1.
Light cruiser
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A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the light armored cruiser, describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser. Prior to this smaller cruisers had been of the protected cruiser model, the first small steam-powered cruisers were built for the British Royal Navy with HMS Mercury launched in 1878. Such second and third class protected cruisers evolved, gradually becoming faster, better armed, germany took a lead in small cruiser design in the 1890s, building a class of fast cruisers—the Gazelle class—copied by other nations. Such vessels were powered by coal-fired boilers and reciprocating steam engines, the adoption of oil-fired water-tube boilers and steam turbine engines meant that older small cruisers rapidly became obsolete. Furthermore, new construction could not rely on the protection of coal bunkers, the British Bristol group of Town-class cruisers were a departure from previous designs, with turbine propulsion, mixed coal and oil firing and a 2-inch protective armoured belt as well as deck. Thus, by definition, they were armoured cruisers, despite displacing only 4,800 tons, the first true modern light cruisers were the Arethusa class which had all oil-firing and used lightweight destroyer-type machinery to make 29 knots. 1-inch to 5. 9-inch guns. Cruiser construction in Britain continued uninterrupted until Admiral Jacky Fishers appointment as First Sea Lord in 1904, the group of 21 Town-class cruisers begun in 1910 proved excellent in scouting in all types of weather and could carry enough fuel and ammunition to guard the shipping lanes. The Arethusa class, launched three years later, was also successful, British designers continued enlarging and refining subsequent cruiser designs throughout the war. The Germans built a number of cruisers in the belief that they were good multi-purpose vessels. However, the Germans were very late in adapting 5. 9-inch guns, with the Pillau and Wiesbaden-class cruisers the Germans followed the British example of heavier guns. Earlier German light cruisers were in competition with a series of British scout cruisers which had a speed of 25 knots. The Germans completed the last two of their Bremen-class cruisers in 1906 and 1907 and followed them up with four Königsberg-class and these last two classes, larger and faster than the Bremens, were armed the same and carried less deck armor. Other major powers concentrated on construction and built few cruisers. The United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary each built only a handful of scout cruisers while Japan and Spain added a few based on British designs. The United States resumed building light cruisers in 1918, largely because the ships it then had in service had become obsolete, the first of these, the ten Omaha-class ships, displaced 7,050 tons and were armed with twelve 6-inch guns. Eight of these guns were mounted in casemates at the bow and stern. Fast and maneuverable, they were well-liked as seaboats despite being very wet in rough weather, the term light cruiser was given a definition by the London Naval Treaty of 1930
2.
MV Liemba
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MV Liemba, formerly Graf Goetzen or Graf von Goetzen, is a passenger and cargo ferry that runs along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika. The Marine Services Company Limited of Tanzania sails her, with stops to pick up and set down passengers. Graf von Goetzen was built in 1913 in Germany, and was one of three vessels the German Empire used to control Lake Tanganyika during the part of the First World War. Her captain had her scuttled on 26 July 1916 in Katabe Bay during the German retreat from Kigoma, in 1924, a British Royal Navy salvage team raised her and in 1927 she returned to service as Liemba. Liemba is the last vessel of the German Imperial Navy still actively sailing anywhere in the world, Liemba was the inspiration for the German gunboat Luisa in C. S. Foresters 1935 novel The African Queen, and John Hustons subsequent film version. The ship featured in the 1992 BBC Television travel series Pole to Pole, breadbox Productions in the US released a feature documentary film on the ship Liemba, narrated by Chiwoniso Maraire, in 2010. The Meyer-Werft Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, built Goetzen in 1913 and named her after Count Gustav Adolf Graf von Götzen, Goetzen was designed to serve as a passenger and cargo ferry in conjunction with the Ostafrikanische Eisenbahngesellschaft. After preliminary assembly Goetzen was taken apart and shipped in 5000 boxes loaded on three vessels to Dar es Salaam in German East Africa. From there the trains of the Mittellandbahn carried the boxes to Kigoma and she was rebuilt there in 1914 and launched on 5 February 1915. Originally the ship had seven first class cabins and five second class cabins, as well as first, the machinery consisted at first of two round boilers for steam for the two triple expansion engines with a power rating of 250 indicated horsepower per engine. She also had an ice and cooling unit in an insulated cold storage with a capacity of 3 kilograms of ice per hour, and a lighting. The ship was designed for a crew of 64 men, during World War I the Germans converted Goetzen to an auxiliary warship under the name SMS Goetzen. They gave her a 10.5 cm gun from the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, a no longer operational. She also received an 8.8 cm gun, one of two that Königsberg had brought out from Germany to arm auxiliary cruisers should the opportunity arise, lastly, the survey ship SMS Möwe contributed two 37 mm Hotchkiss revolver guns to Goetzens armament. The Germans appointed Oberleutnant zur See Siebel captain of Goetzen, under his command Goetzen initially gave the Germans complete supremacy on Lake Tanganyika. She ferried cargo and personnel across the lake, and provided a base from which to launch attacks on Allied troops. It therefore became essential for the Allied forces to control of the lake themselves. The British then launched their two boats at Albertville on the shore of Lake Tanganyika
3.
Lake Tanganyika
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Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is the second oldest freshwater lake in the world, second largest by volume, the lake is divided among four countries – Tanzania, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia, with Tanzania and DRC possessing the majority of the lake. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean, the name apparently refers to Tanganika, the great lake spreading out like a plain, or plain-like lake. Lake Tanganyika is situated within the Albertine Rift, the branch of the East African Rift. It is the largest rift lake in Africa and the second largest lake by volume in the world and it is the deepest lake in Africa and holds the greatest volume of fresh water, accounting for 18% of the worlds available fresh water. It extends for 676 km in a general direction and averages 50 km in width. The lake covers 32,900 km2, with a shoreline of 1,828 km, a depth of 570 m. It holds an estimated 18,900 cubic kilometres and this is equivalent to about 16% of all fresh water on Earth. The catchment area of the lake is 231,000 km2, two main rivers flow into the lake, as well as numerous smaller rivers and streams. There is one major outflow, the Lukuga River, which empties into the Congo River drainage, the major river flowing into the lake is the Ruzizi River, formed about 10,000 years ago, which enters the north of the lake from Lake Kivu. The Malagarasi River, which is Tanzanias second largest river, enters the east side of Lake Tanganyika, the Malagarasi is older than Lake Tanganyika and, before the lake was formed, directly drained into the Congo River. Apparently it has rarely in the past had an outflow to the sea and it has been described as practically endorheic for this reason. The lakes connection to the sea is dependent on a water level allowing water to overflow out of the lake through the Lukunga into the Congo. Due to the tropical location, it has a high rate of evaporation. Thus it depends on a high inflow through the Ruzizi out of Lake Kivu to keep the lake high enough to overflow. Signs of ancient shorelines indicate that at times Tanganyika may have been up to 300 m lower than its present surface level, even its current outlet is intermittent and may not have been operating when first visited by Western explorers in 1858. Lake Tanganyika is an ancient lake and its three basins, which in periods with much lower water levels were separate lakes, are of different ages. The central began to form 9—12 million years ago, the northern 7—8 mya, there are several islands in Lake Tanganyika
4.
Naval artillery
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Naval artillery is artillery mounted on a warship, originally used only for naval warfare, later also for naval gunfire support against targets on land, and for anti-aircraft use. The idea of artillery dates back to the classical era. Julius Caesar indicates the use of ship-borne catapults against Britons ashore in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, the dromons of the Byzantine Empire carried catapults and fire-throwers. From the late Middle Ages onwards, warships began to carry cannon of various calibres, the Battle of Arnemuiden, fought between England and France in 1338 at the start of the Hundred Years War, was the first recorded European naval battle using artillery. The English ship Christopher was armed with three cannons and one hand gun, by the 15th century most Mediterranean powers were utilising heavy cannon mounted on the bow or stern of a vessel and designed to bombard fortresses on shore. By mid-century some vessels also carried smaller broadside cannons for bombarding other vessels immediately prior to an attempted boarding and these small guns were anti-personnel weapons and were fired at point blank range to accompany engagement with muskets or bows. From the 1470s both the Portuguese and Venetian navies were experimenting with cannons as anti-ship weapons, in 1489 John of Portugal further contributed to the development of naval artillery by establishing the first standardized teams of trained naval gunners. The 16th century was an era of transition in naval warfare, since ancient times, war at sea had been fought much like that on land, with melee weapons and bows and arrows, but on floating wooden platforms rather than battlefields. Though the introduction of guns was a significant change, it slowly changed the dynamics of ship-to-ship combat. As guns became heavier and able to more powerful gunpowder charges, they needed to be placed lower in the ship. Although some 16th-century galleys mounted broadside cannon, they did so at the expense of rowing positions which sacrificed speed, most early cannon were still placed in the forecastle and aftercastle of a ship where they might be conveniently pointed in any direction. Early naval artillery was a weapon to deter boarders, because cannon powerful enough to damage ships were heavy enough to destabilize any ship mounting them in an elevated castle. Being a crown industry, cost considerations did not curb the pursuit of the best quality, best innovations, the crown paid wage premiums and bonuses to lure the best European artisans and gunners to advance the industry in Portugal. This made broadsides, coordinated volleys from all the guns on one side of a ship, possible for the first time in history, at least in theory. Ships, such as Mary Rose, carried a mixture of cannon of different types and sizes, many designed for land use, and using incompatible ammunition at different ranges and rates of fire. The Mary Rose, like other ships of the time, was built during a period of development of heavy artillery. The heavy armament was a mix of older-type wrought iron and cast bronze guns, the bronze guns were cast in one piece and rested on four-wheel carriages which were essentially the same as those used until the 19th century. The breech-loaders were cheaper to produce and both easier and faster to reload, but could take less powerful charges than cast bronze guns, the majority of the guns were small iron guns with short range that could be aimed and fired by a single person
5.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
6.
Shell (projectile)
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A shell is a payload-carrying projectile that, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used, originally, it was called a bombshell, but shell has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Words cognate with grenade are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages, shells are usually large-calibre projectiles fired by artillery, combat vehicles, and warships. Shells usually have the shape of a cylinder topped by a nose for good aerodynamic performance, possibly with a tapering base. Solid cannonballs did not need a fuse, but hollow munitions filled with something such as gunpowder to fragment the ball, needed a fuse, percussion fuses with a spherical projectile presented a challenge because there was no way of ensuring that the impact mechanism hit the target. Therefore, shells needed a fuse that was ignited before or during firing. The earliest record of shells being used in combat was by the Republic of Venice at Jadra in 1376, shells with fuses were used at the 1421 siege of St Boniface in Corsica. These were two hollowed hemispheres of stone or bronze held together by an iron hoop, as described in their book, these hollow, gunpowder-packed shells were made of cast iron. At least since the 16th Century grenades made of ceramics or glass were in use in Central Europe, a hoard of several hundred ceramic greandes were discovered during building works in front of a bastion of the Bavarian City of Ingolstadt, Germany dated to the 17th Century. Lots of the grenades obtained their orignal blackpowder loads and igniters, most probably the grenades were intentionally dumped the moat of the bastion before the year 1723. Early powder burning fuses had to be loaded fuse down to be ignited by firing or a portfire put down the barrel to light the fuse, other shells were wrapped in bitumen cloth, which would ignite during the firing and in turn ignite a powder fuse. Nevertheless, shells came into use in the 16th Century. By the 18th Century, it was known that the fuse towards the muzzle could be lit by the flash through the windage between the shell and the barrel, the use of exploding shells from field artillery became relatively commonplace from early in the 19th century. Until the mid 19th century, shells remained as simple exploding spheres that used gunpowder and they were usually made of cast iron, but bronze, lead, brass and even glass shell casings were experimented with. The word bomb encompassed them at the time, as heard in the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner, typically, the thickness of the metal body was about a sixth of their diameter and they were about two thirds the weight of solid shot of the same calibre. To ensure that shells were loaded with their fuses towards the muzzle, in 1819, a committee of British artillery officers recognised that they were essential stores and in 1830 Britain standardised sabot thickness as a half inch. The sabot was also intended to reduce jamming during loading, despite the use of exploding shell, the use of smoothbore cannons, firing spherical projectiles of shot, remained the dominant artillery method until the 1850s. By the late 18th century, artillery could use canister shot to defend itself from infantry or cavalry attack and this involved loading a tin or canvas container filled with small iron or lead balls instead of the usual cannonball
7.
Breech-loading weapon
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A breech-loading gun is a firearm in which the cartridge or shell is inserted or loaded into a chamber integral to the rear portion of a barrel. Modern mass production firearms are breech-loading, early firearms, on the other hand, were almost entirely muzzle-loading. In field artillery, breech loading allows the crew to reload the gun without exposing themselves to fire or repositioning the piece. The main challenge for developers of breech-loading firearms was sealing the breech and this was eventually solved for smaller firearms by the development of the self-contained metallic cartridge. For firearms too large to use cartridges, the problem was solved by the development of the interrupted screw, breech-loading swivel guns were invented in the 14th century. The breech-loading swivel gun had a rate of fire, and was especially effective in anti-personnel roles. Breech-loading firearms are known from the 16th century, Henry VIII possessed one, which he apparently used as a hunting gun to shoot birds. More breech-loading firearms were made in the early 18th century, one such gun known to have belonged to Philip V of Spain, and was manufactured circa 1715, probably in Madrid. It came with a ready-to load reusable cartridge, patrick Ferguson, a British Army officer, developed in 1772 the Ferguson rifle, a breech-loading flintlock firearm. Later on into the century there were attempts in Europe at an effective breech-loader. There were concentrated attempts at improved cartridges and methods of ignition, the cartridge was loaded through the breech and fired with a needle. The needle-activated central-fire breech-loading gun would become a feature of firearms thereafter. The corresponding firearm was also developed by Pauly, Pauly made an improved version, which was protected by a patent on 29 September 1812. In 1846 another Paris Frenchman, Benjamin Houllier, patented the first fully metallic cartridge containing powder in a metallic shell, Houllier commercialised his weapons in association with the gunsmiths Blanchard or Charles Robert. In English-speaking countries the Flobert cartridge corresponds to the.22 BB, the first centrefire cartridge was introduced in 1855 by Pottet, with both Berdan and Boxer priming. The Dreyse Zündnadelgewehr or Dreyse needle gun, was a single-shot breech-loading rifle using a rotating bolt to seal the breech and it was so called because of its. 5-inch needle-like firing pin, which passed through a paper cartridge case to impact a percussion cap at the bullet base. It began development in the 1830s under von Dreyse and eventually a version of it was adopted by Prussia in the late 1840s. The paper cartridge and the gun had numerous deficiencies, specifically, however, the rifle was used to great success in the Prussian army in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866
8.
Gun laying
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Gun laying is the process of aiming an artillery piece, such as a gun, howitzer or mortar on land, or at sea, against surface or air targets. It may be laying for direct fire, where the gun is aimed similarly to a rifle, or indirect fire, the term includes automated aiming using, for example, radar-derived target data and computer-controlled guns. Gun laying means moving the axis of the bore of the barrel in two planes, horizontal and vertical. A gun is traversed – rotated in a horizontal plane – to align it with the target, Gun laying is a set of actions to align the axis of a gun barrel so that it points in the required direction. This alignment is in the horizontal and vertical planes, Gun laying may be for direct fire, where the layer sees the target, or indirect fire, where the target may not be visible from the gun. Gun laying has sometimes called training the gun. Laying in the vertical plane uses data derived from trials or empirical experience, for any given gun and projectile types, it reflects the distance to the target and the size of the propellant charge. It also incorporates any differences in height between gun and target, with indirect fire, it may allow for other variables as well. With indirect fire the horizontal angle is relative to something, typically the guns aiming point, depending on the gun mount, there is usually a choice of two trajectories. The dividing angle between the trajectories is about 45 degrees, it varies due to gun dependent factors. Below 45 degrees the trajectory is called low angle, above is high angle, the differences are that low angle fire has a shorter time of flight, a lower vertex and flatter angle of descent. All guns have carriages or mountings that support the barrel assembly, early guns could only be traversed by moving their entire carriage or mounting, and this lasted with heavy artillery into World War II. Mountings could be fitted into traversing turrets on ships, coast defences or tanks, from circa 1900 field artillery carriages provided traverse without moving the wheels and trail. The carriage, or mounting, also enabled the barrel to be set at the elevation angle. With some gun mounts it is possible to depress the gun, some guns require a near-horizontal elevation for loading. An essential capability for any elevation mechanism is to prevent the weight of the barrel forcing its heavier end downward and this is greatly helped by having trunnions at the centre of gravity, although a counterbalance mechanism can be used. It also means the elevation gear has to be enough to resist considerable downward pressure. However, mortars, where the forces were transferred directly into the ground
9.
Bundeswehr
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The Bundeswehr is the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The States of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own, the Bundeswehr is divided into a military part and a civil part with the armed forces administration. The military part of the defense force consists of the Heer, Marine, Luftwaffe, Streitkräftebasis, Zentraler Sanitätsdienst. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 27,600 reserve personnel. 2%, the Bundeswehr are in the process of integrating smaller NATO members Brigades into divisions of the German army. The Bundeswehr is to play a role as anchor army for smaller NATO states. 2 of 3 Royal Netherlands Army Brigades are now under German Command, in 2014 the 11th Airmobile Brigade, was integrated into the German Division of fast forces. Also the Dutch 43rd Mechanized Brigade, will be integrated into the 1st Panzer Division of the German army, with the integration starting at the beginning of 2016, and the unit becoming operational at the end of 2019. The Dutch-German military cooperation are seen as an example for setting up a European defense union, also the Czech Republics 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade, and Romania’s 81st Mechanized Brigade, will be integrated into Germany’s 10 Armoured Division and Rapid Response Forces Division. The name Bundeswehr was first proposed by the former Wehrmacht general and Liberal politician Hasso von Manteuffel, the Iron Cross is its official emblem. It is a symbol that has an association with the military of Germany. The Schwarzes Kreuz is derived from the black cross insignia of the medieval Teutonic knights, when the Bundeswehr was established in 1955, its founding principles were based on developing a completely new military force for the defence of West Germany. In this respect the Bundeswehr did not consider itself to be a successor to either the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic or Hitlers Wehrmacht, neither does it adhere to the traditions of any former German military organization. One of the most visible traditions of the modern Bundeswehr is the Großer Zapfenstreich, the FRG reinstated this formal military ceremony in 1952, three years before the foundation of the Bundeswehr. Today it is performed by a band with 4 fanfare trumpeters and timpani. The Zapfenstreich is only performed during national celebrations or solemn public commemorations and it can honour distinguished persons present such as the German federal president or provide the conclusion to large military exercises. Another important tradition in the modern German armed forces is the Gelöbnis, there are two kinds of oath, for conscripts/recruits it is a pledge but its a solemn vow for full-time personnel. The pledge is made annually on 20 July, the date on which a group of Wehrmacht officers attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944, recruits from the Bundeswehrs Wachbataillon make their vow at the Bendlerblock in Berlin. This was the headquarters of the resistance but also where the officers were executed following its failure
10.
Dresden-class cruiser
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The Dresden class was a pair of light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy in the early part of the 20th century. The class comprised SMS Dresden, the ship, and SMS Emden. Both ships were laid down in 1906, Dresden was launched in 1907 and they entered service in 1908 and 1909, respectively. The design for the ships was an improvement over the preceding Königsberg class, being slightly larger and slightly faster. Dresden and Emden were powered by steam turbines and triple expansion engines, respectively, both ships served extensively on foreign stations, Emden was assigned to the East Asia Squadron from her commissioning, and Dresden was sent to Caribbean waters in 1913. Dresden was due to return to Germany for periodic maintenance shortly before the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 and she therefore operated as a commerce raider, before linking up with Vizeadmiral Maximilian von Spees East Asia Squadron. Dresden thereafter participated in the Battle of Coronel in November 1914 and she was the only German vessel to escape destruction at the latter engagement, and she remained at large for several more months. Dresden finally put into the Chilean island of Más a Tierra in March 1915 owing to worn-out engines, a pair of British cruisers violated Chilean neutrality and attacked Dresden while she lay at anchor, the Germans scuttled their ship to prevent her capture. Emden, meanwhile, had detached from the East Asia Squadron to pursue an independent commerce raiding campaign in the Indian Ocean. She captured or sank numerous Entente vessels, including the steamer Ryazan, in September 1914, Emden raided Penang and caught the Russian protected cruiser Zhemchug and the French destroyer Mousquet and quickly destroyed both ships. Shortly thereafter, Emden was caught by the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney off the Cocos Islands, the two ships of the Dresden class were ordered in the 1905–1906 construction program. Their design represents an improvement over the earlier Königsberg class. They carried the main battery of 10.5 cm guns on a slightly greater displacement. Like the Königsbergs, one fitted with a steam turbine engine to compare its performance with the traditional triple-expansion engine in an otherwise-identical sister ship. All subsequent designs of German cruisers utilized turbine propulsion systems, the two Dresden-class cruisers were 117.90 meters long at the waterline and 118.30 m long overall. They had a beam of 13.50 m and a draft of 5.53 m forward and they displaced 3,664 metric tons as designed and up to 4,268 t at full combat load. Their hulls were constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames, the hulls contained thirteen watertight compartments and had a double bottom that extended for 47 percent of the length of the keel. The ships were good sea boats, but they were crank and they were also very wet at high speeds and suffered from a slight weather helm
11.
Gazelle-class cruiser
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The Gazelle class was a group of ten light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy at the turn of the 20th century. They were the first modern cruiser design of the Imperial Navy. The design of the Gazelle class attempted to merge the fleet scout with the colonial cruiser and they were armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm guns and a pair of torpedo tubes, and were capable of a speed of 21.5 knots. All ten ships served with the fleet when they were first commissioned, most were used as coastal defense ships early in the war. The rest survived the war to see service with the Reichsmarine, with the exception of Gazelle, which was broken up in 1920. Niobe was sold to Yugoslavia in 1925 and renamed Dalmacija, Medusa and Arcona were converted into anti-aircraft ships in 1940 and were scuttled at the end of World War II. Dalmacija was captured twice during the war, first by the Italians, who renamed her Cattaro, and then by the Germans and she ran aground in December 1943 and was subsequently destroyed by British Motor Torpedo Boats. Amazone was the member to survive the war intact, as a barracks ship, and she remained in service until 1954. The Gazelle class was the first modern cruiser design of the Imperial Navy. The design for the Gazelle class followed several intermediate types, including the Bussard class of unprotected cruisers and they were intended to fulfill the requirements for a fleet scout and an overseas cruiser. The design was smaller than contemporary light cruisers, but the ships were nevertheless sturdy. These characteristics evenly balanced the requirements for the two roles envisioned for the class, according to the historian Eric Osborne, he light cruisers of the Gazelle-class established a trend for future ships of this general design. Carried little or no armor, the asset being speed. Indeed, all future light cruisers built by the Imperial Navy generally followed the same pattern, the ships of the Gazelle class were 104.10 to 104.40 m long at the waterline and 105 meters long overall. The first seven ships had a beam of 12.20 m and they had a draft of 4.11 to 5.38 m forward and 5.31 to 5.69 m aft. They were designed to displace 2,643 to 2,706 metric tons at a normal loading, the ships hulls were constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames, the outer hull wall consisted of wooden planks covered with a layer of Muntz metal to prevent fouling. The Muntz metal extended up to a meter above the waterline, the hull was divided into twelve watertight compartments and it had a double bottom that extended for 40 percent of the length of the keel. For the last three ships, their double bottom was lengthened to 46 percent of the hull, All ten ships were crank and rolled severely
