SMS Prinzess Wilhelm

SMS ("His Majesty's Ship ") was a protected cruiser of the German Imperial Navy (). She was the second ; her only sister ship was . was laid down in 1886 at the shipyard in Kiel, launched in September 1887, and commissioned into the fleet in November 1889. The cruiser was named after Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, first wife of Kaiser Wilhem II. As built, the ship was armed with a main battery of fourteen guns and had a top speed of .

In 1895, was deployed to East Asian waters, where she frequently served as the flagship of the East Asia Cruiser Division. She was one of the three ships that participated in the seizure of the Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory under the command of Rear Admiral Otto von Diederichs. She subsequently was present in the Philippines in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Manila Bay between American and Spanish squadrons during the Spanish–American War in 1898. returned to Germany in 1899 and was modernized in 1899–1903. She was reduced to a mine hulk in February 1914 and ultimately broken up for scrap in 1922.

Design

In 1883, General Leo von Caprivi became the Chief of the Imperial Admiralty, and at the time, the pressing question that confronted all of the major navies was what type of cruiser to build to replace the obsolete rigged screw corvettes that had been built in the 1860s and 1870s. Cruisers could be optimized for service with the main fleet or for deployments abroad, and while the largest navies could afford to build dedicated ships of each type, Germany could not. To solve the problem, the Germans would build 2nd-class cruisers that attempted to fulfill both roles. The first cruiser design built under this program was the .

was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. She displaced normally and up to at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of two horizontal AG Germania 2-cylinder double-expansion steam engines that drove a pair of screw propellers. Steam was provided by four coal-fired fire-tube boilers, which were ducted into a pair of funnels. These provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at . She had a crew of 28 officers and 337 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with a main battery of four 15 cm RK L/30 guns in single pedestal mounts, supplied with 400 rounds of ammunition in total. They had a range of . also carried ten shorter-barreled 15 cm RK L/22 guns in single mounts. These guns had a much shorter range, at . The gun armament was rounded out by six 3.7 cm revolver cannon, which provided close-range defense against torpedo boats. She was also equipped with three torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes, two launchers were mounted on the deck and the third was in the bow, below the waterline.

The ship's main armor protection consisted of a curved deck that was on the flat portion, increasing in thickness toward the sides to , where it sloped downward to the side of the hull. The conning tower had sides that were 50 mm thick.

Modifications

The ship was modernized in Wilhelmshaven in between 1892 and 1893.The ship's armament was significantly improved; the four L/30 guns were replaced with 15 cm SK L/35 guns with an increased range of . A secondary battery of eight SK L/35 quick-firing (QF) guns was installed in place of the L/22 guns, and six SK L/40 QF guns were added. Some equipment was removed in an effort to reduce the ship's excessive weight, including anti-torpedo nets, an auxiliary boiler, the steam winch used to hoist the ship's boats, and other miscellaneous equipment.

Service history

was the second protected cruiser built by the German navy. She was ordered under the contract name " " and was laid down at the shipyard in Kiel in May 1886. She was launched on 22 September 1887, and at the launching ceremony, Princess Augusta (the ship's namesake) christened the vessel. Fitting-out work thereafter commenced. She was commissioned into the German navy on 19 November 1889 to begin sea trials, which lasted until 25 March 1890. In the first maneuvers of 1890, the newly commissioned operated as the opposing force with several old corvettes. A second round of trials followed from 16 April to 20 June 1891, under the command of (''KzS''—Captain at Sea) Oscar Boeters; during this period, in late May, the ship returned to the shipyard for alterations.

Upon completing her trials, was assigned to II Division of the Maneuver Fleet, but almost immediately, she was detached to escort the artillery training ship to Helgoland; Wilhelm II and Augusta, now the and , respectively, had boarded the latter vessel for the trip. The imperial couple then transferred to their yacht, , for a cruise that included stops in Cowes and Leith in the United Kingdom, and Tromsø and Nordkapp in Norway. escorted the yacht on the cruise, which ended in Kiel. After arriving home, a pipe burst aboard , which necessitated repairs. The ship then embarked on a short training cruise that concluded in Wilhelmshaven on 15 October.

On 11 February 1892, was sent to Britain to assist the (North German Lloyd) freighter , which had run aground on the Isle of Wight on 31 January. thereafter visited ports in Ireland and Scotland before returning to Kiel on 24 March. After taking part in training exercises, rejoined II Division to escort Wilhelm II to meet the Russian Tsar, Alexander III in Stettin, Germany in June, followed by a summer cruise to Norway. In early August, the ship was sent to the Mediterranean to represent Germany in the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus, celebrations for which were held in Spain and Italy. She was the only German ship sent to the ceremonies in Genoa, Italy, a result of cooling relations between Germany and Italy at the time. The ship thereafter visited Alexandria, Egypt, from 20 to 25 September, where the captain visited the recently crowned Khedive Abbas II of Egypt, and to present him the Order of the Red Eagle, which the Kaiser had awarded him. The ship arrived back in Wilhelmshaven on 14 November, where she was decommissioned.

underwent a modernization that lasted until 10 October 1893, when she was recommissioned for service as a guard ship stationed in Wilhelmshaven. At that time, (''kk''—Corvette Captain) Georg Sarnow took command of the ship. In early 1894, she was also used as a training ship for engine room and boiler crews. She also embarked Wilhelm II for a short cruise into the North Sea with three torpedo boats. The ship went on a cruise into the Baltic in mid-1894, and in August, she once again joined for the Kaiser's annual visit to the Cowes Regatta. In the 1894 autumn maneuvers, served as the flagship of a reconnaissance flotilla. ran aground off the town of Rønne, Denmark, and had to be pulled free by the corvette and the old brig . The ship returned to Wilhelmshaven for repairs to her hull that lasted until 17 October. She thereafter resumed duty as the local guard ship, at which time ''KK'' Ludwig Borckenhagen replaced Sarnow as the ship's captain.

East Asia Squadron

In January 1895, was ordered to Asia to reinforce the East Asia Division stationed there; she was to replace the old screw corvette . After her crew completed preparations for the lengthy deployment abroad, during which time ''KK'' Henning von Holtzendorff relieved now-''KzS'' Borckenhagen, left Wilhelmshaven on 27 April. While the ship passed through the Red Sea, several men of the crew died from heat stroke due to the extreme temperatures and poor ventilation. Those who died were buried in Aden. arrived in Shanghai, China, on 4 July, where she met her sister , which was serving as the division's flagship. After she joined her sister in East Asian waters, the division was reinforced with the rebuilt old ironclad , the light cruiser , the corvette , and the gunboat . In June 1896, Alfred von Tirpitz took command of the division. That year, assisted in the suppression of a major fire in Hakodate, Japan, and later surveyed the Huangpu River as a potential naval base for the squadron. By November, was in bad need of maintenance, as engine problems limited her to half-speed. Accordingly, she was docked at Nagasaki, Japan, on 6 December for repairs.

While anchored in Port Hamilton in May 1896, received orders to enter the Yangtze river in China and steam to the city of Nanjing. German military instructors working with the Qing army had come under attack from trainees at the military academy there, and and were to respond. The appearance of the two warships intimidated the soldiers into dispersing, and the vessels did not have to actively intervene. The Germans remained there for four weeks to ensure the situation remained calm, and then continued further upriver. She became the first major German warship to visit Hankou, which she reached on 11 July. The ship then returned downriver, reaching Yantai at the end of the month, where she rendezvoused with the rest of the division. In August, ''KK'' Adolf Thiele replaced Holtzendorff. She was present for the burial of the men who died when sank in July. From mid-September to early November, returned to Nagasaki for another overhaul of her propulsion system.

did not remain out of the drydock in Nagasaki for long; a major machinery breakdown in mid-December forced her return for repairs that lasted until mid-January 1897. In June, Rear Admiral Otto von Diederichs arrived in Asia to take command of the division; , , and were in Yantai conducting gunnery training. Diederichs, aboard , joined the rest of the division in Yantai at the end of the month. There, he held a series of ceremonial visits with the captains of each of his ships. On 1 July, Diederichs boarded to make a visit to the Chinese capital at Beijing. There, he attempted to negotiate with the Chinese government to acquire a permanent naval base for the division. Diederichs, who sought the port of Jiaozhou, was unsuccessful in his attempt, and so he returned to on 11 July. While leaving Beijing, he examined the Taku Forts that guarded the entrance to Beijing. Diederichs returned to the division on 16 July, after which he conducted a tour of Asian ports with the entire division.

Seizure of Jiaozhou

In October, Diederichs planned to rotate his ships through repair facilities in the region for periodic maintenance; was scheduled to dock in Shanghai. He requested permission to take and to Jiaozhou for autumn gunnery training and to leave stationed there during the winter, which was denied. Diederichs was able to make use of the murder of a pair of German priests on 6 November in Shandong, however, to justify his move against Jiaozhou. At the time, the only ships available for the attack were and . joined the two ships after a few days, and by 10 November, the ships were ready. left port on the 11th, to rendezvous with and at sea.

On the night 12 November, the three ships met and formed into line; the attack was scheduled to begin on the morning of 14 November with a bombardment from the warships. The crews of and were to form a landing party to seize the harbor. The flotilla arrived on the morning of the 13th. The following morning, the landing party of some 700 officers and men—which was commanded by Thiele—was landed on the main pier in the harbor. The Chinese were caught completely by surprise, and the Germans secured their objectives within two hours; Diederichs convinced the Chinese commander, General Chang, to withdraw from Jiaozhou. The Imperial flag was raised in the town and fired a 21-gun salute. The landing party remained in Jiaozhou to garrison the port, and several 3.7 cm guns were removed from the ships to provide artillery to the force.

Diederichs requested reinforcements from Germany, and the Kaiser authorized a second Division to deploy to the East Asia station. The unit was therefore reorganized as the East Asia Squadron; was assigned to the I Division of the squadron. On 27 November, Diederichs was promoted to vice admiral for his success in seizing Jiaozhou, and given command of the new squadron. Chinese forces converged on the port by the end of the month. and moved into the harbor to provide artillery support. General Chang, who had been placed under house arrest, was discovered to have been attempting to subvert the German occupation; Dierderichs therefore placed him under arrest aboard . A brief skirmish ensued, which quickly resulted in a Chinese rout. On 8 January 1898, a force of 50 men from s crew was sent to Chi-mo to defend against Chinese raids in the area. That month, ''KK'' Oskar von Truppel replaced Thiele as 's captain.

The Philippines during the Spanish–American War

In the spring of 1898, Prince Heinrich arrived in Asia. While awaiting his arrival, Diederichs planned to rotate his ships through dockyards for periodic maintenance. On 4 May, Diederichs made his flagship and sent to Nagasaki and followed the next day, after Prince Heinrich reached Jiaozhou. The Spanish–American War had broken out on 25 April and Commodore George Dewey had defeated the Spanish squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May. Diederichs planned to use the crisis as an opportunity to seize another base for the squadron in Asia. Upon arriving in Nagasaki, Diederichs learned the shipyard had not yet completed repairs to , and so was unable to refit for some time. He therefore ordered to meet him in Nagasaki, which he would use as his temporary flagship. and were to rejoin Diederichs once their repairs were completed.

On 20 June, arrived in the Philippines; Diederichs now had a force of five warships: , , , , and . After her arrival, proceeded to Mariveles to replenish her coal supplies and receive new crewmen from the transport On 9 August, the American squadron in the Bay ordered the neutral warships in the harbor to leave the bombardment zone, and so and the other German ships went to Mariveles. Following the fall of the city, most of the German ships departed the Philippines; only remained on station to protect German nationals in the islands. She was replaced by in October. In mid-November, ran aground and had to go into drydock for repairs; Diederichs therefore made his flagship. She served as Diederich's flagship until January 1899, when she was drydocked in Hong Kong for periodic maintenance. She thereafter returned to Qingdao, where she received orders to return to Germany. She departed on 26 April and arrived in Wilhelmshaven in July; she was decommissioned there on 22 July.

Fate

After returning to Germany in 1899, she went into drydock at the (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven for modernization; work lasted until 1902. She nevertheless never returned to active service. She was stricken from the naval register on 17 February 1914 and used as a storage hulk for naval mines for the duration of World War I. She was initially based in Danzig, but later moved to Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. On 26 November 1921, was sold for 909,000 Marks. She was broken up the following year in Wilhelmshaven.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinzess Wilhelm
Irene-class cruisers
1887 ships