SMS Gefion
1902 lithograph of Gefion
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| History | |
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 German Empire
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| Name: | SMS Gefion |
| Namesake: | Gefjon |
| Builder: | Schichau-Werke, Danzig |
| Laid down: | 28 March 1892 |
| Launched: | 31 March 1893 |
| Commissioned: | 5 June 1895 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 October 1901 |
| Renamed: | Adolf Sommerfeld, 1920 |
| Struck: | 5 November 1919 |
| Fate: | Broken up in 1923 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Third-class cruiser/corvette |
| Displacement: | 4,275 t (4,207 long tons; 4,712 short tons) |
| Length: | 110.4 m (362 ft) |
| Beam: | 13.2 m (43 ft) |
| Draft: | 6.47 m (21.2 ft) |
| Installed power: | 6 coal-fired water-tube boilers, 9,000 ihp (6,700 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 2 triple-expansion engines |
| Speed: | 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) |
| Range: | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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| Armor: | Deck: 25 mm (0.98 in) |
SMS Gefion ("His Majesty's Ship Gefion") was an unprotected cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the last ship of the type built in Germany. She was laid down in March 1892, launched in March 1893, and completed in June 1895 after lengthy trials and repairs. The cruiser was named after the earlier sail frigate Gefion, which had been named for the goddess Gefjon of Norse mythology. Intended for service in the German colonial empire and as a fleet scout, Gefion was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns, had a top speed in excess of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph), and could steam for 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi), the longest range of any German warship at the time. Nevertheless, the conflicting requirements necessary for a fleet scout and an overseas cruiser produced an unsuccessful design, and Gefion was rapidly replaced in both roles by the newer Gazelle class of light cruisers.
Gefion initially served with the main German fleet and frequently escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern on trips to other European countries, including a state visit to Russia in 1897. In late 1897, Gefion was reassigned to the East Asia Squadron; she arrived there in May 1898. The ship took part in the Battle of Taku Forts in June 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion in China. She returned to Germany in 1901 and was modernized, but she did not return to service after the work was finished in 1904. She was to be mobilized after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, but a crew could not be assembled due to shortages of personnel. Instead, she was used as a barracks ship in Danzig from 1916 to the end of the war. In 1920, she was sold, converted into a freighter, and renamed Adolf Sommerfeld. She served in this capacity for only three years, and was broken up for scrap in Danzig in 1923.
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