''Rolf Krake'' was a Danish turret ironclad built in Scotland during the 1860s. The vessel was designed by

Cowper Phipps Coles Captain Cowper Phipps Coles, C.B., R.N. (1819 – 7 September 1870), was an English naval captain with the Royal Navy. Coles was also an inventor; in 1859, he was the first to patent a design for a revolving gun turret. Upon appealing for public ...

, a pioneering naval architect, and was the first warship of any navy to carry a

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

of the type designed by Coles. She was the first all-iron, steam-powered vessel acquired by

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Design and description

''Rolf Krake'' was ordered in 1862 as tensions rose between Prussia and Denmark over the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in the early 1860s.Putnam, p. 57 The ship had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , and a

draft (ship) The draft or draught of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull (keel). The draught of the vessel is the maximum depth of any part of the vessel, including appendages such as rudders, propellers a ...

of . She displaced and her crew consisted of 140 officers and ratings.Silverstone, p. 55 Hinged bulwarks were fitted to improve ''Rolf Krake''s

seakeeping Seakeeping ability or seaworthiness is a measure of how well-suited a watercraft is to conditions when underway. A ship or boat which has good seakeeping ability is said to be very seaworthy and is able to operate effectively even in high sea stat ...

abilities. She was equipped with a beak-shaped

ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

at the bow.Putnam, p. 59 The ship had one direct-acting steam engine that drove a single propeller, using steam provided by two

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

s. The engine produced a total of which gave her a maximum speed of during her

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in mid-1863.Putnam, p. 60 ''Rolf Krake'' carried of coal,Chesneau & Kolesnik, p. 365 enough to steam at . She was

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...

-rigged with three masts. ''Rolf Krake'' was initially armed with four Swedish-built

68-pounder The 68-pounder cannon was an artillery piece designed and used by the British Armed Forces in the mid-19th century. The cannon was a smoothbore muzzle-loading gun manufactured in several weights, the most common being , and fired projectiles of ...

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without signi ...

guns, one pair in each

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

. The hand-operated turrets took a crew of 18 men one minute to complete a full revolution. The ship had a complete

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

belt Belt may refer to: Apparel * Belt (clothing), a leather or fabric band worn around the waist * Championship belt, a type of trophy used primarily in combat sports * Colored belts, such as a black belt or red belt, worn by martial arts practit ...

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...

that was thick. It completely covered the hull from the upper deck to below the waterline and was backed by of wood. The armour protection of the turrets was quite elaborate. The inside of the turret was lined with of iron boiler plate to which T-shaped beams were bolted. The space between the beams was filled with of wood. This was covered by an iron

lattice Lattice may refer to: Arts and design * Latticework, an ornamental criss-crossed framework, an arrangement of crossing laths or other thin strips of material * Lattice (music), an organized grid model of pitch ratios * Lattice (pastry), an orna ...

thick that was covered in turn by of wood. The 4.5-inch iron plates were bolted to the outside using bolts that ran through to the interior iron "skin". The area around the gun ports was reinforced by plates to give a total thickness of 8 inches. The

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was protected by 4.5 inches of iron backed by of wood. One of the ship's major weaknesses was that the deck was virtually unprotected, consisting only of of sheet iron covered by of wood.

Construction and career

The Danes signed the contract with

Robert Napier and Sons Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of River Clyde, Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, City of Glasgow, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier (engineer), Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. Hi ...

for ''Rolf Krake'' named after Rolf Krake, a hero of Danish saga, on 28 August 1862. She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

later that year, launched on 6 May 1863, and commissioned upon her arrival in Denmark in July. Following her commissioning, ''Rolf Krake'' engaged in sea trials from 18 July to 20 August 1863.Putnam, pp. 57, 60 She saw service in the

Second War of Schleswig The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

Notes

References

* * *

External links

ROLF KRAKE (1863–1907)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolf Krake Ironclad warships of the Royal Danish Navy 1863 ships Ships built in Govan