Tietze (born 13 September 1874, previously was commander of the battleship ).Schmalenbach (1977) p.16 The Royal Navy had learned of ''Greif''s sailing and was waiting in the North Sea.Schmalenbach (1977) p.34 Action of 29 February 1916 ''Greif'' was disguised as the Norwegian ''Rena'' bound for Tønsberg, Norway, when intercepted by the armed merchant cruiser on the morning of 29 February 1916. ''Alcantara'' closed to and slowed to lower a boarding cutter ...
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Action Of 29 February 1916
The action of 29 February 1916 was a naval engagement fought during the First World War between the United Kingdom and the German Empire. , a German commerce raider, broke out into the North Sea and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe dispatched Royal Navy warships to intercept the raider. Four British vessels intercepted the commerce raider ''Greif''. The armed merchant cruiser and ''Greif'' fought a brief engagement before British reinforcements arrived when both were severely damaged, both being sunk. Background In April 1915 the Admiralty requisitioned ''Alcantara'' and the other "A-series" ships , and as armed merchant cruisers. ''Alcantara'' was armed with six guns, anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. On 17 April at Liverpool she was commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron as HMS ''Alcantara''. ''Arlanza'' and ''Andes'' were also commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron, which joined the Northern Patrol, part of the Blockade of Germany. The Squadron patrolled ab ...
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Fregattenkapitän
Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' (OF-4) is “Herr/Frau Fregattenkapitän“. However, following German naval tradition the “Fregattenkapitän“ is usually addressed as „Herr/Frau Kapitän“ or in seamen's language as „Herr/Frau Kap'tän“. Rank Insignia and Rating Rank insignia ''Fregattenkapitän'', worn on the sleeves and shoulders, are one five-pointed star above three stripes and a half stripe between stripe two and one (or rings on sleeves; without the star when rank loops are worn). The rank is rated OF-4 in NATO, and is equivalent to Oberstleutnant in Heer, and Luftwaffe. It is domiciled at the A14 and A15 pay scale of the Federal Ministry of Defence and is senior to the rank of Korvettenkapitän (NATO OF-3 - ''Commander Junior Grade''). It is of note ...
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Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in 1885 by Fernando Villaamil for the Spanish NavySmith, Charles Edgar: ''A short history of naval and marine engineering.'' Babcock & Wilcox, ltd. at the University Press, 1937, page 263 as a defense against torpedo boats, and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these "torpedo boat destroyers" (TBDs) were "large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats". Although the term "destroyer" had been used interchangeably with "TBD" and "torpedo boat destroyer" by navies since 1892, the term "torpedo boat destroyer" had been generally shortened to simply "destroyer" by nearly all navies by the First World War. Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended o ...
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Admiralty M-class Destroyer
The M class, more properly known as the Admiralty M class, were a class of 85 destroyers built for the Royal Navy of United Kingdom that saw service during World War I. All ships were built to an identical – Admiralty – design, hence the class name. 18 other vessels which were officially included within the 'M' class were built to variant designs by three specialist builders – 10 by Yarrow, 6 by Thornycroft (who also built another 6 to the standard Admiralty design), and 2 by Hawthorn Leslie; these are covered in other articles. The Admiralty design was based on the preceding L class but modified to produce an increase in speed by approximately . All ships built to the Admiralty design had three identical narrow, circular funnels (this did not apply to the 18 ships built by the specialist yards). Ships of the pre-war (1913–14) Programme Six vessels were built under the 1913–14 Naval Programme. These differed from the wartime vessels by being 1,010 tons full load, with ...
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Light Cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, possessing armored decks only. While lighter and smaller than other contemporary ships they were still true cruisers, retaining the extended radius of action and self-sufficiency to act independently around the world. Through their history they served in a variety of roles, primarily as convoy escorts and destroyer command ships, but also as scouts and fleet support vessels for battle fleets. Origins and development The first small steam-powered cruisers were built for the British Royal Navy with HMS ''Mercury'' launched in 1878. Such second and third class protected cruisers evolved, gradually becoming faster, better armed and better protected. Germany took a lead in small crui ...
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Shell (projectile)
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage sometimes includes large solid kinetic projectiles that is properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used. All explosive- and incendiary-filled projectiles, particularly for mortars, were originally called ''grenades'', derived from the French word for pomegranate, so called because of the similarity of shape and that the multi-seeded fruit resembles the powder-filled, fragmentizing bomb. Words cognate with ''grenade'' are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages. Shells are usually large-caliber projectiles fired by artillery, armored fighting vehicles (e.g. tanks, assault guns, and mortar carriers), warships, and autocannons. The shape ...
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Port And Starboard
Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are mirror images of each other. One asymmetric feature is where access to a boat, ship, or aircraft is at the side, it is usually only on the port side (hence the name). Side Port and starboard unambiguously refer to the left and right side of the vessel, not the observer. That is, the port side of the vessel always refers to the same portion of the vessel's structure, and does not depend on which way the observer is facing. The port side is the side of the vessel which is to the left of an observer aboard the vessel and , that is, facing forward towards the direction the vehicle is heading when underway, and starboard side is to the right of such an observer. This convention allows orders and information to be given unambiguously, withou ...
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Torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such a device was called an automotive, automobile, locomotive, or fish torpedo; colloquially a ''fish''. The term ''torpedo'' originally applied to a variety of devices, most of which would today be called naval mine, mines. From about 1900, ''torpedo'' has been used strictly to designate a self-propelled underwater explosive device. While the 19th-century battleship had evolved primarily with a view to engagements between armored warships with naval artillery, large-caliber guns, the invention and refinement of torpedoes from the 1860s onwards allowed small torpedo boats and other lighter surface combatant , surface vessels, submarines/submersibles, even improvised fishing boats or frogmen, and later light aircraft, to destroy large shi ...
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Cutter (boat)
A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or border force cutter), to a type of ship's boat which can be used under sail or oars, or, historically, to a type of fast-sailing vessel introduced in the 18th century, some of which were used as small warships. As a sailing rig, a cutter is a single-masted boat, with two or more headsails. On the eastern side of the Atlantic, the two headsails on a single mast is the fullest extent of the modern definition. In U.S. waters, a greater level of complexity applies, with the placement of the mast and the rigging details of the bowsprit taken into account so a boat with two headsails may be classed as a sloop. Government agencies use the term "cutter" for vessels employed in patrolling their territorial waters and other enforcement activities. Th ...
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Armed Merchant Cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade. In more modern times, auxiliary cruisers were used offensively as merchant raiders to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany. While armed merchantmen are clearly inferior to purpose-built warships, sometimes they have scored successes in combat against them. Examples include East Indiamen mimicking ships of the line and chasing off regular French warships in the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804, and the sinking the Australian light cruiser in their battle in 1941, although ''Kormoran'' was also destroyed and had to be scuttled. Pre-20th century East Indiamen of various European countries were heavily armed for their long journeys to the Far East. In part ...
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Tønsberg
Tønsberg , historically Tunsberg, is a city and municipality in Vestfold og Telemark county, eastern Norway, located around south-southwest of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near its mouth onto the Skagerrak. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg. The city is the most populous metropolis in the district of Vestfold with a population of 52,419 in 2019. The municipality has a population of 56,293 and covers an area of in 2020. Tønsberg also serves as the seat for the County Governor of Vestfold og Telemark. Tønsberg is generally regarded as the oldest city in Norway, founded by Vikings in the 9th century. Tønsberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). The rural municipality of Sem was merged into the municipality of Tønsberg on 1 January 1988. The neighboring municipality of Re was merged into Tønsberg on 1 January 2020. It is home to Tønsberg Fortress on Castle Mountain, which incl ...
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Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of Norway. Bouvet Island, located in the Subantarctic, is a dependency of Norway; it also lays claims to the Antarctic territories of Peter I Island and Queen Maud Land. The capital and largest city in Norway is Oslo. Norway has a total area of and had a population of 5,425,270 in January 2022. The country shares a long eastern border with Sweden at a length of . It is bordered by Finland and Russia to the northeast and the Skagerrak strait to the south, on the other side of which are Denmark and the United Kingdom. Norway has an extensive coastline, facing the North Atlantic Ocean and the Barents Sea. The maritime influence dominates Norway's climate, with mild lowland temperatures on the se ...
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