SMS Arcona
Encyclopedia
SMS Arcona was a small, unarmoured cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Imperial Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
. It was named after Cape Arkona
Cape Arkona
Cape Arkona is a cape on the island of Rügen in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Cape Arkona is the tip of the Wittow peninsula, just a few kilometres north of the Jasmund National Park....
on the German island of Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
.
Technical data
The ship was laid down at AG Weser in BremenBremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
in 1901, launched on 22 April 1902 and commissioned on 12 May 1903. It was one of eight ships of the Gazelle class
Gazelle class cruiser
The Gazelle class was a group of ten light cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy at the turn of the 20th century. Three were lost during the First World War; the remainder were removed from the front lines after the Battle of Jutland...
built between 1897 and 1904. This class underwent continuous improvement during construction, so that each ship differed somewhat from the others.
The Arcona was 105 m long and 12.4 m wide, with a draft of 5.62 m. She displaced 3,180 tons and had a crew of 274. Her armament comprised ten 10.5 cm guns, 10-14 3.7 cm machine guns and 2 torpedo tubes. Her deck armor was merely 25 mm at the thickest point. Her two 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines gave her a maximum speed of 21.5 knots (42.1 km/h). Her operating range at 12 knots (24 km/h) was 4400 nautical miles (8,148.8 km).
Service in the Imperial Navy
After the completion of final sea trials the Arcona was assigned in July 1903 to the scouting forces of the Hochseeflotte. Over the next four years she participated in various fleet maneuvers and overseas voyages, including the naval parade in June 1904 for British King Edward VII.In April 1907 the ship was decommissioned in order to be refitted for overseas service. She was sent to East Asia at the end of August 1907 and for the next two years served in the Pacific, including a brief stint at Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
during the native uprising there in early 1909. Following a visit to San Francisco in 1909 to represent Germany at the 140th anniversary of the discovery of San Francisco Bay and a "show-the-flag" tour of Honolulu, Seattle, San Pedro, Los Angeles and San Diego, she returned to Germany in March 1910 and was again decommissioned.
Now obsolete as a light cruiser, the ship was reconfigured in 1911-1912 as a mine cruiser, with two of her 10.5 cm guns being removed and room made instead to carry 200 mines. Recommissioned on 31 October 1912, she was attached to the minelaying experimental commission.
Following the outbreak of the First World War, the two 10.5 cm guns were re-installed and the ship became the flagship of the coastal defense division for the Ems region, with homeport in Emden
Emden
Emden is a city and seaport in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia; in 2006, the city had a total population of 51,692.-History:...
. She served in this capacity until the end of the war.
Inter-War years
Being too old, she was not required to be relinquished after the end of the war. Her guns were removed in the spring of 1919, and she then served for a time as a tender for UZ-boats carrying out minesweeping operations in the North Sea. In 1920 she was temporarily decommissioned and rearmed as a training cruiser. She was again decommissioned on 1 December 1923, placed into the fleet reserve, stricken from the navy list on 15 January 1930, and subsequently used as a barracks hulkHulk (ship)
A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Although sometimes used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, the term most often refers to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipment removed, retaining only its flotational qualities...
in Wilhelmshaven, Swinemünde and Kiel.
World War II
Following the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Arcona and her sole surviving sister Medusa were refitted in 1940 into floating anti-aircraft batteries, recommissioned in May and June 1940, respectively. They were stripped of their obsolete engines and towed into place. As anti-aircraft battery, the Arcona displaced 2650 tons and had a draft of 5.0 m. She carried four heavy 10.5 cm anti-aircraft guns
10.5 cm FlaK 38
The 10.5 cm SK C/33 was a German anti-aircraft gun used during World War II by the Kriegsmarine on a number of their larger capital ships. It was later adapted for Luftwaffe as a competitor to the famed 8.8 cm FlaK 18 as the 10.5 cm FlaK 38...
, two 4 cm Flak and six 20 mm AA guns
2 cm FlaK 30
The Flak 30 and improved Flak 38 were 20 mm anti-aircraft guns used by various German forces throughout the Second World War. It was not only the primary German light anti-aircraft gun, but by far the most numerously produced German artillery piece throughout the war...
. She was deployed initially in Swinemünde and later in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven 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.-History:...
, where she joined the Medusa. Both were scuttled by their crews on 3 May 1945. The wrecks were scrapped in 1948.
Literature
- Hans H. Hildebrand/Albert Röhr/Hans-Otto Steinmetz: Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien - ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart, Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Herford