by River Gunboats- An Illustrated Encyclopaedia (retail) (epub)
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2-cyl steam engines 320ihp/6.5 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 12cm MLR with 300 rounds/Casemate armour 5.5cm iron backed with 20cm wood; Turret armour 5cm of iron backed by 22cm wood; Conning tower 4cm sides; Partial submergence tanks fore and aft.
Fate:
Broken up 1884.
GERMAN CHINA GUNBOATS
Iltis Class
Imperial Germany was involved in the relief force for the Legations in Beijing, and one of her gunboats, the Iltis, participated in the attack on Taku in 1900. SMS Iltis was normally based at the German colony of Tsingtao. On 17 June 1900 she was part of the Allied flotilla which silenced the Taku Forts, being hit twenty-one times by return fire, including a 24cm shell which passed right through her unprotected hull, exploding on the other side. Iltis suffered seven dead and eleven wounded, and for her efforts was the only ship in the entire Imperial Navy to receive the Pour le Mérite medal. She was then involved in survey work around the Yangtze Estuary, and protected German residents at Hankow during the Chinese Revolution. Cut off from Germany with the start of the Great War, and with Tsingtao under attack by the Japanese, Iltis sent her guns and crewmen ashore to join in the defence of the colony. When Tsingtao fell, she was scuttled along with her near sisters Lynx and Tiger. Prior to that, many of her crew joined the breakout by the Russian prize Ryazan commissioned as the hilfskreuze (auxiliary cruiser/raider) Cormoran II.
Iltis, lead vessel of her class, showing her prominent ram bow, and her main armament of 8.8cm guns. The black dots on the profile represent hits from Chinese guns in the Taku Forts.
Iltis on the China Station, resplendent in buff and white.
Launched:
4 August 1898 by Schichau-Werke, Danzig, Hull No 230. Cost 1,497,000 marks.
Dimensions:
Displ: 894 tons standard, 1,048 tons full load; L: 65.2m/213ft 11in; B: 9.1m/29ft 10in; D: 3.59m/11ft 9in forward, 3.63m/11ft 11in aft.
Crew:
9 officers + 121 men.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 3-cyl triple expansion steam engines, 1,378ihp/13.5 knots (trials 14.8 knots).
Guns/Armour:
4 × 8.8cm SK L/30 with 1,124 rounds; 6 × 37mm revolver cannon with 9,000 rounds.
Fate:
Scuttled 28 September 1914 at 36°3’ N, 120°16’ W.
Her twin sister Jaguar also spent time on the Yangtze, and in February 1914 she ran aground in the river. This incident almost led to her loss, as she was under repair in a British yard in Shanghai just before the outbreak of war. Warned in the nick of time, her crew sailed her by night past British men-of-war, and reached Tsingtao. She was the last active German warship in the port, being sabotaged on 7 November 1914 after combat with the attacking Japanese forces.
Tiger, one of the last four of the Iltis class, along with her three sisters, featured an extended almost straight stem bow which would later appear on the new classes of German light cruisers, in place of the older ram bow. The last four ships were also armed with two 10.5cm guns in place of the four smaller 8.8cm weapons. From her arrival at Tsingtao on 22 October 1900 she spent her time on the Yangtze, with occasional visits to Korea and Japan. In June 1907 with the light cruiser Leipzig and the torpedo boat S.90 she ascended the Yangtze to show the flag and protect German commercial interests. She was one of the three disarmed gunboats of her class scuttled at Tsingtao at the start of the Great War.
Launched:
15 August 1899 by Imperial Shipyard, Danzig. Cost 1,665,000 marks.
Dimensions:
Displ: 894 tons standard; 1,108 tons full load; L: 65.2m/213ft 11in; B: 9.1m/29ft 10in; D: 3.56m/11ft 9in forward, 3.74m/11ft 11in aft.
Crew:
9 officers + 121 men.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 3-cyl triple expansion steam engines, 1,372ihp/14 knots (trials 14.8 knots).
Guns/Armour:
2 × 10.5cm SK L/40 with 482 rounds; 6 × 37mm revolver cannon with 9,000 rounds.
Fate:
Scuttled 29 September 1914 at 36°3’ N, 120°16’ W.
Away from the China Station, two members of the class also operated on rivers: on 7 June 1902 the brand-new SMS Panther took part in an industrial exhibition in Dusseldorf, then cruised the Rhine. Arriving on her designated South America Station, in October 1902 Panther sailed 256km (160 miles) up the Orinoco to Ciudad Bolivar. February 1906 found her on the Rio Paraná and the Rio Paraguay, and in the following May she sailed up the St Lawrence to Montreal in Canada.
The last of the six sisters, SMS Eber (‘Boar’ in English), cruised the lower reaches of the Congo River in late August–early September 1912.
SMS Schamien
In order to provide a presence on the upper reaches of the Yangtze while awaiting the arrival of new purpose-built gunboats, SMS Schamien was the first of two Chinese river craft acquired by Germany. Built in Hong Kong in 1899 as the river-boat Tong Cheong, she was purchased on 1 November of that year and commissioned on 10 October 1900 by twelve crewmen of the gunboat SMS Luchs for service on the Pearl River leading to Canton. A replacement crew arrived from Germany in January 1901 and the Luchs crewmen returned to their own ship.
Schamien dressed overall.
Following the entry into service of the new gunboat SMS Tsingtau, on 2 February 1904 the Schamien was decommissioned, and eight days later in Hong Kong she was sold into commercial service for the sum of 8,000 silver dollars.
Launched:
1 January 1899 by Kowloon Dock Company, Hong Kong as the Tong Cheong; purchased 1 November 1899.
Dimensions:
Displ: 36.8 tons; L: 24m/79ft 9in; B: 3.6m/11ft 10in; D: 1.4m/4ft 7in.
Crew:
12 German sailors + 6 Chinese.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; 2 cyl compound steam engine, 100ihp/10 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 37mm revolver cannon; 2 × MG; 1 × 6cm L/18 boat gun.
Fate:
Sold 10 November 1904.
SMS Vorwärts
The second of the Chinese river craft purchased in order to establish a German presence, while waiting for the arrival of the new gunboats, SMS Vorwärts was much bigger than the Schamien, with a larger crew, but like the latter vessel was armed only with light guns – as her commercial origins and her shallow draught would not have allowed her to carry heavier weapons. Launched in Shanghai in 1899 as the passenger vessel Woochow, and operated by the Hong Kong, Canton and Macau Steamboat Company Ltd., in the summer of 1900 she was hired by the German Reich as a troop transport during the Boxer Uprising, and then purchased outright. Converted at Tsingtao, Woochow was commissioned as a gunboat on 19 March 1901 under the new name of Vorwärts (‘Forward’ in English), with a crew formed by men from the torpedo boat SMS Taku. Vorwärts was finally taken out of service on 31 March 1910 and replaced by the new gunboat SMS Otter. She was sold the following year to a Chinese company for 50,000 marks and reconverted to a passenger ship.
Launched:
1899 by Farnham, Boyd & Co., Shanghai, as the passenger ship Woochow; purchased 11 March 1900.
Dimensions:
Displ: 406 tons; L: 47.7m/156ft 6in; B: 7.5m/24ft 7in; D: 2.2m/7ft 3in.
Crew:
3 officers, 30 Germans + 3 Chinese.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 2 cyl compound steam engines, 500ihp/11 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 5cm SK L/40 with 423 rounds; 2 × MG.
Fate:
Decommissioned 31 March 1910. Sold into commercial service 1911.
Vorwärts. (Postcard: the Frankes Collection)
SMS Tsingtau
Lead vessel of her class, the Tsingtau was the first German-designed gunboat intended for China service. Curiously, although in general outline she followed the existing Royal Navy ‘Bird’ class, which had a squared-off stern, the Tsingtau introduced a stylishly curved ‘cruiser’-style stern, which must have b
een far less efficient in spreading the topweight of such a shallow-draught vessel. Significantly, the follow-on design, SMS Otter, reverted to the classic squared-off stern of all her contemporaries.
Tsingtau was completed on 15 May 1903, and after trials was dismantled and sent to Hong Kong on board the steamer Princess Marie. The reassembled gunboat was commissioned on 3 February 1904, and began patrolling the Pearl River, the West River (the Hsi Chiang), and the coastal regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
With the imminent outbreak of the Great War, Tsingtau was ordered back to Canton where she was decommissioned. Her commander, Leutnant Erwin Möller, took part of his crew to attempt to reach Turkish territory, only to have the whole party massacred by Arabs north of Jeddah. The majority of her complement travelled overland to Tsingtao, leaving a small maintenance crew on board. When the Chinese Republic declared for the Allies on 21 March 1917, Tsingtau was scuttled off Canton. Salvage of the wreck was abandoned.
Launched:
18 April 1903 by Schichau, Elbing, Hull No 710 in nine sections, reassembled in Hong Kong. Cost: 497,000 Marks.
Dimensions:
Displ: 223 tons standard, 280 tons full load; L: 50.1m/164ft 4in; B: 8.0m/26ft 3in; D: 0.94m/3ft.
Crew:
3 German officers + 44 crewmen + 11 Chinese (9 stokers & cooks, 2 river pilots).
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 3-cyl VTE steam engines, 1,300ihp/13 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 8.8cm SK L/30 with 100 rounds; 1 × 5cm SK L/40 with 200 rounds; 2 or 3 × MG/8–12mm plate.
Fate:
Scuttled at Canton 21 March 1917. Salvage attempts unsuccessful.
An early photo of Tsingtau, most likely just after being built at the Schichau Works. A telling feature is the sailboard, which appeared on early China gunboats but was always soon removed. (Photo courtesy of Erwin Sieche)
SMS Vaterland
Sister-ship to SMS Tsingtau, the name Vaterland (‘Fatherland’ in English) was specified by the Kaiser, in order to reassure German missionaries and other residents in China.
As with her sister, Vaterland was first fully assembled by the builders, then after trials was dismantled, with the hull being divided into nine sections, before being transported to Shanghai on board the HAPAG steamer Bisgravia in February 1904. After reassembly she was commissioned on 28 May 1904.
After several years spent on the Yangtze and Dongting rivers and Poyang Lake, including the rescue of a German missionary in May 1907, at the outbreak of the Great War she was in Nanking. The bulk of her crew travelled overland to Tsingtao, and before the fall of that colony joined the breakout of the raider Cormoran II. Left with just a token crew on board, Vaterland was sold to a commercial front company and renamed Sovereign. Unfortunately this subterfuge did not hold up when China entered the war on the side of the Allies, and Sovereign/Vaterland was seized at Nanking on 21 March 1917 and incorporated in the Chinese Navy under the name Li Sui. For her further service see CHINA.
Vaterland, showing her large searchlight, with a good command of the surroundings, plus her crow’s nest on her substantial pole mast.
Launched:
23 August 1903 by Schichau, Elbing in nine sections, reassembled in Shanghai.
Dimensions:
Displ: 223 tons standard, 280 tons full load; L: 50.1m/164ft 4in; B: 8.0m/26ft 3in; D: 0.94m/3ft 0in.
Crew:
3 German officers + 44 crewmen + 11 Chinese (9 stokers and cooks, 2 river pilots).
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 3-cyl VTE steam engines, 1,300ihp/13 knots.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 8.8cm SK L/30 with 100 rounds; 1 × 5cm SK L/40 with 200 rounds; 2 or 3 × MG/8–12mm plate.
Fate:
Taken over by China 21 March 1917.
SMS Otter
The third of the modern German China gunboats, SMS Otter was longer than the earlier pair, with a square stern, cut away underwater by the cavity for her twin screws. She carried two modern 5.2cm QF guns, superior to the older types on the Tsingtau and Vaterland. The armour protecting her machinery spaces was upgraded with superior steel to provide better protection against small-arms fire. With her lengthened hull, more powerful machinery and twin funnels, she was among the fastest of the early China gunboats, being able to reach over 15 knots when required. This power served her well, for example when besting the rapids of the Yangtze between Yichang and Chunking in just thirty-eight hours. Built and tested on the River Weser, she was dismantled into nine sections for transport to China on board the steamer Marie Leonhardt. After reassembly she was commissioned on 1 April 1910.
The last of the German China gunboats, Otter, seen in a period postcard, running her trials on the River Weser in Germany before being transported to the Far East. She flies the German national flag instead of the naval ensign, as she was not yet commissioned. Otter offers a long, low-profile design compared with her foreign and Chinese contemporaries. Note her prominent lattice mast, popular at the time she was designed. Inspired by contemporary American practice, the Russian Andrei Pervozvanny class carried lattice masts and they were originally intended for the German battlecruiser Von der Tann. On the Otter it gave excellent command for the searchlight and lookout crow’s nest, while adding only a minimum of topweight.
Otter in drydock in Shanghai being assembled. Her lattice mast, armament and rudders are not yet mounted. Note the cutaway stern and the cavity for her twin screws.
Otter in her Chinese river element, finished in white hull and ochre yellow upper-works, mast and funnels.
On the outbreak of the Great War Otter was at Nanking, and like her companion gunboat Vaterland, the bulk of her crew travelled overland to reach Tsingtao, leaving a small guard party on board. Like Vaterland, Otter was also sold to a front company and was renamed Munich. As with Vaterland, this availed nothing, as on the entry of China into the war she was seized and incorporated in the Chinese Navy under the name of Li-Tsieh. For her further service, see CHINA.
Launched:
15 July 1909 by Joh C Tecklenborg, Geestemünde, Hull No 232. Reassembled Shanghai 1 April 1910.
Dimensions:
Displ: 266 tons standard, 314 tons full load; L: 54.1m/177ft 6in; B: 8.65m/28ft 4in; D: 0.98m/3ft 3in.
Crew:
3 German officers + 44 crewmen + 7 Chinese.
Power/Speed:
Twin screws; 3-cyl VTE steam engines, 1,300ihp nominal, 1,730ihp on trials/15.2 knots.
Guns/Armour:
2 × 5.2cm SK L/55 with 298 rounds; 3 × MG/8–12mm plate.
Fate:
Taken over by China 21 March 1917.
AFRICAN GUNBOATS
Cameroon
The first Nachtigal was a government revenue steamer on the Kamerun River. She was armed with one or two small QF guns. She was sold to a private individual in 1898.
On the outbreak of war in 1914, the government revenue steamer Nachtigal was at Duala, where she was armed, painted grey and commissioned as SMS Nachtigal, commander Oberleutenant zur See Peter Wendling. On 5 September he was ordered to proceed to the Bimbia River to prevent an advance by the British on Tiko. As the most active British gunboat in the river was HMS Dwarf, which was almost twice as large as Nachtigal, and much more heavily armed, Wendling was ordered that, if necessary, he should ram the enemy gunboat.
The second government revenue steamer Nachtigal in Douala. (Photo from: forum.axishistory.com//viewtopic.php?t=118099Detail from an old postcard)
Profile drawing of the later Nachtigal. Note her bow-mounted 5cm QF gun.
At 2230hrs the two vessels sighted each other, and Wendling steered to ram at speed, directly into the glare of Dwarf’s searchlight. The bow gun on Nachtigal, with its crew, was blown overboard by one of the first shells from Dwarf, but Wendling succeeded in ramming his opponent. Dwarf suffered a large gash in her hull, but the German ship had struck at the location of a bulkhead, which probably saved her from sinking.
Nachtigal floate
d away, under a hail of shells fired at point-blank range. On fire, she stranded on the river bank. As she had not struck her colours the Dwarf continued to fire, until Nachtigal blew up. Wendling and thirteen crew members were saved by Dwarf, but thirty-three of his men had been killed. In 1931 Nachtigal’s mainmast was recovered from the river and brought back to Germany, where it was erected in the ceremonial garden of the Schutztruppe in Frankfurt an der Oder.
Launched:
30 March 1895 by Germaniawerft.
Dimensions:
Displ: 440 tons; L: 42.88m/140ft 8in; B: 7.02m/23ft; D: 2.60m/8ft 6in.
Crew:
47.
Power/Speed:
Single screw; steam engine.
Guns/Armour:
1 × 5cm SK; 1 × 37mm revolver cannon.
Fate:
Sunk 16 September 1914.
Lake Nyasa
Hermann von Wissmann
Before the Great War, the largest German steamer on Lake Nyasa (today Lake Malawi) was the Hermann von Wissman, named for the explorer and administrator sent by the Kaiser in 1889 to restore the fortunes of the struggling German East Africa Company. The vessel was constructed by Janssen & Schmilinsky in Hamburg in 1890, then dismantled for shipping to East Africa. The parts were carried by steamer up the Zambezi then by porters overland to Mpimbi at the south end of the lake, where they were reassembled. Completed on 22 September 1893, she was initially armed with one Kolonialgeschütz 4cm gun, and her primary role was to help put an end to the local slave trade. Obviously, her presence as a gunboat also aided German imperial ambitions.
On 13 August 1914 she had been hauled up on the slipway at Sphinxhaven (now Liuli) for repairs to her hull. Her commander had not received news that Britain and Germany were at war. In the very first naval engagement of the Great War, the British gunboat HMS Guendolen approached and began shelling the immobile Hermann von Wissman, her third 6-pounder shell striking the bows of the German vessel. With her commander and engineer captured by the British, the Hermann von Wissman lay still unrepaired when the British returned a second time to Sphinxhaven on 30 May 1915. This time they landed troops of the King’s African Rifles, and captured the German base together with the immobilised Hermann von Wissmann. Her Krupp 4cm Kolonialgeschütz was later mounted on the Chauncy Maples.