A 1902 lithograph of Gazelle
Class overview
Operators	Imperial German Navy  Reichsmarine  Kriegsmarine  Royal Yugoslav Navy  Regia Marina
Preceded by	SMS Hela
Succeeded by	Bremen class
Built	1897–1904
In service	1900–1954
Completed	10
Lost	4
Scrapped	6
General characteristics
Type	Light cruiser
Displacement	Normal: 2,643 to 2,706 t (2,601 to 2,663 long tons) Full load: 2,963 to 3,180 t (2,916 to 3,130 long tons; 3,266 to 3,505 short tons)
Length	105 m (344 ft 6 in)
Beam	12.20 to 12.40 m (40 ft 0 in to 40 ft 8 in)
Draft	4.11 to 5.38 m (13 ft 6 in to 17 ft 8 in)
Installed power	8 × water-tube boilers Gazelle: 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) All others: 8,000 ihp (6,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × screw propellers 2 × triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	Gazelle: 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) All others: 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
Range	3,560 to 4,400 nmi (6,590 to 8,150 km; 4,100 to 5,060 mi)
Complement	14 officers 243–256 enlisted men
Armament	10 × 10.5 cm SK L/40 guns 2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Deck: 20 to 25 mm (0.79 to 0.98 in)

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 light cruiser design of the Imperial Navy, and set the basic pattern for all future light cruisers in Imperial service. The design of the Gazelle class attempted to merge the fleet scout with the colonial cruiser. They were armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a pair of torpedo tubes, and were capable of a speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).

All ten ships served with the fleet when they were first commissioned, and several served on foreign stations in the decade before the outbreak of World War I. Most were used as coastal defense ships early in the war. Ariadne was sunk at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, Undine was torpedoed in the Baltic by a British submarine in November 1915, and Frauenlob was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. 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Niobe was sold to Yugoslavia in 1925 and renamed Dalmacija, and the rest of the cruisers were withdrawn from service by the end of the 1920s and used for secondary duties or broken up for scrap. 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, who restored the original name of Niobe. She ran aground in December 1943 and was subsequently destroyed by British Motor Torpedo Boats. Amazone was the only member to survive the war intact, as a barracks ship, and she remained in service until 1954, when she was broken up for scrap.

Design

SMS Geier of the Bussard class, one of the predecessor types that led to the Gazelle design

Through the 1870s and early 1880s, Germany built two types of cruising vessels: small, fast, but lightly armed avisos suitable for service as fleet scouts and larger, long-ranged screw corvettes capable of patrolling the German colonial empire. Beginning in the mid-1880s, General Leo von Caprivi, the Chief of the Imperial Admiralty, embarked on a construction program to modernize Germany's cruiser force. The first step in the program, the two Schwalbe-class unprotected cruisers, provided the basis for the larger Bussard class. All of these vessels were comparatively slow, capable of no more than 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph), which was not sufficient for scout operations with the main fleet.^[1][2]

In the early 1890s, naval officers began to consider a new type of cruiser that incorporated the speed of the avisos with the heavier armament and longer cruising radius of the unprotected cruisers. Then-Captain Alfred von Tirpitz, at the time the Chief of Staff of the Imperial Naval High Command (Oberkommando der Marine—OKM), wrote a summary of 1894 fleet maneuvers that included what he believed to be the necessary characteristics of a new small cruiser. These included a top speed of at least 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), armament sufficient to permit them to engage enemy fleet scouts, and an armor deck to protect the ship's propulsion machinery.^[3]

Plan, profile, and cross-section of the Gazelle class

The General Department of the Imperial Naval Office (Reichsmarineamt—RMA) issued a call for proposals on 10 May 1895 for the next cruiser, provisionally titled "G". Records of the initial proposals have not survived, though the final design closely followed Tirpitz's specifications outlined in 1894. The caliber of the main battery had to be limited to 10.5 cm (4.1 in), despite his preference for larger weapons, to keep displacement within reasonable limits. Maximum speed was to be 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph), a margin of 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) over contemporary battleship designs. The design for the first vessel, which would become Gazelle, was prepared in 1895–1896 by the navy's chief designer, Alfred Dietrich. As additional members of the class were ordered, a series of improvements were incorporated in their designs over the course of 1897–1900.^[4][5]

By 1897, when the second member of the class would be proposed to the Reichstag to be included in the next year's budget, developments in other vessels prompted the first of these changes. The latest Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleships would have a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), necessitating an increase in speed to maintain the 3-knot speed advantage. The RMA also considered increasing the caliber of main guns in line with Tirpitz's thinking, but Dietrich stated that the requested improvements could not be incorporated while retaining a displacement of not more than 3,000 metric tons (2,953 long tons). More problematically, the cost of the new ship would increase by around 26 percent, which the Reichstag would not likely approve. As a result, the next vessel would largely repeat Gazelle's design, though new machinery developed by the Germaniawerft shipyard secured the necessary increase of speed to 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).^[6]

The design was somewhat smaller than contemporary light cruisers, but the ships were nevertheless sturdy and powerfully armed for the period.^[7] These characteristics evenly balanced the requirements for the two roles envisioned for the class.^[8] According to the historian Eric Osborne, "[t]he light cruisers of the Gazelle-class established a trend for future ships of this general design...[they] carried little or no armor, the chief asset being speed."^[9] Indeed, all future light cruisers built by the Imperial Navy through the Dresden class of 1906 generally followed the same pattern, with few fundamental changes.^[10][11]

General characteristics

Medusa passing under the Levensau High Bridge in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal

The ships of the Gazelle class were 104.10 to 104.40 m (341 ft 6 in to 342 ft 6 in) long at the waterline and 105 meters (344 ft 6 in) long overall. The first seven ships had a beam of 12.20 m (40 ft 0 in) and the last three were slightly wider, at 12.40 m (40 ft 8 in). They had a draft of 4.11 to 5.38 m (13 ft 6 in to 17 ft 8 in) forward and 5.31 to 5.69 m (17 ft 5 in to 18 ft 8 in) aft. They were designed to displace 2,643 to 2,706 metric tons (2,601 to 2,663 long tons) at a normal loading, and at full load their displacement rose to 2,963 to 3,180 t (2,916 to 3,130 long tons; 3,266 to 3,505 short tons). 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.^[12]

All ten ships were crank and rolled severely. They were also wet in a head sea. After their modernizations, they tended to suffer from lee helm. Nevertheless, the ships turned tightly and were very maneuverable. In a hard turn, their speed fell up to 65 percent. They had a transverse metacentric height of 0.5 to 0.63 m (1 ft 8 in to 2 ft 1 in). The Gazelle class required a crew of 14 officers and 243 enlisted men, though for the last three ships, the number of enlisted men rose to 256. They carried a number of boats, including one picket boat, one pinnace, two cutters, two yawls, and one dinghy.^[13]

Construction

Undine at her launching

The ten ships of the Gazelle class were built between 1897 and 1904, at various German dockyards, including private firms and government shipyards.^[15]

Service history

Ariadne at Heligoland Bight, 1914

The Gazelle-class cruisers served in various capacities after their commissioning. Most of them served with the fleet reconnaissance force, though several served on foreign stations as well. Gazelle served abroad in 1902–1904, Thetis in 1902–1906, Niobe in 1906–1909, and Arcona in 1907–1910. Nymphe was also used as a training ship for naval cadets in addition to her fleet scout role, and Undine served as a gunnery training ship.^[16]

Due to their age, the Gazelles had been placed in reserve by 1914, but after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, they were mobilized for active service.^[8] Most were initially used as coastal defense vessels in the Baltic, but Frauenlob and Ariadne remained in service with the fleet.^[16] They both saw action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914; Frauenlob engaged and badly damaged the British cruiser HMS Arethusa, while Ariadne was sunk by several battlecruisers.^[17] Frauenlob soldiered on in the fleet reconnaissance forces until the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916, when she was torpedoed and sunk by HMS Southampton in a ferocious night battle, with the loss of almost her entire crew.^[18] In the Baltic, Undine was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS E19 on 7 November 1915.^[19]

Niobe in Yugoslavian service, 1941.

The seven surviving ships were withdrawn from front-line service in 1916 and disarmed, with the exception of Medusa, which retained six of her guns, and Thetis, which was rearmed with nine 10.5 cm U-boat guns for use as a gunnery training ship. The remaining seven cruisers survived the war and went on to serve in the new Reichsmarine, except for Gazelle, which was broken up for scrap in 1920. The ships remained in service throughout the 1920s, but were all withdrawn by the early 1930s. Niobe was sold to Yugoslavia in 1925 and renamed Dalmacija, while Nymphe and Thetis were scrapped in the early 1930s. Arcona, Medusa, and Amazone were used as barracks hulks for the rest of the 1930s.^[8][16]

After the outbreak of World War II, Medusa and Arcona were converted into floating anti-aircraft batteries and defended German ports from 1940 to the end of the war, when they were scuttled by their crews on 3 May 1945. Amazone meanwhile remained in service as a barracks ship through the end of the war.^[16] Dalmacija was captured by the Italians after the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, renamed Cattaro, and pressed into service with the Italian Navy. She was then captured by the Germans after the Italian surrender in September 1943, and returned to her original name, Niobe. The ship ran aground in the Adriatic in December 1943 and was destroyed by a pair of British Motor Torpedo Boats.^[20] Niobe, Medusa, and Arcona were broken up for scrap in the late 1940s, but Amazone lingered on as a barracks ship until 1954, when she too was sold for scrapping.^[16]

Footnotes

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References

• Campbell, John (1998). Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-1-55821-759-1.
• Campbell, N. J. M. & Sieche, Erwin (1986). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 134–189. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
• Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
• Herwig, Holger (1980). "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst: Humanity Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
• Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Nottelmann, Dirk (2020). "The Development of the Small Cruiser in the Imperial German Navy". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2020. Oxford: Osprey. pp. 102–118. ISBN 978-1-4728-4071-4.
• Osborne, Eric W. (2004). Cruisers and Battlecruisers. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-85109-369-4.
• Polmar, Norman & Noot, Jurrien (1991). Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718–1990. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-570-4.
• Rohwer, Jürgen (2005). Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939–1945: The Naval History of World War Two. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.
• Staff, Gary (2011). Battle on the Seven Seas. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-84884-182-6.

Further reading

• Dodson, Aidan; Nottelmann, Dirk (2021). The Kaiser's Cruisers 1871–1918. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-745-8.