SMS Hela
Painting of Hela in 1902
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators: |
 Kaiserliche Marine
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| Preceded by: | Meteor class |
| Succeeded by: | Gazelle class |
| Built: | 1893–95 |
| In commission: | 3 May 1896 – 13 Sept. 1914 |
| Completed: | 1 |
| Lost: | 1 |
| History | |
 German Empire
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| Name: | Hela |
| Builder: | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Laid down: | 1893 |
| Launched: | 28 March 1895 |
| Commissioned: | 3 May 1896 |
| Fate: | Sunk 13 September 1914 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Displacement: | 2,082 t (2,049 long tons) |
| Length: | 105.0 m (344 ft 6 in) overall |
| Beam: | 11.0 m (36 ft 1 in) |
| Draft: | 4.64 m (15 ft 3 in) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shaft triple expansion, 6000 ihp |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range: | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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SMS Hela was an aviso of the German Imperial Navy prior to and during World War I. The only ship of her class, Hela was launched on 28 March 1895 in Bremen. She was named after the Hela peninsula near Danzig (present-day Gdańsk). Hela was lightly armed for a light cruiser; her main armament consisted of just four 8.8-centimeter (3.5 in) guns. In 1899 she was re-classified to a light cruiser.
In 1900–1901, Hela was deployed to China during the Boxer Rebellion. She participated in extensive fleet maneuvers in 1902, before being significantly rebuilt from 1903–1906. From 1910, Hela was used as a fleet tender. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, she was put back into active service as a support ship for the torpedo boats stationed off Helgoland. On 13 September 1914, Hela was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS E9; two of her crew died.
Hela was the culmination in the development of the aviso type in the Imperial German Navy. German avisos were developed from earlier torpedo boats and were intended for use in home waters with the fleet. The first aviso, Zieten, was purchased from a British shipbuilder in 1875; seven more ships were built in German yards before Hela was laid down in 1893. The aviso type culminated in what would later be referred to as the light cruiser; Hela's successors, the Gazelle-class cruisers, were the first true light cruisers built.
Hela was 104.6 meters (343 ft 2 in) long at the waterline and 105 m (344 ft 6 in) overall. She had a beam of 11 m (36 ft 1 in) and a draft of 4.46 m (14 ft 8 in) forward and 4.64 m (15 ft 3 in) aft. She was designed to displace 2,027 t (1,995 long tons), and at full combat load the displacement increased to 2,082 t (2,049 long tons). Her hull was constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames, which contained 22 watertight compartments above the armored deck and ten below. A double bottom ran for 35 percent of the length of the hull. Hela's crew consisted of 7 officers and 171 enlisted men.
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