Coastal defence ship

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Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coast 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.

Contents 1 Categorization 2 The Swedish Pansarskepp-ships 2.1 Technical details 2.2 Effectiveness 3 The Dutch Pantserschip-ships 4 Operators 5 References

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 World War I 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 two or four 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, the latter of which used three 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

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). In Norway they were referred to as "Armoured Ship" (Panserskip). 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 known as a "Pocket battleship", as the design and purpose was very different. The 1938 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships does list the Swedish Pansarskepp as Battleships.

[edit] Technical details

Pansarskepp, with the notable exception of Sverige class were relatively small vessels, with limited speed, shallow draft, and very heavy guns for its displacement. They were 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. 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 class ships were one reason why Germany did not invade Sweden during World War II.^[1] This is however unlikely, since if the Germans would have invaded, they would have used their strong forces in Norway, as well their strong air power to gain tactical superiority wherever needed.

[edit] The Dutch Pantserschip-ships

The Dutch used their armoured ships mainly to defend their interests overseas, in particular in their colonies in the West-Indies and the East-Indies. For this reason the ships had to meet a number of different requirements. Unlike other coastal defence ships they were intended for long-range cruising, for artillery support during amphibious operations, as well as for carrying the troops and equipment needed in these operations. At the same time the ships had to be well-armoured and well-armed enough to face contemporary cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (the likely enemy). As such they were expected to perform as mini-battleships rather than coastal defence vessels.

The last Dutch pantserschip HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën from 1909 was built more or less as a stop-gap measure while the Dutch admiralty and government contemplated an ambitious fleet plan comprising a number of dreadnought battleships, but this was never realised due to the outbreak of World War I. In World War II a number of the obsolete Dutch coastal defence ships were used by the Axis powers as (anti-aircraft) block ships.

[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]

• Finland:
  • Väinämöinen class Panssarilaiva ships (Ilmarinen and Väinämöinen)

• Germany
  • Siegfried class and Odin class (Ägir, Beowulf, Siegfried, Hagen, Frithjof, Heimdall, Odin and Hildebrand)
  • Oldenburg

• 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
  • Zeven Provinciën

• Norway:
  

  

  Norwegian Tordenskjold class.
  • Tordenskjold class (KNM Tordenskjold and KNM Harald Haarfagre)
  • Eidsvold class (Eidsvold and Norge)
  • Bjørgvin class (Bjørgvin and Nidaros) - (requisitioned by the Royal Navy during World War I, renamed HMS Glatton and HMS Gorgon)

• Portugal:
  • Vasco da Gama

• Russia:
  • Novgorod
  • Vice-Admiral Popov
  • Admiral Ushakov class (Admiral Ushakov, Admiral Seniavin and General Admiral Graf Apraksin)

• Sweden:
  • Svea class (Svea, Göta and Thule)
  • Oden class (Oden, Thor and Niord)
  • Dristigheten
  • Äran class (Äran, Wasa, Tapperheten and Manligheten)
  • Oscar II
  • Sverige class (Sverige, Gustav V and Drottning Victoria)

• Thailand:
  • Dhonburi class (Dhonburi and Sri Ayuthia)

• India:
  • Cerberus class (Magdala)
  • Abyssinia

• Victoria:
  • Cerberus class (Cerberus)

[edit] References

1. ^ This speculation appeared in Warship Magazine - the author was writing an article on the Sverige class, and so may have been prejudiced.