 SMSNiobe in Kiel in 1901 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Germany | |
| Name | Niobe |
| Builder | AG Weser |
| Laid down | 30 August 1898 |
| Launched | 18 July 1899 |
| Commissioned | 25 June 1900 |
| Out of service | Sold to Yugoslavia |
 Yugoslavia | |
| Name | Dalmacija |
| Acquired | 26 June 1925 |
| Captured | 25 April 1941 |
 Italy | |
| Name | Cattaro |
| Acquired | 25 April 1941 |
| Captured | 11 September 1943 |
 Germany | |
| Name | Niobe |
| Acquired | 11 September 1943 |
| Fate | Beached on Silba and destroyed by Britishmotor torpedo boats in December 1943 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Gazelle-classlight cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 105 m (344 ft 6 in)loa |
| Beam | 12.2 m (40 ft) |
| Draft | 5.03 m (16 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 21.5 kn (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) |
| Range | 3,570 nmi (6,610 km; 4,110 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
SMSNiobe[a] was the second of tenGazelle-classlight cruisers that were built for the GermanKaiserliche Marine ('Imperial Navy') in the late 1890s and early 1900s. TheGazelle class was the culmination of earlierunprotected cruiser andaviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to serve with the main German fleet and also in German colonies, she was armed with a battery of ten10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 21.5knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph). The ship had a long career, serving in the German,Yugoslav, and Italian fleets over the span of more than forty years.
Niobe served in both home and overseas waters in the Imperial Navy, serving in a variety of roles, including as aflotilla leader fortorpedo boats, as a scout for the main fleet, and as a station ship with theEast Asia Squadron. After the outbreak ofWorld War I, the ship joined the vessels tasked with defending Germany'sNorth Sea coast. By late 1915, she was withdrawn from active service and used as aheadquarters ship for various commands. She was disarmed in 1917, but as one of the cruisers permitted to the postwarReichsmarine (Navy of the Realm) by theTreaty of Versailles, she was modernized and rearmed in the early 1920s.
The ship saw no active service with theReichsmarine and, in 1925, Germany sold the ship to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). There, she was renamedDalmacija and served in theRoyal Yugoslav Navy until April 1941, when she was captured by the Italians during theAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia. RenamedCattaro, she served in the ItalianRegia Marina (Royal Navy) until the Italian surrender in September 1943. She was then seized by the German occupiers of Italy, who restored her original name. She was used in theAdriatic Sea briefly until December 1943, when she ran aground on the island ofSilba, and was subsequently destroyed by Britishmotor torpedo boats. The wreck was ultimately salvaged andbroken up for scrap between 1947 and 1952.
Following the construction of theunprotected cruisers of theBussard class and theavisoHela for the GermanKaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the Construction Department of theReichsmarineamt (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 theGerman colonial empire. The resultingGazelle design provided the basis for all of thelight cruisers built by theGerman fleet to the last official designs prepared in 1914.[1][2]
After construction ofGazelle had begun, the German Navy secured the passing of theNaval Law of 1898; this act authorized a total cruiser strength of thirty small cruisers. Two were ordered immediately, the second of which becameNiobe. Both of these new ships differed in minor details fromGazelle,Niobe being fitted with more powerfulThornycroft boilers,[3] which significantly increased the power of the ship's propulsion system and thus top speed compared toGazelle.[1][2]
Niobe was 105 m (344 ft 6 in)long overall, with abeam of 12.2 m (40 ft) and adraft of 5.03 m (16 ft 6 in) forward. Shedisplaced 2,643 t (2,601long tons) normally and up to 2,963 t (2,916 long tons) atfull combat load. The ship had a minimalsuperstructure, which consisted of a smallconning tower andbridge structure. She was fitted with two polemasts. Herhull had a raisedforecastle andquarterdeck, along with a pronouncedram bow. She had a crew of 14 officers and 243 enlisted men.[4]
Her propulsion system consisted of two four-cylindertriple-expansion steam engines manufactured byAG Germania inTegel, driving a pair ofscrew propellers. The engines were powered by eight coal-fired Thornycroft water-tube boilers that were vented through a pair offunnels. They were designed to give 8,000metric horsepower (7,900 ihp), for a top speed of 21.5knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).Niobe carried 500 t (490 long tons) of coal, which gave her a range of 3,570nautical miles (6,610 km; 4,110 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[4]
The ship was armed with ten10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/40 guns in singlepivot mounts protected bygun shields. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle; six were located on thebroadside insponsons; 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 two 45 cm (18 in)torpedo tubes with fivetorpedoes. They were submerged in the hull on the broadside.[5]
She was protected by an armoreddeck that was 20 to 25 mm (0.8 to 1.0 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 gun shields were 50 mm (2 in) thick.[6]
Niobe was ordered under the contract name "B",[b] and waslaid down at theAG Weser shipyard inBremen on 30 August 1898 andlaunched on 18 July 1899, after whichfitting-out work commenced. Named afterNiobe, a figure from Greek mythology, she wascommissioned on 25 June 1900 to beginsea trials, which lasted until 22 August. She was thereafter placed in reserve. On 11 April 1901, the ship returned to service and was assigned as theflagship of ITorpedo-boat Flotilla on the 18th, replacing the elderly avisoBlitz, which was by then worn out.[8] Her first commanding officer wasKorvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain)Reinhard Scheer, who went on to command theHigh Seas Fleet at theBattle of Jutland duringWorld War I.[9]Niobe served as flagship until 26 June, and during this period, took part in training exercises in theBaltic Sea and theKattegat. On 28 June, she left I Flotilla and escorted the imperialyachtHohenzollern on a trip to Norway. The visit was cut short following the death of KaiserWilhelm II's mother,Victoria.Niobe then joinedI Squadron for the annual fleet exercises in late August and early September. At the conclusion of the maneuvers, the Germans held anaval review for the visit ofTsarNicholas II of Russia;Niobe was again tasked with escorting Wilhelm II inHohenzollern while he met with Nicholas from 11 to 13 September.Niobe then returned toWilhelmshaven, where she went intodrydock for alterations that lasted from 1 October to 1 April 1902.[10]
AfterNiobe returned to active service in April 1902, she resumed operations with I Torpedo-boat Flotilla, and was stationed in the Baltic. On 2 July, she was transferred back to I Squadron for the annual training exercises and a winter cruise toward the end of the year.[8] During this period,Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain)Franz von Hipper served as the ship's commander.[11] In early 1903, she again returned to the I Torpedo-boat Flotilla, her last stint as the flotilla flagship. The Navy initially planned on sendingNiobe to reinforce the squadron participating in thenaval blockade of Venezuela of 1902–1903, but the incident concluded before she could be sent. Instead, on 1 March, she joined the cruisers ofI Scouting Group for her second trip to Norway. She remained in I Scouting Group for the annual maneuvers that followed later in the year, and through 1904 as well. Following the fleet maneuvers in August and September 1904,Niobe was decommissioned on 29 September. She spent the following two years out of service, during which time she underwent a majoroverhaul.[8]
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On 19 June 1906,Niobe was recommissioned for an overseas deployment as part of theEast Asia Squadron. She left Wilhelmshaven on 9 July and rendezvoused with the squadron, the flagship of which was thearmored cruiserFürst Bismarck, on 8 September. The ship cruisedChinese andJapanese waters for the next three years; her time in the East Asia Squadron was uneventful. On 31 January 1909,Niobe steamed out of the main German port in the region,Qingdao, and made the return voyage to Germany. She reachedKiel on 21 March, and having become badly worn out during her three years abroad, she was decommissioned ten days later.[8]
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After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914,Niobe was recommissioned for coastal defense, stationed in theGerman Bight. Between 28 August to 2 September, and from 23 December,Niobe's commander also served as the commander of the torpedo-boat flotillas defending theJade Bight and the mouth of theWeser River. She was removed from front-line service on 5 September 1915, and her crew was reduced four days later. The commander of the torpedo-boat flotillas returned toNiobe on 14 January 1916, as his previous flagship, the oldcoastal defense shipSiegfried, was decommissioned.Niobe nevertheless remained in service with a reduced crew.Kommodore (Commodore)Ludwig von Reuter, the commander of theIV Scouting Group, and his staff briefly usedNiobe as aheadquarters ship, from 6 June to 3 July. Starting on 20 August, she became the headquarters ship for now-Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) von Hipper, the commander of the I Scouting Group.[12][13]
During this period, Hipper organized the office ofBefehlshabers der Sicherung der Nordsee (BSN—Commander of the Defense of the North Sea), which was also stationed onNiobe.[14] In 1917, she was disarmed so her guns could be used to reinforce the defenses of Wilhelmshaven.[13] In October that year,KonteradmiralFriedrich Boedicker, then the commander of the I Squadron, came aboardNiobe; the bulk of the High Seas Fleet had gone into the Baltic to launchOperation Albion, and Boedicker temporarily took control of the BSN. Hipper and his staff leftNiobe on 11 August 1918,[14] having been promoted to command of the High Seas Fleet.[15] The BSN remained aboardNiobe until January 1919, two months after the war ended with theArmistice; it was then transferred to the oldpre-dreadnought battleshipKaiser Wilhelm II, also in use as a headquarters ship.Niobe was then decommissioned on 3 February.[14]
Niobe was among the ships permitted by theTreaty of Versailles after the end of the war, and so she continued on in service with the newly reorganizedReichsmarine. During this period, she was significantly modernized; her old rambow was replaced with a clipper bow. Her old 10.5 cm SK L/40 guns were replaced with newer SK L/45 guns inU-boat mountings and two 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes in deck-mounted launchers were installed. On 24 June 1925,Niobe was stricken from thenaval register and sold to theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia).[14][5]
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (KSCS) had initially been given the ships of the oldAustro-Hungarian Navy after the dissolution of theAustro-Hungarian Empire in the closing days of World War I, but theAllied powers quickly seized the majority of the ships and allocated them to the various Allied countries. Left with only twelve modern torpedo boats, the new country sought more powerful vessels. It therefore purchasedNiobe whenGermany placed her for sale in 1925.[16] Thecopper sheathing of her hull was a significant factor in the purchase, as naval infrastructure in the new state was very limited, and it was not expected that she could bedry docked regularly.[17] Since Germany was forbidden from exporting armed warships,Niobe was taken to theDeutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel and disarmed. She also had her conning tower removed. On 7 August 1926, she began sea trials before being transferred to her new owners.Niobe was taken to theTivat arsenal in theBay of Kotor, arriving on 3 September 1927.[18] There, she was rebuilt as a training cruiser, based on a design developed by a KSCS naval commission, with the work supervised by the Dutch Piet van Wienen Company, which had also been responsible for the negotiating the purchase contract. The rebuild included shortening the masts and funnels, acrow's nest was placed atop the foremast, and aradio shack was built in place of the conning tower.[17]
She was renamedDalmacija (Dalmatia), and also received her new armament before she enteredRoyal Yugoslav Navy service, though the details are uncertain. According toConway's All the World's Fighting Ships, she was equipped with sixŠkoda 8.5 cm (3.35 in) L/55 quick-firing guns, and initially four and later six 2 cm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft (AA) guns were added.[5] The naval historian Henry Lenton states that the main battery caliber was 8.6 cm (3.4 in), states that they were dual-purpose guns, and specifies four 2 cm single-mount AA guns.[19] But naval historian Milan Vego states that she carried six 8.3 cm (3.27 in) L/35 anti-aircraft guns, four 47 mm (1.9 in) guns, and six machine guns.[20] The historian Aidan Dodson concurs with Vego that the ship received six 8.3 cm guns, but instead states that they were 55-caliber guns of the Skoda M27 type. Dodson also agrees that she had four 47 mm guns but states her armament was rounded out by two 15 mm (0.59 in)ZbrojovkaZB-60 anti-aircraft machine-guns.[18] According to the naval historian Zvonimir Freivogel, six Škoda M27 8.35 cm (3.29 in) L/55 anti-aircraft guns were ordered in Czechoslovakia and fitted by the arsenal in Tivat. Freivogel goes on to state that the M27 was an improved model of theM22/24 gun, and was confusingly offered on the international arms market as an 84 mm, 84.5 mm or 85 mm gun. Single guns were mounted forward and aft, with the remaining four guns mounted amidships, two on each side fore and aft of the second funnel. These open sponson mounts were below main deck level and had an outward folding plate that allowed the crew to serve the gun from all sides. With a muzzle velocity of 800 m (2,600 ft) per second, the guns could engage targets out to 18,000 m (20,000 yd) and to a vertical range of 11,000 m (12,000 yd), with a shell weighing 10 kg (22 lb). They were supplied with a total of 1,500 shells, for 250 shells per gun.[21] Freivogel asserts that two of the 47 mm guns were mounted on the forecastle under the bridge wings, with the second pairathwart of the forward 83.5 mm gun. He goes on to state that the two 15 mm machine guns were mounted on the bridge wings. In Yugoslav service, her crew numbered 300.[9]
After entering service,Dalmacija was employed as a gunnery training ship.[22] In May and June 1929,Dalmacija, thesubmarinesHrabri andNebojša, thesubmarine tenderHvar and six torpedo boats went on a cruise toMalta, the Greek island ofCorfu in theIonian Sea, andBizerte in theFrench protectorate of Tunisia. According to the British navalattaché, the ships and crews made a very good impression while visiting Malta.[23] In 1930, the ship underwent a minor refit and her foremast was modified, including by the addition of supporting struts that converted it into atripod mast.[18] In 1931, a new firing director was installed forward.[9] Throughout the 1930s, the ship went on several training cruises in theMediterranean Sea, and during this period she served as a flagship on a number of occasions.[18] Due to her elegance and age, Yugoslav sailors nicknamed herTeti Jela (Auntie Helen).[9]
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In April 1941, during theAxisinvasion of Yugoslavia,Dalmacija remained in the Bay of Kotor. Some forty years old by that time, the ship was kept in port as a harbor defense vessel, since her relatively heavy anti-aircraft armament could be used to defend against air attacks.[24] Early on 6 April, the first day of the invasion,Dalmacija steamed to a position within the Bay of Kotor between the towns ofPerast andPrčanj and engaged Axis aircraft. Later she defended the destroyers of the 1st Division – Dubrovnik,Beograd andZagreb – as they were attacked by Axis aircraft flying at low-altitude. In this task her 83.5 mm guns were of limited value.[25] Initially she had the Yugoslav fleet headquarters embarked,[26] but when it was decided to implement the pre-war plan of the fleet attacking the Italian enclave ofZara in Dalmatia, the fleet headquarters was transferred to the admiralty yachtBeli Orao on 9 April so thatDalmacija could provide anti-aircraft support for the operation. Initially the 1st Division was to conduct the operation, but this was soon changed to the 2nd Division, which consisted mainly ofmotor torpedo boats based atŠibenik. The plan was abandoned on 10 April when the Axispuppet state known as theIndependent State of Croatia was declared, accelerating the disintegration of the Yugoslav armed forces. Following the Yugoslav surrender on 17 April,[25] the ship was captured by theItalians in Kotor on 25 April.[27] RenamedCattaro after the Italian name for Kotor, the ship was placed in service with theRegia Marina as a gunboat and gunnery training ship, based at the artillery school inPola.[25]Cattaro served as atarget ship for the submarine school at Pola and Italiantorpedo bombers based atGorizia. She also took part in the first Italian trials with wireless-guided torpedoes.[28]
On 31 July 1942, the cruiser was attacked by the British submarineHMS Traveller south of the village ofPremantura on theIstrian coast, but all of the torpedoes missed.[29][30] In May 1943, the ship shelledYugoslav Partisan positions nearKarlobag, along with the armedsteamshipJadera, and the artillery pontoonGM 240 towed by the tugPonderoso.Cattaro was supplied with coal directly from a mine atAlbona in Istria, and on one occasion an unexploded charge from the mine was inadvertently shovelled into a boiler where it exploded. At the time of theItalian surrender on 8 September 1943,Cattaro was undergoing boiler repairs at Pola.[28] She sailed to the anchor buoy that had been used by the Italiandreadnought battleshipGiulio Cesare – which had escaped – and negotiations between the small number of Germans at Pola and the Italians continued until 12 September when her crew surrendered following the arrival in Pola of the German71st Infantry Division.[31]
The ship's fate is somewhat unclear; according to Hildebrand et al.,Cattaro was later transferred to theNavy of the Independent State of Croatia, where she was commissioned as a training ship under the nameZnaim. She returned toGerman service in September 1943 after Italy surrendered to theAllies, which significantly reduced the warships operating in theAdriatic Sea. A German and Croatian crew operated the ship, once again namedNiobe, under the German flag.[14] According to Twardowski, however, the ship remained in Italian hands until Germany seized it in September 1943, thereafter turning her over to the Independent State of Croatia asZnaim before retaking the ship and restoring her original name at some point thereafter.[22] Aidan Dodson concurs that the ship remained in Italian hands until their surrender, and states that she was undergoing boiler repairs at Pola at the time. After falling into German hands, there was some debate as to what her name should be, with consideration given toZenta orNovara in honor of Austro-Hungarian cruisers, but the Germans eventually settled on reverting to her original name.[30] According to Freivogel, the reported namesZnajm,Zniam, andZnijam do not mean anything in theCroatian language, and there was probably a confusion with theminelayerZmaj orZenta.[32]
Nevertheless, after leaving Italian service the ship's armament was six 8.4 cm (3.3 in) AA guns, four 47 mm AA guns, four20 mm Oerlikon AA guns, and twenty-six20 mm Breda AA guns, and she was commissioned on 8 November.[5] On the night of 21/22 September, while she was still refitting, two Britishmotor torpedo boats—MTB 226 andMTB 228—attacked the ship to the northwest of Zara without success.[33]Niobe began escorting convoys in the Adriatic, the first taking place on 13 November,[14] in support of Operation Herbstgewitter.[30] This convoy consisted of several transports carrying units from the 71st Infantry Division to the islands ofCres,Krk, andLussino.[34]
On 19 December,Niobe ran aground on the island ofSilba at around 18:00 as a result of a navigational error. The crew requestedtugboats from Pola, but they were unable to pull the ship free. LocalPartisans informed the British about the ship's location, and three days later, the British motor torpedo boatsMTB 276 andMTB 298 attacked the ship and hit her with two torpedoes, and the tugParenzo, which had been moored alongside to assist the salvage effort, was hit by a third torpedo and sunk.[35][36] Nineteen men were killed in the attack. The Germans then abandoned the wreck, apart from a small group tasked with removing or destroying weapons and other equipment. The wreck was then damaged further by the Germans before they abandoned it, and it was later cannibalized for spare parts by the Partisans. The wreck remained on Silba until 1947, when salvage operations began. She was raised andbroken up for scrap by 1952.[5][35]
44°20′49″N14°43′12″E / 44.34694°N 14.72000°E /44.34694; 14.72000
 Kaiserliche Marine | |
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 Royal Yugoslav Navy |
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 Regia Marina |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in December 1943 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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