SMS Mars (1877)
Mars in 1894
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Mars |
| Builder: | Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven |
| Laid down: | 1877 |
| Launched: | 15 November 1879 |
| Commissioned: | 1 March 1881 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,542 t (3,486 long tons; 3,904 short tons) |
| Length: | 85.3 m (280 ft) |
| Beam: | 15 m (49 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.92 m (19.4 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 1 × Marine steam engine |
| Speed: | 11.4 kn (21.1 km/h; 13.1 mph) |
| Complement: | 344–474 |
SMS Mars was an artillery training ship of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), built in the late 1870s.
In the 1860s and 1870s, the German navy had three elderly ships that were used to train gunners for the fleet: Thetis, Gefion, and Renown; these ships were of increasingly little use, as their wooden hulls were ageing and the types of guns fitted were shifting into obsolescence. In addition, they had insufficient accommodations for the crew, instructional staff, and trainees. As a result, the navy realized by the mid-1870s that a new, purpose-built, iron-hulled gunnery training ship would be required, with design work for the new vessel being done in 1876. Since the ship would not be expected to be used in combat, her speed would not need to be high, and she would carry no armor protection. Her resemblance to contemporary broadside ironclad warships led to her being nicknamed the "rubber battleship". She nevertheless proved to be quite effective as a training ship.
Mars was 85.3 meters (280 ft) long, with a beam of 15 m (49 ft) and a draft of 5.92 m (19.4 ft). She displaced 3,542 metric tons (3,486 long tons; 3,904 short tons) at full load. The ship's crew varied over the course of her career, between 344 and 474 officers and enlisted men. She was powered by a single marine steam engine that drove one screw propeller and coal-fired boilers, both of which had been taken from Renown, which gave her a top speed of 11.4 knots (21.1 km/h; 13.1 mph) As built, she was equipped with a schooner rig, though this was later cut down, with the sailing rig only being used to provide stability.
Construction of the new ship began in 1877.Mars was launched on 15 November 1879 at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven. After fitting-out work was completed, she was commissioned for sea trials on 1 March 1881. She was the first gunnery training ship built for the German navy. At the time, training was rather crude, with one test per year for each ship of the fleet, and the tests consisted of firing at targets 500, 1,500, and 2,500 meters (550, 1,640, and 2,730 yards) away. This would begin to be remedied only in 1885, when August von Thomsen was appointed the chief gunner for the fleet, and he began to improve the training regimen, particularly with regards to longer range fire.Mars completed her trials quickly, and was assigned to the North Sea Naval Station, though she was technically under the control of the gunnery officers at the Kaiserliche Admiralität (Imperial Admiralty). She began gunnery training in April 1881 in the Schillig roadstead just outside Wilhelmshaven. On 26 April, one of the 21 cm shells exploded aboard the ship, killing nine men and wounding another eighteen. At the end of the year, she returned to the inner harbor at Wilhelmshaven, where she remained for the winter.
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