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Coastal defence ship

January 01, 1970

For the coastal defence ships of Japan, see Kaibōkan.

Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament. They were usually attractive to nations that either could not afford full-sized battleships or could be satisfied by specially designed shallow-draft vessels capable of littoral operations close to their own shores. The Nordic countries and Thailand found them particularly appropriate for their island-dotted coastal waters. Some vessels had limited blue-water capabilities; others operated in rivers.

The Finnish coastal defence ship Väinämöinen, one of the last examples of the type.

The coastal defence ships differed from earlier monitors by having a higher freeboard and usually possessing both higher speed and a secondary armament; some examples also mounted casemated guns (monitors' guns were almost always in turrets). They varied in size from around 1,500 tons to 8,000 tons.

Their construction and appearance was often that of miniaturized pre-dreadnought battleships. As such, they carried heavier armour than cruisers or gunboats of equivalent size, were typically equipped with a main armament of two or four heavy and several lighter guns in turrets or casemates, and could steam at a higher speed than most monitors. In service they were mainly used as movable coastal artillery rather than instruments of sea control or fleet engagements like the battleships operated by blue-water navies. Few of these ships saw combat in the First World War, though some did in the Second World War. The last were scrapped in the 1970s.[note 1]

Navies with coastal defence ships serving as their main capital ships included those of Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, and the British colonies of India and Victoria. Some nations which at one time or another built, bought, or otherwise acquired their own front-line capital ships, such as Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Brazil, China, Germany, Russia, and Spain, also deployed this type of warship, with Russia using three at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

Apart from specially built coastal defence ships, some navies used various obsolescent ships in this role. The Royal Navy deployed four Majestic-class battleships as guardships in the Humber at the start of the First World War. Similarly, the U.S. Navy redesignated the Indiana and Iowa classes as "Coast Defense Battleships" in 1919. Such ships tended to be near the end of their service lives and while generally considered no longer fit for front-line service, they were still powerful enough for defensive duties in reserve situations.

Categorization edit

This type of vessel has always been categorized differently by different countries, due to treaties, differences in judgments related to design or intended roles, and also national pride. In the United Kingdom the Scandinavian ships were known as "coast defence ships". The Germans called these ships Küstenpanzerschiff ("coastal armoured ship").[1] The Danes referred to their ships as Kystforsvarsskib ("coast defence ship") and Panserskib ("armoured ship"). In Norway they were referred to as panserskip ("armoured ship"). The Dutch called their ships Kruiser ("cruiser"), Pantserschip ("armoured ship") or Slagschip ("battleship"). The Swedish term for these ships was initially 1:a klass Pansarbåt ("1st class armoured boat") and later Pansarskepp ("armoured ship"). Note however, that the German Panzerschiffen of the Deutschland class were not designed as coastal defense ships but as high seas raiders.

As an example of the profusion of terms and classifications which often contradicted each other, the 1938 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships lists the Swedish Pansarskepps of the Sverige class as battleships.

Swedish Pansarskepp edit

The Swedish Pansarskepp were an outgrowth of the earlier Swedish adoption of the monitor and were used for similar duties.

Technical details edit

The Pansarskepp or Pansarbåt, with the notable exception of the Sverige class, were relatively small vessels with limited speed, shallow draft, and very heavy guns relative to the displacement. They were designed for close in-shore work in the littoral zone of Scandinavia, and other countries with shallow coastal 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. Vessels similar to the Swedish Pansarskepp were also built and operated by Denmark, Norway, and Finland, all of which had similar naval requirements.

Effectiveness edit

The Sverige-class ships differed in several ways from the classical coastal defence ship, having heavier armament as well as better speed and armor (while still being small enough to operate and hide in the archipelagos and shallow waters off Sweden). The main difference was to be noted in their tactical doctrine and operations. Unlike other coastal defence ships the Sverige class formed the core of a traditional open-sea battle group (Coastal Fleet), operating with cruisers, destroyers, torpedo boats, and air reconnaissance in conformance with traditional battleship tactics of the time.

This “mini-battle group” had no intention of challenging the great power navies in blue-water battles, but rather were to operate as a defensive shield to aggression challenging Swedish interests and territory. Based on the doctrine that one needs a battle group to challenge other battle groups, this force intended to form a problematic obstacle in the confined and shallow Baltic and Kattegat theatre, where traditional large warships would be limited to very predictable moving patterns exposing them to submarines, fast torpedo craft, and minefields. It has been suggested that the Sverige-class ships were one reason why Germany did not invade Sweden during World War II. Such speculation appeared in Warship Magazine Annual 1992 in the article "The Sverige Class Coastal Defence Ships," by Daniel G. Harris. This could be said to have been partly confirmed in the post war publication of German tactical orders, and of scenarios regarding attacking Sweden. The problems of maintaining an army in Sweden without sea superiority were emphasized, and the lack of available suitable units to face the Swedish navy was pointed out (“Stations for battle”, Insulander/Olsson, 2001). Summarizing the question of effectiveness for the Sverige class, it is likely that despite a good armament they would have been too small, slow, and cramped (from both a habitability and essential ship's stores standpoint), along with having insufficient range, to perform adequately against any traditional battlecruiser or battleship in a blue-water scenario; however, if correctly used in their home waters and in a defensive situation, they would probably have presented a major challenge for any aggressor.

Dutch Pantserschepen edit

The Dutch used their armoured ships mainly to defend their interests overseas, in particular their colonial possessions in the West Indies (the islands of the Netherlands Antilles) and the East Indies (primarily, modern Indonesia). For this reason the ships had to be capable of long-range cruising, providing artillery support during amphibious operations, and carrying the troops and equipment needed in these operations. At the same time, these ships had to be armed and armoured well enough to face contemporary armoured cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (the Netherlands' most likely enemy in the Pacific), and as such they were expected to act as mini-battleships rather than strictly as coastal defence vessels.

The last Dutch pantserschip, HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën, was built in 1909 as a stop-gap measure while the Dutch Admiralty and government contemplated an ambitious fleet plan comprising a number of dreadnought battleships. This ambition was never realized due to the outbreak of the First World War. The Second World War put an end to a similar project to obtain fast capital ships in the late 1930s with German assistance.

Prior to the Second World War, the Dutch had relegated all the surviving pantserschepen to secondary duties. The Axis powers, who seized some of the ships following the conquest of the Netherlands, converted several of those ships to serve as floating anti-aircraft batteries and subsequently utilized some as block ships.

Operators edit

The navies of the following countries have operated coastal defence ships at some point in time.

 
Side and top views of ARA Independencia in Brassey's 1899 edition

Argentina edit

Austria-Hungary edit

 
Right elevation and plan of the Monarch class; the shaded area is armored

Brazil edit

China edit

Denmark edit

 
HDMS Niels Juel in 1939

Finland edit

 
Väinämöinen in 1938
  • Väinämöinen-class Panssarilaiva ships (1931)
    • Ilmarinen
    • Väinämöinen - transferred to Soviet Union as a reparations ship in 1947, served in Soviet Navy until 1966.

France edit

Germany edit

 
Line-drawing of Siegfried as originally configured
Main article: List of coastal defense ships of Germany

India edit

 
HMVS Cerberus at Williamstown in 1871

British Colony of Victoria edit

Mexico edit

The Netherlands edit

 
Plan and side view of the Koningin Regentes class

Norway edit

 
Norwegian Tordenskjold class

Russia edit

 
Admiral Ushakov in 1897

Sweden edit

 
Right elevation and deck plan of Sverige as depicted in Brassey's Naval Annual, 1923

Thailand edit

 
Thonburi in 1938


See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ HSwMS Gustaf V was scrapped in 1970

References edit

  1. ^ Albert Röhr:Handbuch der deutschen Marinegeschichte. Publisher Gerhard Stalling. Oldenburg/Hamburg 1963. p. 161
  2. ^ . milhist.dk. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  3. ^ . milhist.dk. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Chesneau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Conway Maritime Press, 1979. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4

External links edit

  Media related to Coastal defence ships at Wikimedia Commons

January 01, 1970
coastal, defence, ship, coastal, defence, ships, japan, kaibōkan, sometimes, called, coastal, battleships, coast, defence, ships, were, warships, built, purpose, coastal, defence, mostly, during, period, from, 1860, 1920, they, were, small, often, cruiser, siz. For the coastal defence ships of Japan see Kaibōkan Coastal defence ships sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920 They were small often cruiser sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armour and armament They were usually attractive to nations that either could not afford full sized battleships or could be satisfied by specially designed shallow draft vessels capable of littoral operations close to their own shores The Nordic countries and Thailand found them particularly appropriate for their island dotted coastal waters Some vessels had limited blue water capabilities others operated in rivers The Finnish coastal defence ship Vainamoinen one of the last examples of the type The coastal defence ships differed from earlier monitors by having a higher freeboard and usually possessing both higher speed and a secondary armament some examples also mounted casemated guns monitors guns were almost always in turrets They varied in size from around 1 500 tons to 8 000 tons Their construction and appearance was often that of miniaturized pre dreadnought battleships As such they carried heavier armour than cruisers or gunboats of equivalent size were typically equipped with a main armament of two or four heavy and several lighter guns in turrets or casemates and could steam at a higher speed than most monitors In service they were mainly used as movable coastal artillery rather than instruments of sea control or fleet engagements like the battleships operated by blue water navies Few of these ships saw combat in the First World War though some did in the Second World War The last were scrapped in the 1970s note 1 Navies with coastal defence ships serving as their main capital ships included those of Denmark Ecuador Finland the Netherlands Norway Portugal Sweden Thailand and the British colonies of India and Victoria Some nations which at one time or another built bought or otherwise acquired their own front line capital ships such as Argentina Austria Hungary Brazil China Germany Russia and Spain also deployed this type of warship with Russia using three at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905 Apart from specially built coastal defence ships some navies used various obsolescent ships in this role The Royal Navy deployed four Majestic class battleships as guardships in the Humber at the start of the First World War Similarly the U S Navy redesignated the Indiana and Iowa classes as Coast Defense Battleships in 1919 Such ships tended to be near the end of their service lives and while generally considered no longer fit for front line service they were still powerful enough for defensive duties in reserve situations Contents 1 Categorization 2 Swedish Pansarskepp 2 1 Technical details 2 2 Effectiveness 3 Dutch Pantserschepen 4 Operators 4 1 Argentina 4 2 Austria Hungary 4 3 Brazil 4 4 China 4 5 Denmark 4 6 Finland 4 7 France 4 8 Germany 4 9 India 4 10 British Colony of Victoria 4 11 Mexico 4 12 The Netherlands 4 13 Norway 4 14 Russia 4 15 Sweden 4 16 Thailand 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 External linksCategorization editThis type of vessel has always been categorized differently by different countries due to treaties differences in judgments related to design or intended roles and also national pride In the United Kingdom the Scandinavian ships were known as coast defence ships The Germans called these ships Kustenpanzerschiff coastal armoured ship 1 The Danes referred to their ships as Kystforsvarsskib coast defence ship and Panserskib armoured ship In Norway they were referred to as panserskip armoured ship The Dutch called their ships Kruiser cruiser Pantserschip armoured ship or Slagschip battleship The Swedish term for these ships was initially 1 a klass Pansarbat 1st class armoured boat and later Pansarskepp armoured ship Note however that the German Panzerschiffen of the Deutschland class were not designed as coastal defense ships but as high seas raiders As an example of the profusion of terms and classifications which often contradicted each other the 1938 edition of Jane s Fighting Ships lists the Swedish Pansarskepps of the Sverige class as battleships Swedish Pansarskepp editThe Swedish Pansarskepp were an outgrowth of the earlier Swedish adoption of the monitor and were used for similar duties Technical details edit The Pansarskepp or Pansarbat with the notable exception of the Sverige class were relatively small vessels with limited speed shallow draft and very heavy guns relative to the displacement They were designed for close in shore work in the littoral zone of Scandinavia and other countries with shallow coastal 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 Vessels similar to the Swedish Pansarskepp were also built and operated by Denmark Norway and Finland all of which had similar naval requirements Effectiveness edit The Sverige class ships differed in several ways from the classical coastal defence ship having heavier armament as well as better speed and armor while still being small enough to operate and hide in the archipelagos and shallow waters off Sweden The main difference was to be noted in their tactical doctrine and operations Unlike other coastal defence ships the Sverige class formed the core of a traditional open sea battle group Coastal Fleet operating with cruisers destroyers torpedo boats and air reconnaissance in conformance with traditional battleship tactics of the time This mini battle group had no intention of challenging the great power navies in blue water battles but rather were to operate as a defensive shield to aggression challenging Swedish interests and territory Based on the doctrine that one needs a battle group to challenge other battle groups this force intended to form a problematic obstacle in the confined and shallow Baltic and Kattegat theatre where traditional large warships would be limited to very predictable moving patterns exposing them to submarines fast torpedo craft and minefields It has been suggested that the Sverige class ships were one reason why Germany did not invade Sweden during World War II Such speculation appeared in Warship Magazine Annual 1992 in the article The Sverige Class Coastal Defence Ships by Daniel G Harris This could be said to have been partly confirmed in the post war publication of German tactical orders and of scenarios regarding attacking Sweden The problems of maintaining an army in Sweden without sea superiority were emphasized and the lack of available suitable units to face the Swedish navy was pointed out Stations for battle Insulander Olsson 2001 Summarizing the question of effectiveness for the Sverige class it is likely that despite a good armament they would have been too small slow and cramped from both a habitability and essential ship s stores standpoint along with having insufficient range to perform adequately against any traditional battlecruiser or battleship in a blue water scenario however if correctly used in their home waters and in a defensive situation they would probably have presented a major challenge for any aggressor Dutch Pantserschepen editThe Dutch used their armoured ships mainly to defend their interests overseas in particular their colonial possessions in the West Indies the islands of the Netherlands Antilles and the East Indies primarily modern Indonesia For this reason the ships had to be capable of long range cruising providing artillery support during amphibious operations and carrying the troops and equipment needed in these operations At the same time these ships had to be armed and armoured well enough to face contemporary armoured cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy the Netherlands most likely enemy in the Pacific and as such they were expected to act as mini battleships rather than strictly as coastal defence vessels The last Dutch pantserschip HNLMS De Zeven Provincien was built in 1909 as a stop gap measure while the Dutch Admiralty and government contemplated an ambitious fleet plan comprising a number of dreadnought battleships This ambition was never realized due to the outbreak of the First World War The Second World War put an end to a similar project to obtain fast capital ships in the late 1930s with German assistance Prior to the Second World War the Dutch had relegated all the surviving pantserschepen to secondary duties The Axis powers who seized some of the ships following the conquest of the Netherlands converted several of those ships to serve as floating anti aircraft batteries and subsequently utilized some as block ships Operators editThe navies of the following countries have operated coastal defence ships at some point in time nbsp Side and top views of ARA Independencia in Brassey s 1899 edition Argentina edit El Plata class 1874 El Plata Los Andes Libertad class 1890 Independencia Libertad Austria Hungary edit nbsp Right elevation and plan of the Monarch class the shaded area is armored Monarch class 1895 SMS Monarch SMS Wien SMS Budapest Brazil edit Barroso Brasil Lima Barros Rio de Janeiro Bahia Silvado Mariz e Barros class 1866 Mariz e Barros Herval Cabral class 1866 Cabral Colombo Sete de Setembro 1874 Javary class 1874 Javary Solimoes Marshal Deodoro class 1898 Deodoro Sold to Mexico in 1924 as Anahuac Floriano China edit Pingyuan 1888 Denmark edit nbsp HDMS Niels Juel in 1939 Helgoland Iver Hvitfeldt Skjold Herluf Trolle class 1899 Herluf Trolle Olfert Fischer Peder Skram 2 Niels Juel 3 Finland edit nbsp Vainamoinen in 1938 Vainamoinen class Panssarilaiva ships 1931 Ilmarinen Vainamoinen transferred to Soviet Union as a reparations ship in 1947 served in Soviet Navy until 1966 France edit Taureau Onondaga Cerbere Belier Bouledogue Cerbere Tigre Tonnerre Tonnerre Fulminant Tempete Tempete Vengeur Tonnant Furieux Valmy class 6 476 tons 4 Jemmapes 1892 hulked 1911 4 Valmy 1892 stricken 1911 4 Bouvines class 6 681 tons 4 Amiral Trehouart 1893 stricken 1922 4 Bouvines 1892 stricken 1920 4 Henri IV Germany edit nbsp Line drawing of Siegfried as originally configured Main article List of coastal defense ships of Germany Siegfried class 1890 Siegfried Beowulf Frithjof Hagen Heimdall Hildebrand Odin class 1896 Odin Agir India edit nbsp HMVS Cerberus at Williamstown in 1871 Cerberus class 1870 Magdala Abyssinia half sister to Cerberus amp Magdala British Colony of Victoria edit Cerberus class HMVS Cerberus Mexico edit Deodoro class 1898 ARM Anahuac acquired from Brazil in 1924 The Netherlands edit nbsp Plan and side view of the Koningin Regentes class Evertsen class 1894 HNLMS Evertsen HNLMS Piet Hein HNLMS Kortenaer Koningin Regentes class 1900 HNLMS Koningin Regentes HNLMS De Ruyter HNLMS Hertog Hendrik HNLMS Marten Harpertzoon Tromp HNLMS Jacob Van Heemskerck HNLMS De Zeven Provincien Norway edit nbsp Norwegian Tordenskjold class Tordenskjold class 1897 HNoMS Tordenskjold HNoMS Harald Haarfagre Eidsvold class 1899 HNoMS Eidsvold HNoMS Norge Bjorgvin class 1914 Both ships were requisitioned by the Royal Navy during World War I while under construction completed and served as the monitors HMS Glatton and HMS Gorgon HNoMS Bjorgvin HNoMS Nidaros Russia edit nbsp Admiral Ushakov in 1897 Uragan class 1865 Novgorod class 1874 later reclassified as Coastal Defence Armour Clad Ships Novgorod Vitse admiral Popov Admiral Ushakov class 1895 Admiral Ushakov Admiral Seniavin General Admiral Graf Apraksin Captured by Japan in 1905 served in Imperial Japanese Navy until 1922 Sweden edit nbsp Right elevation and deck plan of Sverige as depicted in Brassey s Naval Annual 1923 Svea class 1886 Svea Gota Thule Oden class 1896 Oden Thor Niord Dristigheten 1900 Aran class 1902 Aran Wasa Tapperheten Manligheten Oscar II 1905 Sverige class 1917 Sverige Gustav V Drottning Victoria Thailand edit nbsp Thonburi in 1938 Rattanakosindra class Ratanakosin Sukhothai Thonburi class 1938 HTMS Sri Ayudhya HTMS ThonburiSee also editList of coastal defence ships of the Second World WarNotes edit HSwMS Gustaf V was scrapped in 1970References edit Albert Rohr Handbuch der deutschen Marinegeschichte Publisher Gerhard Stalling Oldenburg Hamburg 1963 p 161 Den Danske Brigade 1947 milhist dk Archived from the original on 29 September 2007 Retrieved 19 December 2015 Den Danske Brigade 1947 milhist dk Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 Retrieved 19 December 2015 a b c d e f Chesneau Roger and Kolesnik Eugene Ed Conway s All the World s Fighting Ships 1860 1905 Conway Maritime Press 1979 ISBN 0 8317 0302 4External links edit nbsp Media related to Coastal defence ships at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Coastal defence ship amp oldid 1217905444, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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