Everything about Pantserschip totally explained
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 couldn't 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.
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.
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).
The Swedish Pansarskepp-ships
Pansarskepp ("armoured ship") is the
Swedish term used for their coastal defence ships. This class of vessel shouldn't be confused with the similarly named
German "
Panzerschiff", popularly known as a "
Pocket battleship", as the design and purpose was very different.
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.
Effectiveness
It has been suggested that the
Sverige class ships were one reason why Germany didn't invade Sweden during World War II. This is however unlikely, since if the Germans would have invaded, they'd have used their strong forces in Norway, as well their strong air power to gain tactical superiority wherever needed.
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.
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:
Denmark
Finland:
Germany
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:
Portugal:
Russia:
Sweden:
Thailand:
- Dhonburi class (Dhonburi and Sri Ayuthia)
India:
Victoria:
Further Information
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