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SMSFalke

For the earlier aviso, seeSMS Falke (1865).

SMSFalke( "His Majesty's ShipFalke—Falcon")[a]was anunprotected cruiserof theBussardclass,built for theImperial German Navy.She was the second member of the class of six vessels. The cruiser was laid down in 1890, launched in April 1891, and commissioned into the fleet in September of that month. Designed for overseas service, she carried a main battery of eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 15.5knots(28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph).

SMSFalkein 1892
History
German Empire
NameFalke
NamesakeFalke
Laid downJanuary 1890
Launched4 April 1891
Commissioned14 September 1891
FateScrapped, 1913
General characteristics
Class and typeBussard-classunprotected cruiser
Displacement
Length82.6 m (271 ft 0 in)
Beam12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
Draft4.45 m (14 ft 7 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed15.5knots(28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Range2,990 nmi (5,540 km) at 9 knots (17 km/h)
Complement
  • 9 officers
  • 152 enlisted men
Armament

Falkeserved abroad for the majority of her career, seeing duty in East Asia, the Central Pacific, and the Americas. She assisted in the suppression of a revolt inSamoain 1893, and was damaged in a later uprising there in 1899. In 1901,Falkewas transferred to the American Station, and the following year she took part in theVenezuela Crisis of 1902–03,during which she helped enforce an Anglo-German blockade of the Venezuelan coast. In 1907,Falkewas recalled to Germany. She was stricken from thenaval registerin late 1912 and subsequently broken up for scrap.

Design

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Main article:Bussard-class cruiser
Illustration of theBussard-class cruiserGeier

Through the 1870s and early 1880s,Germanybuilt two types of cruising vessels: small, fastavisossuitable for service as fleet scouts and larger, long-rangedscrew corvettescapable of patrolling theGerman colonial empire.A pair of new cruisers was authorized under the 1886–1887 fiscal year, intended for the latter purpose. GeneralLeo von Caprivi,theChief of the Imperial Admiralty,sought to modernize Germany's cruiser force. The first step in the program, the twoSchwalbe-classunprotected cruisers,provided the basis for the largerBussardclass.[1][2]

Falkewas 82.6 meters (271 ft)long overalland had abeamof 12.5 m (41 ft) and adraftof 4.45 m (14.6 ft) forward. Shedisplaced1,559t(1,534long tons)normallyand up to 1,868 t (1,838 long tons; 2,059 short tons) atfull load.Her propulsion system consisted of two horizontal 3-cylindertriple-expansion steam enginesthat drove a pair ofscrew propellers.Steam was provided by four coal-fired cylindricalfire-tube boilersthat were ducted into a singlefunnel.These provided a top speed of 15.5knots(28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) from 2,800metric horsepower(2,800ihp), and a range of approximately 2,990nautical miles(5,540 km; 3,440 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph). She had a crew of 9 officers and 152 enlisted men.[3]

The ship was armed with amain batteryof eight10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/35quick-firing guns in single pedestal mounts, supplied with 800 rounds of ammunition in total. They had a range of 10,800 m (35,400 ft). Two guns were placed side by side forward, two on eachbroadsideinsponsons,and two side by side aft. The gun armament was rounded out by five 3.7 cm (1.5 in)Hotchkiss revolver cannonfor defense againsttorpedo boats.She was also equipped with two 35 cm (13.8 in)torpedo tubeswith five torpedoes, both of which were mounted on the deck.[3][4]

Service history

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Falkewas laid down at theKaiserliche Werft(Imperial Shipyard) inKielin January 1890 under the contract name "D". She was launched on 4 April 1891; at the ceremony,Prince Heinrichgave a speech and his wife,Princess Irene,christened the ship.Falkewas commissioned on 14 September of that year forsea trials.While steaming offBornholm,the ship ran aground but was pulled free by other vessels. She was temporarily decommissioned in Kiel on 31 October.[5][6]Falkewas recommissioned on 14 August 1892 in order to participate in the annual fleet training maneuvers that began that month and continued into September. She was assigned to the III Division, along with thecoastal defense shipSiegfried.[6][7]

Deployment to West Africa

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Germany's African colonies

Falkewas transferred to Germany's West African colonies in western Africa after the conclusion of the maneuvers, departing Kiel on 16 October to replace thegunboatHabicht.After arriving in western Africa,Falkewent toDahomey,where theSecond Franco-Dahomean Warhad recently broken out. In December, her captain unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate the release of two German merchants who were being held by Dahomean soldiers. On 31 December,Falkereturned toDuala,the main German port inKamerun,where she joined the second warship stationed in the colony, the gunboatHyäne.[6]

The borders ofGerman South-West Africahad been settled via treaties with Portugal (1886) and Britain (1890), but the coast line had not been surveyed in detail.Falkewas tasked with locating a suitable port to connect to the capital atWindhuk.She departedLuandaon 23 January 1893 and arrived inCape Crossfour days later. The ship surveyed the area thoroughly, and discovered a Portuguesepadrão.It had been placed there by the Portuguese explorerDiogo Cãoin the late 15th century.Falke's crew removed it to protect it from further weathering and placed a wooden cross to mark the location. The ship's crew received a period of rest from 14 to 16 March, after which timeFalkesteamed back to Kamerun, stopping in several ports along the way and arriving in Duala on 29 April. There, the stone monument was unloaded and later transported back to Berlin for preservation by the steamerStettin,which departed Duala on 29 October. A granite copy, carried by the cruiserSperber,was installed in its place in 1895.[6][8]

In the meantime,Falkehad been sent toLiberiaon 27 May in response to unrest in the country. She arrived inMonroviaon 9 June, and temporarily tookJoseph James Cheeseman,the President of Liberia, aboard to protect him from the rebels.Falkewas back in Duala by 22 July. She was sent toCape Townin South Africa for an overhaul that began on 30 November, but a rebellion among theKhoikhoiin German South-West Africa forced a postponement of the work; by 5 December the ship was in the colony to join the effort to suppress the rebels. Her presence proved to be unnecessary, and so she was sent back to Cape Town later in the month. After she arrived, theAdmiralstab(Admiralty Staff) transferredFalketo the colony inGerman New Guinea.Falkedeparted on 23 December, arriving inMelbourneviaSydney.[9]

Deployment to the Pacific

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Falkein Samoa

Upon arriving in Melbourne on 8 February 1894,Falkemet hersister shipBussardand the gunboatMöwe.The three ships then departed forApiain theCaroline Islands,arriving on 16 April, where they conducted gunnery training.Falkeremained in Samoa until early October when she returned to Sydney for repair work; at the time, Sydney possessed the only shipyard with the facilities necessary for major repairs, which meant that the Germans were dependent on the Australian port to keep their warships operational. A lengthy overhaul took place in Sydney from March to July 1895. From 29 July to 10 November,Falkewas again in Samoa. During this period, the ship surveyed the port atSalua,north of the main island ofUpolu.In mid-November, the governor of the Marshall Islands requested the presence ofFalke,and in late December she left the Marshalls forKaiser-Wilhelmsland,arriving inMatupi Harborin January 1896. There she metMöwe;Falke's tour of Germany's Pacific colonies ended that month.[10]

Another overhaul in Sydney followed from 4 February to 4 April. On 15 April,Falkedropped anchor once again in Apia. At the end of August, the ship steamed toAuckland,New Zealand, where she metBussardandMöwe.The threat of rebellion in the Marshalls forcedFalketo make another trip there in early November. Her cruise through the colonies ended with a stop in Sydney on 18 February 1897. She departed for another visit to Auckland on 23 April. She also stopped inTongabefore continuing on to Apia, arriving on 16 May. The following month, three Germans, including Curt von Hagen, the governor of the colony, were murdered in Kaiser-Wilhelmsland.Falkewas sent toStephansort[de](south of modernMadang) on 24 June to apprehend the murderers; she transported a police detachment from the capital atHerbertshöhetoAli Islandand contributed a landing party from her crew. On 10 NovemberFalkereturned to Apia, but two days later she departed for Sydney via Auckland for repairs. A new crew had also arrived in Sydney from Germany. On 24 April 1898, she departed Sydney for a tour of the colonies. After the conclusion of the cruise,Falkereturned to Sydney, where her new commander,Korvettenkapitän(Corvette Captain)Victor Schönfelderhad arrived; he formally took control of the ship on 1 September.[10]

Falkec. 1899

On 1 October,Falkeleft Sydney for Apia before making visits to theNew Hebrides,Fiji,and Tonga on the 15th. Four weeks later,Bussarddeparted the central Pacific, bound for Germany;Falkewas now alone in the region, despite the rising international tensions concerning a succession crisis in Samoa.[11]In March 1899,Falkewas in the harbor at Apia. Unrest on the island, instigated byMata'afa Iosefo,prompted the American cruiserUSSPhiladelphiaand the BritishsloopHMSRoyalistandtorpedo cruiserHMSPorpoiseto shell the rebel positions. Their gunfire was poorly aimed, however, and several shells hitFalke.[12]Schönfelder kept his crew from escalating the situation to prevent a more serious diplomatic crisis from developing. Eventually, theSecond Samoan Civil Warwas resolved by splitting the islands into German and American colonies, while Britain received concessions elsewhere. By June, the fighting was over and the situation had calmed.[13]

Falke's sister shipCormoranarrived at that time to relieve her.Falkethen began the journey back to Germany on 1 July, stopping in Sydney,Batavia,Colombo,Mahé,and Lisbon. She reachedHamburgon 14 October. Her crew conducted a landing exercise to demonstrate how they had practiced it during their tour abroad.Kaiser Wilhelm IIgreeted Schönfelder and congratulated him for his skillful and levelheaded handling of the crisis in Samoa. On 27 October,Falkesteamed toDanzig,where she was decommissioned on 3 November. TheKaiserliche Werftin Danzig conducted a lengthy overhaul and modernization.[13]

Deployment to the Americas

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Map of the Caribbean showing many of the portsFalkevisited during her deployment
SMS Falke at theRoyal Naval DockyardBermudain 1903
SMS Falke in the floating drydock Bermuda at the Royal Naval Dockyard Bermuda in 1903

On 2 October 1901,Falkewas recommissioned for another tour abroad, this time to the Americas. She was sent to reinforce theprotected cruiserVinetadue to unrest in the Caribbean and South America. Three days later, she departedNeufahrwasserand crossed the Atlantic, arriving inCastriesonSaint Luciaon 14 November.Falkevisited several ports in the area before joining thetraining shipsMoltkeandSteinand thelight cruiserGazelle.Falkewas then ordered to steam up theAmazon River;she entered the Amazon via thePará Riveron 7 March 1902 and reachedManausby 23 March. There, she met severalHAPAGandNDLsteamers.Falkecontinued upriver, her voyage hampered by a lack of accurate maps and insufficiently knowledgeable river pilots. She finally reachedSan Ignacioin Peru on 17 April. By this point, the river was 114 m (374 ft) above sea level and only 400 nmi (740 km; 460 mi) from the Pacific coast;Falkehad travelled around 5,200 nmi (9,600 km; 6,000 mi) up the river; a shortage of coal prevented her from proceeding further. On 30 April, she arrived back at the mouth of the river.[13]

On 8 May,Falkearrived inPort of SpaininTrinidadbefore being ordered to the coast ofVenezuelato safeguard German interests during a period of unrest there. While en route, she stopped inFort-de-France,Martiniqueto pick up a load of food and medical supplies for the people living aroundMont Pelee,which had recently erupted.[14]She then proceeded toLa GuairaandCarúpanoin Venezuela to protect German nationals from expected fighting, and from June evacuated German and French nationals from the two cities toSaint Thomas.[15]She was based out of the port ofCharlotte Amaliein theVirgin Islands.During this period, she made stops in Carúpano, La Guaira, andPuerto Cabello,along with a visit toWillemstadinCuraçao.On 30 September, she was sent toPort-au-Prince,Haiti, to protect German nationals there during a revolution in the country. At times, landing parties had to be sent ashore to protect the GermanconsulateinGonaïves.[16]

By this time, the situation in Venezuela had worsened, necessitating foreign warships to remain of the coast to protect foreign nationals in the country. In December,Falkeran aground while leaving Willemstad; the training shipStoschpulled her free only with great difficulty. The ship was nevertheless not damaged in the accident. On 16 December, the East American Cruiser Division was formally established by the German Navy, led by theflagshipVineta.Falkewas thereafter occupied with operations during theVenezuela Crisis of 1902–1903.[16]The Germans operated in concert with the BritishRoyal Navyand the ItalianRegia Marina;they sought to compel the Venezuelan government to make reparations for grievances related to internal conflicts in the over the previous decade.[17]The crisis began when a British merchant ship was boarded and its crew arrested by Venezuelan forces on 13 December; in response, British forces bombarded the forts at Puerto Cabello, and enlisted the German squadron to assist them in punishing the Venezuelans.FalkeandGazellewere tasked with blockading the Venezuelan coast, in cooperation with the British squadron.[18]

Leaving the West Indies, on 28 February 1903 theFalkewent to theRoyal Naval Dockyardof the BritishNorth America and West Indies StationatIreland Islandin theBritish colonyofBermuda,where she stayed from 8 to 13 March.[16]From October 1903 to November 1905,Paul Behnckeserved as the ship's commander.[19]In January 1904, the ship visitedNew Orleanswith the rest of the American Squadron, which at that time includedVineta,Gazelle,and the gunboatPanther.[20]She stopped inNewport Newsin the United States from 26 May to 16 June 1904. She then cruised south to visit several Brazilian ports, starting on 17 July. On 23 September, she stopped inBuenos Aires,and four weeks later, continued south aroundCape Hornvia theStrait of Magellan.She continued as far north as Peru by the end of 1904 and stopped in several Argentinian and Chilean ports along the way, includingValparaisoon 20 December. In the meantime, the East American Cruiser Division was disbanded. Starting on 6 January 1905,Falkeresumed her voyage up the Pacific coast of the Americas, stopping in Peru, Colombia, and several Central American countries. On 15 June she reachedSan Francisco,where she stayed for three weeks. On 10 July she resumed her cruise northward and visited harbors in Canada and southern Alaska.[16][21]

On the return voyage, she steamed up theColumbia Riverand toured theGulf of California.She spent Christmas and New Year's Day inMazatlánin Mexico and also stopped inCallao.While cruising off the coast of Chile in August, she was damaged by a severe storm. Repairs were effected inTalcahuano;while she was being repaired, an earthquake struck Valparaiso. Once she was ready for sea,Falkecarried food and medical supplies to the city between 28 August and 2 September. The ship returned to Chile to be present during the inauguration ceremony for PresidentPedro Montton 18 September. She then returned to Talcahuano to complete her repairs. On 4 September, she departed and steamed down toPunta Arenas,where she stayed from 2 to 15 December.Falkethen crossed back to the Atlantic and steamed up toMontevideoin January 1907; there, she received the order to return to Germany.[22]

Falkedeparted Montevideo and crossed the Atlantic toDakar,proceeding toLas Palmasand then Lisbon. There she was visited byFrederick Augustus III of Saxony.She arrived in Danzig on 15 April, after five and a half years abroad. The ship was decommissioned on 20 January, and an evaluation determined that she was not worth overhauling. She was accordingly stricken from thenaval registeron 25 October 1912 and broken up the following year at theKaiserliche Werftin Danzig.[23][24]

Notes

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Footnotes

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  1. ^"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff"(German:His Majesty's Ship).

Citations

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  1. ^Nottelmann,pp. 102–103.
  2. ^Sondhaus,pp. 166–167.
  3. ^abGröner,p. 97.
  4. ^Lyon,p. 253.
  5. ^Gröner,pp. 97–98.
  6. ^abcdHildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,p. 78.
  7. ^Naval Manoeuvres of 1892,p. 112.
  8. ^Schoeman,p. 82.
  9. ^Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,pp. 78–79.
  10. ^abHildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,p. 79.
  11. ^Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,pp. 79–80.
  12. ^Beede,p. 310.
  13. ^abcHildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,p. 80.
  14. ^Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,pp. 80–81.
  15. ^"Naval & Military intelligence".The Times.No. 36831. London. 28 July 1902. p. 7.
  16. ^abcdHildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,p. 81.
  17. ^Forbes,p. 325.
  18. ^Marley,pp. 924–925.
  19. ^Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,p. 77.
  20. ^Witte,pp. 230–231.
  21. ^Bredovskis,p. 177.
  22. ^Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,pp. 81–82.
  23. ^Gröner,p. 98.
  24. ^Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz,p. 82.

References

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Further reading

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