Protected Cruisers: Victoria Louise Class

[Brian James]

Victoria Louise Class Protected Cruisers SMS Hertha and SMS Hansa pictured at Molde,Norway c1900.

[designeraccd]

Two nice views of HERTHA!

Specs (WIKI):

"Class & type: Victoria Louise class protected cruiser
Displacement: Full load: 6,491 t (6,388 long tons; 7,155 short tons)
Length: 110.6 m (363 ft)
Beam: 17.4 m (57 ft)
Draft: 6.58 m (21.6 ft)
Propulsion: Three triple expansion engines
12 Dürr boilers
Speed: 19 knots (35 km/h)
Range: 3,412 nmi (6,319 km; 3,926 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement: 31 officers
446 enlisted men
Armament: 2 × 21 cm (8.3 in) guns
8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) guns
10× 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns
3 × 45 in (110 cm) torpedo tubes"
DFO

[Brian James]

Lead Ship,Protected Cruiser SMS Victoria Louise pictured at New York 1909.She was laid down at the AG Weser Shipyards in 1895, launched in March 1897, and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1899. She was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19.2 knots.
She served with the fleet for the first seven years of her career. During this time, she represented Germany during the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901. In 1906, she was modernized and after 1908, used as a Training Ship for naval cadets. In 1909, she visited the United States, and at the outbreak of World War I, was mobilized into V Scouting Group. She was attacked unsuccessfully by the British submarine HMS E1 in October 1914, and at the end of the year she was withdrawn from service. She was used as a Minelayer and Barracks Ship based in Danzig for the rest of the war. Victoria Louise was sold in 1919 and converted into a freighter the following year,she served in this capacity until 1923, when she was broken up for scrap.

[Brian James]

Victoria Louise Class Protected Cruiser SMS Hertha pictured at the Hudson-Fulton Celebrations in New York City in 1909.