Coastal defence ship

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Dutch coastal defence ship Hertog Hendrik
Dutch coastal defence ship Hertog Hendrik

Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coast-defence battleships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly in the period 1860-1920. They were small cruiser-sized warships which sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament, built by nations which could not afford battleships or which needed specially-suited shallow-draught vessels small enough to operate close to their coast, particularly in the island-dotted coastal waters of the Scandinavian area. Some had limited blue-water capacity; others operated in rivers.

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The coastal defence ships differed from earlier monitors by their higher freeboard, usually higher speed, sometimes casemated guns (monitors guns were almost always in turrets) and usually, possession of secondary armament. Over their time period, and from nation to nation, they varied in size from around 1,500 tons to around 8,000 tons. Several survived into the 1970s, but were mostly fairly useless after WW1 in nations which had blue-water capability.

Their construction and appearance was of a "mini-pre-dreadnought", with heavier armor relative to their size than cruisers or gunboats, a higher speed than most monitors and a main armament of 2 or 4 cruiser- or battleship-size guns mounted in two turrets, fore and aft, or sometimes in casemates, as well as smaller guns. They were mainly used as movable coastal artillery, and had offence and defence roles. Few of them ever saw combat in the First World War, some of them did in Second World War, and the last were scrapped in the 1970s.

Navies with coastal defence ships as main capital ships included Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand and the British colonies of India and Victoria. They were also built by Germany and Russia, which used 3 of them at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

Apart from specially built coastal defence ships, some navies used obsolete pre-dreadnought battleships in this role - they were bigger and better armed but cost more.

[edit] Categorization

One of the last of its type, the Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen.
One of the last of its type, the Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen.

This class of vessels has always been categorized differently by different countries, due to treaties, different judging grounds and also by reasons of pride. In the United Kingdom, the Scandinavian ships were called coast defence ships. Germany referred to the Scandinavian ships as "Coastal Armoured Ships" (Küstenpanzerschiff), in contrast to their own Deutschland class of larger seagoing "Armoured ships" (Panzerschiff), later renamed "Heavy cruisers" (Schweren Kreuzer). The Danes referred to their ships as both as "Coast Defence Ships" (Kystforsvarsskib) and "Armoured Ship" (Panserskib). The Dutch called their ships "Cruisers" (Kruiser), "Armoured Ships" (Pantserschip) or "Battleships" (Slagschip).

[edit] The Swedish Pansarskepp-ships

Pansarskepp ("armoured ship") is the Swedish term used for their coastal defence ships. This class of vessel should not be confused with the similarly named German "Panzerschiff", popularly and incorrectly known as a "Pocket battleship", as the design and purpose was very different.

[edit] Technical details

A pansarskepp is most related to a monitor. It is a relatively small vessel, with limited speed, shallow draft, and very heavy guns for its displacement. It was designed for close in-shore work near the islands or in the fiords of Scandinavia, and other countries that have a coast with shallow waters. The aim was to outgun any ocean going warship of the same draft by a significant margin, making it a very dangerous opponent for a cruiser, and deadly to anything smaller. The limitations in speed and seaworthiness were a trade-off for the heavy armament carried. The cruise to Great Britain by the HMS Sverige, for the festivities at the coronation of king George VI was an unusual event - these vessels almost never departed local waters, and would have been unsafe in an oceanic environment. Vessels similar to the Swedish Pansarskepp were also built and operated by Denmark, Norway, and Finland, all of which shared similar naval requirements.

[edit] Effectiveness

It has been suggested that the Sverige and Äran class ships were one reason why Germany did not invade Sweden during World War II. This speculation appeared in Warship Magazine - the author was writing an article on the Sverige class, and so may have been prejudiced. No German records appear to mention any planning or discussion of a plan to invade Sweden. Since the only neighbours with which Germany was not at war during the 1939 to 1945 period were Sweden, and Switzerland, the lack of documentation could be considered to be suspicious. How effective the ships would have been against the German Fleet and Air Force is unknown, as is how effective the Swedish Air Force would have been in their defence.

[edit] The Dutch Pantserschepen-ships

The Dutch used these ships as of 1900 amongst others to provide artillery support in the Dutch colony Indonesia and to escort merchant ships along the Spanish coast during the Spanish Civil War. In 1933 there took place a mutiny on De Zeven Provinciën, off Sumatra - quelled bloodily by an aerial bombardment in which twenty-three of the mutinous sailors (who apprently wanted no more than to protest cuts in their wages) were killed. This incidentally demonstrated the vulnerabilty of such ships (and of surface warships in general) to attacks from the air.

In WWII De Zeven Provinciën was sunk in shallow waters by Japanese bombing, dredged up by the Japanese after their occuption of the Dutch Indies and used by them as a battery ship, and sunk again (this time permanently) by allied bombers.

[edit] Operators

  • Argentina:
    • La Plata class (La Plata and Los Andes)
    • Independencia class (Independencia and Nueve de Julio)
  • Brazil:
    • Barrozo
    • Brasil
    • Lima Barros
    • Rio de Janeiro
    • Bahia
    • Silvado
    • Mariz e Barros class (Mariz e Barros and Herval)
    • Cabral class (Cabral and Colombo)
    • Sete de Setembro
    • Javary class (Javary and Solimoes)
    • Marshal Deodoro class (Marshal Deodoro and Marshal Floriano)
  • China:
    • Ping Yuan
  • Denmark
    • Herulf Trolle class (Herulf Trolle, Olfert Fischer and Peder Skram[1])
    • Niels Juel[2]
  • Germany
  • The Netherlands:
    • Evertsen class (Evertsen, Piet Hein and Kortenaer)
    • Koningin Regentes class (Koningin Regentes, De Ruyter and Hertog Hendrik)
    • Marten Harpertszoon Tromp
    • Jacob van Heemskerck
    • Kortenaer
    • Zeven Provinciën
    • Soerabaja
  • Portugal:
    • Vasco da Gama
  • Russia:
    • Novgorod
    • Vice-Admiral Popov
    • Admiral Ushakov class (Admiral Ushakov, Admiral Seniavin and General Admiral Graf Apraksin)
  • Thailand:
    • Dhonburi class (Dhonburi and Sri Ayuthia)
  • India:
    • Cerberus class (Magdala)
  • Victoria:
    • Cerberus class (Cerberus)
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