SMS Gazelle

SMS Gazelle was the lead ship of the ten-vessel Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph). Her Niclausse boilers proved to be troublesome in service, and these were later replaced in the mid-1900s.

Gazelle initially operated with the main fleet in home waters, during which time she made a major cruise to Spain to greet the German expeditionary force that had been sent to suppress the Boxer Uprising. In 1902, she was sent overseas; slated to join the East Asia Squadron, she instead was diverted to Venezuela in response to rising tensions that ultimately produced the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903. During the crisis, she operated with British and Italian warships in a blockade of the country and her crew seized the gunboat Restaurador, pressing her into German service. Following the settlement of the dispute, Gazelle cruised in North and Central American waters, visiting numerous ports in the region. She was recalled to Germany in 1904, decommissioned, and overhauled, thereafter remaining out of service for the next decade.

The ship was recommissioned after the start of World War I in 1914, serving in the Baltic Sea as part of the Coastal Defense Division, then the Detached Division, before returning to the former in late 1914. After being damaged by Russian naval mines in January 1915, she was deemed not worth repairing and was instead converted into a mine storage hulk, a role she filled for the rest of the war. She was ultimately struck from the naval register in 1920 and broken up.

Following the construction of the unprotected cruisers of the Bussard class and the aviso Hela for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the Construction Department of the Reichsmarineamt (Imperial Navy Office) prepared a design for a new small cruiser that combined the best attributes of both types of vessels. The designers had to design a small cruiser with armor protection that had an optimal combination of speed, armament, and stability necessary for fleet operations, along with the endurance to operate on foreign stations in the German colonial empire. The resulting Gazelle design provided the basis for all of the light cruisers built by the German fleet to the last official designs prepared in 1914.

Gazelle was 105 meters (344 ft 6 in) long overall and had a beam of 12.2 m (40 ft) and a draft of 4.84 m (15 ft 11 in) forward. She displaced 2,643 t (2,601 long tons) normally and up to 2,963 t (2,916 long tons) at full combat load. The ship had a minimal superstructure, which consisted of a small conning tower and bridge structure. She was fitted with two pole masts. Her hull had a raised forecastle and quarterdeck, along with a pronounced ram bow. She had a crew of 14 officers and 243 enlisted men.

Her propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion steam engines manufactured by Germaniawerft, driving a pair of screw propellers. The engines were powered by eight coal-fired Niclausse boilers that were vented through a pair of funnels. They were designed to give 6,000 metric horsepower (5,900 ihp), for a top speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph). Gazelle carried 500 t (490 long tons) of coal, which gave her a range of 3,570 nautical miles (6,610 km; 4,110 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Gazelle's armament consisted of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/40 guns in single pivot mounts. Two were placed side-by-side forward on the forecastle; six were located on the broadside in sponsons; and two were placed side-by-side aft. The guns could engage targets out to 12,200 m (13,300 yd). They were supplied with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, for 100 shells per gun. She was also equipped with three 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes. One was submerged in the hull in the bow and two were mounted in deck launchers on the broadside.

The ship was protected by an armored deck that was 20 to 25 mm (0.79 to 0.98 in) thick. The deck sloped downward at the sides of the ship to provide a measure of protection against incoming fire. The conning tower had 80 mm (3.1 in) thick sides, and the guns were protected by 50 mm (2 in) thick gun shields.