SMS Moltke |
|
| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SMS Moltke |
| Builder: | Kaiserliche Werft at Danzig |
| Laid down: | 1875 |
| Launched: | 18 October 1877 |
| Commissioned: | 16 April 1878 |
| Renamed: | Acheron, October 1911 |
| Reclassified: | Hulk |
| Fate: | Broken up, 1920 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 2850 tons |
| Length: | 82 m (269 ft 0 in) |
| Beam: | 14 m (45 ft 11 in) |
| Draft: | 5.8 m (19 ft 0 in) |
| Propulsion: | 4 × coal-fired boilers 1 × 2-cylinder expansion engine, 2,500 ihp (1,864 kW) |
| Speed: | 12 knots (14 mph; 22 km/h) |
| Range: | 1,940 nmi (3,590 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) |
| Complement: | 452 men (including trainees) |
| Armament: | • 10-14 × 15 cm (5.9 in) cannon • 2 × 88 mm (3.5 in) quick-firing cannon • 2 × 37 mm (1.5 in) autocannon • 2 × machine guns |
SMS Moltke was a German three-masted, full-rigged frigate of the Kaiserliche Marine. Construction of the ship began in 1875; on 18 October 1877 SMS Moltke was launched and commissioned on 16 April 1878. She had an unplated iron hull and a steam engine. The ship was named after Prussian field marshal Helmuth von Moltke the Elder and served as training vessel for cadets and midshipmen and made numerous voyages abroad.
On 28 October 1911 SMS Moltke of 1877 was renamed Acheron. A new battlecruiser had been commissioned on 30 September 1911 to carry the distinguished name Moltke in the imperial navy.
Acheron was reclassified and converted to serve as hulk for U-boat crews at the Kiel naval base. The hulk Acheron was broken up in 1920.
The sister ships of SMS Moltke of 1877 were the Blücher, Stosch, Gneisenau and Stein.