NAUTILUS SMS 1873

[aukepalmhof]

Built as a wooden gunboat by the Danzig Dockyard at Danzig for the Imperial German Navy.
31 August 1971 launched under the name SMS NAUTILUS one sister the SMS ALBATROSS.
Displacement 716 tons, dim. 57 x 8.30 x 3.70m.
One steamengine 500 ihp, one shaft, speed 10.5 knots. Hoisting screw.
Armament 2 – 150mm, 2-120mm guns. Later fitted out with 3 -37mm revolving cannons.
Crew approximately 100 men.
Three masts, schooner rigged. (On the Marshall Island stamp is she square rigged on fore and mainmast, while the photo on the URL clearly shows, schooner rigged, also her funnel is much shorter as given on the stamp.)
04 June 1873 completed.

She was built for colonial service and most of their live was she overseas away from Germany.
1874/1875 she was together with her sister off the Spanish coast, when during the civil war in Spain a German reported was murdered, and in January 1875 a German merchant ship was boarded and robbed.
Early 1876 she was homeward bound.

Early in April 1876 she got orders to proceed to East Asia, after in Salonika, Greece the German and French consul were murdered, made a call at Istanbul, Turkey essential.
Thereafter she proceeded to East Asia and on 11 September 1876 she arrived at Singapore.
In 1877 she visited different Chinese ports.
During a strong typhoon on 02 October 1877 she collided with a British steamer and suffered damage.
Early 1878 proceeded to German and 15 September she arrived at Kiel, thereafter she got a refit on the Kaiser Wilhelm yard.

Mid-1879 she left Germany for a voyage to Australia in order to replace her sister SMS ALBATROSS, after arrival in Australia she took part in the preparation for the German entry in the International Exhibition in Sydney 1879/1880.
In the middle of November she proceeded to Apia, Samoa where she was used as patrol and guard ship.
Early 1881 proceeded homeward and on 15 September she arrived at Kiel.

After some repair she was commissioned in early October 1883.
January 1884 under command of Vice Admiral Aschenhorn she arrived the coast of South West Africa, and visited the port of Luderitz. Then she sailed via South Africa to South Asia to strengthen the German forces during the French-Chinese War.
In Hong Kong se became a unit of the East Asia Cruiser Squadron. In the middle of September 1885 she headed for the Marshall Islands under command of Capt Rõttger, she arrived at Jaluit 15 October,
where the Germans had a coal depot. Four visiting chiefs were invited on board and given a tour of the ship.
16 October the formal annexation ceremonies were held ashore and the treaty was signed by the native Chiefs and the Germans. She also visited other islands in the group that month, before she headed for German New Guinea.
In the summer of 1887 she received orders to proceed to East Africa and on 15 August arrived at Zanzibar, after arrival took part in several expeditions together with Dr. Karl Peters (1856-1918) he is know under the natives in East Africa as “the man with blood on his hands”, and visited among others Witi Protectorate in Kenya.

Early December 1888 she arrived at Kiel and was decommissioned.
At Kiel she was converted in a survey vessel and used in the western Baltic from 1891.
14 December 1896 stricken from the navy list, then used as a coal hulk.
1905 At Swinemünde scrapped.

Marshall Islands 1992 32c sg679, scott451, 1994 35c sg495, scott 605o

Source: Mostly translated from http://deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/sms_na ... enboot.htm Foreign Ships in Micronesia. All the World’s Fighting Ships 1860-1905.