SMS ''Olga'' was the second member of the of steam
corvette
A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...
s built for the German ''
Kaiserliche Marine
{{italic title
The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control.
The term wa ...
'' (Imperial Navy) in the 1880s. Intended for service in the
German colonial empire
The German colonial empire (german: Deutsches Kolonialreich) constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies and territories of the German Empire. Unified in the early 1870s, the chancellor of this time period was Otto von Bismarck. Short-li ...
, the ship was designed with a combination of steam and sail power for extended range, and was equipped with a
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
of ten guns. ''Olga'' 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 ...
at the
AG Vulcan
Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin (short AG Vulcan Stettin) was a German shipbuilding and locomotive building company. Founded in 1851, it was located near the former eastern German city of Stettin, today Polish Szczecin. Because of the limited ...
in
Stettin
Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...
in 1879, she was
launched in December 1880, and she was completed in January 1882.
In the course of her career, ''Olga'' was sent abroad on three major deployments. The first, uneventful voyage came in 1882, and took the vessel to
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
n waters for a year and a half. During the cruise,
Prince Heinrich of Prussia
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...
served aboard the ship. The second cruise came shortly thereafter, when the German Admiralty sent her to the German colony of
Kamerun
Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern p ...
as part of the West African Squadron to suppress a rebellion against German rule. Her third cruise took place between 1885 and 1889, and saw the ship alternate between
German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
and
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
in the central
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. While in Samoa in 1889, ''Olga'' was badly damaged by
a powerful cyclone and was forced to leave the station for repairs.
From 1890, ''Olga'' saw limited service, in a variety of subsidiary roles. She was used as a
training ship
A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...
from 1893 to 1897, when she was transferred to the Fishery School. She conducted an extensive survey in
Spitzbergen
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
in 1898 before being decommissioned late in the year, to be converted into a gunnery training ship. She served in that capacity until 1905, when she was stricken from the
naval register
A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...
. ''Olga'' was sold for
scrap
Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...
the following year and was
broken up
Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
in 1908.
Design
The six ships of the ''Carola'' class were ordered in the late 1870s to supplement Germany's fleet of cruising warships, which at that time relied on several ships that were twenty years old. ''Olga'' and her
sister ship
A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...
s were intended to patrol
Germany's colonial empire and safeguard German economic interests around the world.
''Olga'' was
long overall
__NOTOC__
Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...
, with 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
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
of forward. She
displaced at
full load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. The ship's crew consisted of 10 officers and 265 enlisted men. She was powered by a single
double-expansion marine steam engine that drove one 2-bladed
screw propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
, with steam provided by eight coal-fired
fire-tube boiler
A fire-tube boiler is a type of boiler in which hot gases pass from a fire through one or more tubes running through a sealed container of water. The heat of the gases is transferred through the walls of the tubes by thermal conduction, heating t ...
s, which gave her a top speed of at . She had a cruising radius of at a speed of . As built, ''Olga'' was equipped with a three-masted
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...
rig, but this was later reduced.
''Olga'' was armed with a
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
of ten 22-
caliber
In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...
(cal.)
breech-loading
A breechloader is a firearm in which the user loads the ammunition (cartridge or shell) via the rear (breech) end of its barrel, as opposed to a muzzleloader, which loads ammunition via the front ( muzzle).
Modern firearms are generally breech ...
guns and two 24-cal. guns. She also carried six
Hotchkiss revolver cannon
The Hotchkiss gun can refer to different products of the Hotchkiss arms company starting in the late 19th century. It usually refers to the 1.65-inch (42 mm) light mountain gun; there were also a navy (47 mm) and a 3-inch (76&nbs ...
. Later in her career, her armament was reduced to two
SK L/30 guns and ten 3.7 cm
machine cannon of unrecorded type.
Service history
''Olga'' was ordered as ''
Ersatz
An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage.
Etymology
''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replacement ...
Augusta'', a replacement for the old corvette , in late 1878; the contract for her construction was awarded to
AG Vulcan Stettin
Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin (short AG Vulcan Stettin) was a German shipbuilding and locomotive building company. Founded in 1851, it was located near the former eastern German city of Stettin, today Polish Szczecin. Because of the limited ...
. Her
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
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 ...
there in 1879, and she was
launched on 11 December 1880. ''
Konteradmiral
''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to '' Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and ''Generalstabsarzt'' in the '' ...
'' (''KAdm''—Rear Admiral)
Carl Ferdinand Batsch Carl may refer to:
*Carl, Georgia, city in USA
*Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
*Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name
*Carl², a TV series
* "Carl", an episode of tel ...
gave the speech at her launching ceremony, where she was named for
Olga Nikolaevna of Russia
Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (11 September 1822 – 30 October 1892) was a member of the Russian imperial family who by marriage to Charles I of Württemberg became Queen consort of the Kingdom of Württemberg until Charles' death. ...
, the wife of
Charles I of Württemberg
Charles (german: Karl Friedrich Alexander; 6 March 18236 October 1891) was King of Württemberg, from 25 June 1864 until his death in 1891.
Early life
Charles was born on 6 March 1823 in Stuttgart as the son of King William I and his third wif ...
.
Sea trials
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 i ...
began in September 1881, and on 9 January 1882, ''Olga'' was pronounced ready for service.
First two deployments abroad
''Olga'' was assigned to the South America station on 1 October 1882; she left
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
on 14 October, with then-''
Leutnant zur See
''Leutnant zur See'' (''Lt zS'' or ''LZS'') is the lowest officer rank in the German Navy. It is grouped as OF1 in Ranks and insignia of officers of NATO Navies, NATO, equivalent to an Ensign (rank), Ensign in the United States Navy, and an Acti ...
''
Prince Heinrich of Prussia
A prince is a Monarch, male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary title, hereditary, in s ...
aboard as the ship's
watch officer
Watchkeeping or watchstanding is the assignment of sailors to specific roles on a ship to operate it continuously. These assignments, also known at sea as ''watches'', are constantly active as they are considered essential to the safe operation o ...
. Batsch—who had by now been promoted to ''
Vizeadmiral
(abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral.
Austria-Hungary
In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (also spelled ''Kont ...
'' (''VAdm''–Vice Admiral)—accompanied the vessel aboard the shipyard vessel ''Notus'' while she was still in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
. She stopped in
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, Britain, where Prince Heinrich visited his grandmother,
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
. Heavy storms delayed her departure from Plymouth until 23 October, and she arrived in
Bridgetown
Bridgetown (UN/LOCODE: BB BGI) is the capital and largest city of Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Island ...
, Barbados, on 3 December. ''Olga'' stayed in
Port of Spain
Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...
, Trinidad and Tobago, from 16 January 1883 to 11 February, and during this period, the ship's captain and Prince Heinrich chartered the steamship to explore the
Orinoco
The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...
river in Venezuela. ''Olga'' thereafter visited ports in Venezuela and Brazil. While in
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
, Emperor
Pedro II of Brazil
Don (honorific), Dom PedroII (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed "the Magnanimity, Magnanimous" ( pt, O Magnânimo), was the List of monarchs of Brazil, second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. ...
visited the ship.
''Olga'' began the voyage back to Germany on 5 January 1884, and on the way had to stop in Plymouth again due to storm damage. While the ship was under repair, Prince Heinrich again went to visit Queen Victoria in London, this time accompanied by
Georg Herbert Münster
Georg Herbert Fürst{{efn, {{German title Graf. His title was given as "The Count Munster" in the official British Government translations from the French of the treaties he signed at the Congress of Vienna (see for example Treaty between Prussia ...
, the German ambassador to Britain. While they were in
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
and
Victoria stations, bombs were placed under Prince Heinrich's seat, though both failed to explode. On reaching Kiel on 13 March, the ship was greeted by
Leo von Caprivi
Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli (English: ''Count George Leo of Caprivi, Caprara, and Montecuccoli''; born Georg Leo von Caprivi; 24 February 1831 – 6 February 1899) was a German general and statesman who served as the cha ...
, the Chief of the Admiralty, and Prince Heinrich's brother, Crown Prince
Wilhelm
Wilhelm may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm"
* Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname
Other uses
* Mount ...
, the former aboard the
ironclad
An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
and the latter aboard ''Notus''.
In August 1884, the Admiralty planned to use ''Olga'' for training purposes, but unrest in the German colony of
Kamerun
Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern p ...
necessitated the formation of a West African Squadron; they assigned ''Olga'' to the squadron, along with its
flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
, the corvette , and the corvettes and . ''Olga'' was accordingly commissioned on 1 October for service with the squadron, and she left
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
on 30 October. She anchored off
Douala
Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region (Cameroon), Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Ai ...
on 18 December in company with ''Bismarck''. The ships sent landing parties ashore and took part in battles with local forces in the town on 20 and 21 December. The ships' shallow draft allowed them to proceed upriver to provide gunfire support to the men fighting on land. Once the fighting ended, ''Olga'' conducted a survey of the
Wouri River
The Wouri (also Vouri or Vuri) is a river in Cameroon. Cameroon has two major rivers, the Sanaga, the longest at about 525 km (325 miles) long and the Wouri, the largest. The Wouri forms at the confluence of the rivers Nkam and Makombé, ...
. She was sent to
Togoland
Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 (29,867 sq mi) in size. During the period kno ...
to suppress unrest in that colony in early February 1885 before returning to Kamerun in mid-March. She was relieved by the
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-steam ...
on 2 April; at that point, she left western Africa and returned to Germany, arriving in Kiel on 25 May.
Third deployment abroad
After arriving, ''Olga'' went into the shipyard for a major overhaul. She then began her
training ship
A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...
duties, initially in German waters, and then in the training squadron with . This activity lasted until 14 September, when she was again assigned to the African station. This time, the squadron was sent to
German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
. ''Olga'' left Germany on 29 October and arrived in East African waters on 29 December, meeting ''Bismarck'', the flagship of ''KAdm''
Eduard von Knorr
Ernst Wilhelm Eduard von Knorr (8 March 1840 – 17 February 1920) was a German admiral of the Kaiserliche Marine who helped establish the German colonial empire.
Life
Born in Saarlouis, Rhenish Prussia, Knorr entered the Prussian Navy i ...
. Already on 9 February 1886, the squadron was ordered to leave Africa for the central
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. While there, ''Olga'' surveyed the coast of
New Mecklenburg independently from the rest of the squadron. The ships regrouped in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
on 23 July, where they underwent maintenance work. While cruising in East Asian waters later that year, Knorr received orders to take the squadron back to German East Africa.
The squadron arrived on 25 December, and ''Olga'' was tasked with patrolling the coast of
Wituland
Wituland (also Witu, Vitu, Witu Protectorate or Swahililand) was a territory of approximately in East Africa centered on the town of Witu just inland from Indian Ocean port of Lamu north of the mouth of the Tana River in what is now Kenya.
Hist ...
and raising the German flag in
Manda Bay (in what is now Kenya) in January 1887. She was also sent to force the extradition of the murderers of the German explorer
Karl Ludwig Jühlke
Karl Ludwig Jühlke (6 September 1856 - 1 December 1886) was a German empire, German :de:Liste von Afrikaforschern, explorer. He was a leading member of the team which in 1885 set the groundwork for creating the colony of German East Africa. H ...
, and transported the men from
Kismayo
Kismayo ( so, Kismaayo, Maay Maay, Maay: ''Kismanyy'', ar, كيسمايو, ; it, Chisimaio) is a port city in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region.
The cit ...
to
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...
. In early March 1887, the squadron left East Africa and went to
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
, South Africa, due to rising tensions between Germany and France. There, they awaited further orders that might come in the event of war between the two countries. After the situation calmed, the Admiralty sent the ships back to the Pacific on 7 May. They arrived in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
, Australia on 9 June; that day, ''Olga''s captain suddenly died and the executive officer took command of the vessel. While in Sydney, the ship went into the dry dock there for an overhaul.
![SMS Olga 1889](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/SMS_Olga_1889.jpg)
The work was completed by August, allowing the squadron to proceed to Samoa. They arrived in
Apia
Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...
on 19 August, and there, a new captain came aboard ''Olga''. She remained in Apia until 27 November, and thereafter went elsewhere in
German New Guinea
German New Guinea (german: Deutsch-Neu-Guinea) consisted of the northeastern part of the island of New Guinea and several nearby island groups and was the first part of the German colonial empire. The mainland part of the territory, called , ...
. In April 1888, she was replaced by the
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-steam ...
, allowing ''Olga'' to rejoin the squadron in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
, which she reached on 10 June. The squadron left Singapore on 26 June, bound for another tour in East Africa. In August, she went to several ports in the colony in support of the
German East Africa Company
The German East Africa Company (german: Deutsch-Ostafrikanische Gesellschaft, abbreviated DOAG) was a chartered colonial organization which brought about the establishment of German East Africa, a territory which eventually comprised the areas ...
and to survey the harbors. On 19 September, the Admiralty ordered ''Olga'' to return to Samoa, as tensions in the islands during the
Samoan Civil War
The turbulent decades of the late 19th century saw several conflicts between rival Samoan factions in the Samoan Islands of the Oceania, South Pacific. The political struggle lasted roughly between 1886 and 1894, primarily between Samoans contest ...
required the presence of a warship larger than a gunboat. While en route, she embarked the deposed King of Samoa,
Malietoa Laupepa
Susuga Malietoa Laupepa (1841 – 22 August 1898) was the ruler (Malietoa) of Samoa in the late 19th century.
Personal life
Laupepa was born in 1841 in Sapapali'i, Savai'i, Samoa. His father was Malietoa Mōli and mother was Fa’alaitaua Fua ...
, in
Aden
Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...
and carried him first to
Jaluit
Jaluit Atoll ( Marshallese: , , or , ) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is , and it encloses a lagoon with an area of . Most ...
in the
Marshall Islands
The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...
and then to Apia on 14 December.
There, she joined the gunboats ''Eber'' and . After German-run plantations at
Vailele
Vailele is a village situated on the central north coast of Upolu island in Samoa.
Vailele is in the electoral constituency (''faipule district'') of Vaimauga East in the larger political district of Tuamasaga.
The village is less than ten minu ...
were attacked by forces commanded by
Tupua Tamasese Titimaea, a rival to Laupepa, ''Olga'' and the gunboats sent landing parties ashore to defend the plantations. Four days later, they were attacked by Tamasese's forces; in the ensuing
First Battle of Vailele
During the first Samoan Civil War from 1888 to 1894 German warships shelled and destroyed a large amount of villages loyal to Mata'afa Iosefo. The Samoans were outraged leading to the First Battle of Vailele which occurred on 18 December 1888 at ...
, two officers and thirteen men from ''Olga'' were killed. The three ships remained in the area until the night of 15–16 March 1889, when
a major cyclone struck the island. ''Olga''s captain ran the ship aground to prevent her from being sunk, but ''Eber'' and ''Adler'' were destroyed in the storm. On 29 March, the
Norddeutscher Lloyd
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL; North German Lloyd) was a German shipping company. It was founded by Hermann Henrich Meier and Eduard Crüsemann in Bremen on 20 February 1857. It developed into one of the most important German shipping companies of th ...
steamer , with the help of Samoans, pulled ''Olga'' from the beach. Since ''Olga'' had lost all of her anchors, ''Lübeck'' escorted her to Sydney with the survivors from ''Eber'' and ''Adler'' aboard. Repair work lasted for two months, and on 20 June, she left for Germany. While on the way, she was accidentally rammed and lightly damaged by a British steamship in the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal ( arz, قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia. The long canal is a popular ...
. ''Olga'' reached Kiel on 9 September and proceeded on to the
''Kaiserliche Werft'' (Imperial Shipyard) in
Danzig for further repairs.
Training ship
![Sms olga 1902](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/Sms_olga_1902.jpg)
The Admiralty thereafter decided to employ ''Olga'' as a training ship. Her rigging was reduced and she was assigned to the North Sea Naval Station in 1891. ''Olga'' was activated for training duties for the first time on 25 July 1893 to take part in divisional exercises with the rest of the fleet that were held every year. These maneuvers concluded on 30 September, after which she was again
laid up
A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...
in Wilhelmshaven. On 31 March 1897, ''Olga'' was reclassified as a third class cruiser, and she was transferred to the Fisheries School in November to replace the old aviso , which had recently been decommissioned temporarily. During this period, she housed the school during the winter months. After ''Zieten'' returned to service on 29 March 1898, the two ships operated together in the North Sea. They cruised in the southern North Sea in April and May that year, returning to Wilhelmshaven on 9 May.
''Olga'' participated in a scientific cruise to the
Spitzbergen
Svalbard ( , ), also known as Spitsbergen, or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it is about midway between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole. The islands of the group range ...
archipelago with a group of experts from the German Sea Fishing Association. She left Wilhelmshaven on 22 June and arrived off
Bären island in early July. She surveyed the island from 4 to 7 July and gathered
sounding measurements around the coast, and thereafter worked north of the island. ''Olga'' returned to Germany on 28 August. Her presence in the archipelago caused a sensation in Russia, and the
Russian Navy sent a
cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles.
The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...
there in July to claim the islands for Russia.
''Olga'' returned to fishery protection service in the North Sea on 4 October, though this was interrupted later that month by a training cruise to
Vigo
Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...
, Spain. On 30 November, after having returned to Germany, she was decommissioned. She was transferred to the gunnery training school in 1900, and she was converted in the
''Kaiserliche Werft'' in Wilhelmshaven for that purpose. She received a new
battery
Battery most often refers to:
* Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power
* Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact
Battery may also refer to:
Energy source
*Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...
of two 8.8 cm guns and ten 3.7 cm machine cannon. She remained in service in this role until February 1905, when she was replaced by the
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 thi ...
. During her service as a gunnery training ship, she took part in the annual fleet maneuvers in August and September 1904. ''Olga'' was stricken from the
naval register
A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...
on 29 March 1905, sold the following year, and
broken up
Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
for
scrap
Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...
in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
in 1908.
Notes
References
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Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Olga
Carola-class corvettes
1880 ships
Ships built in Stettin
Maritime incidents in March 1889