Wissmann-Steamer

[warrenpeace]

That's the third time now that link has been posted here on this topic. Might be worthwhile if folks actually read the topic before posting?

As has already been established, there was a "Hermann von Wissmann" as well as a "Hedwig"

Read it, missed it, see now that Rudi posted it, sorry to be such an aggravation to you, Plynkes.

I disagree that there was a ship named "Hermann von Wissmann" on Lake Tanganyika. Would like to see a source that says there was.

Here's another link from Holger Kotthaus on the OstAfrika group, and sorry in advance if somebody else has already posted the link:

http://www.schutztruppe.de/

On the left there is "Magazin" which leads to a set of articles.  There's one named "Der I. Weltkrieg auf den Seen von Deutch-Ostafrika" which includes material and pictures about the war on the lakes.  This stuff is in German, but that works for a large number on people on this forum.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

no worries about too many posts of the same links! Me seems to be the only who didnt know the site Thanks!

the source is the pic in my first post of the thread. The ship name looks like Herrmann, not Hedwig.

[Plynkes]

Sorry warrenbruhn, didn't mean to be so grouchy. It just sometimes strikes me as a little discourteous to previous posters when folks do that. Oh well. Better to have three links than none, I suppose.

But I never said there was a "Hermann von Wissmann" on Tanganyika. If you read what I wrote you might see that.

I have come across at least two references to a ship of that name on Lake Nyasa (modern-day Lake Malawi). I'll have to look into that a bit more to see what's what.

[Plynkes]

Okay, I found some more info on the August 1914 incident:

"Captain Rhoades, who was renowned for his 'Rabelaisian wit' and 'unprintable songs', steered the 340-ton Guendolen into Sphinxhaven Bay, at the German end of the lake, and disabled the Hermann von Wissmann with a single shot from a range of 2,000 yards. His erstwhile drinking partner, the von Wissmann's Captain Berndt, immediately rowed out to the Guendolen to remonstrate with Rhoades, bellowing 'Gott for damn, Rhoades, vos you drunk?' as he pulled alongside. Rhoades was not. His orders were to seize control of lake Nyasa, and in so doing he scored what The Times hailed as the British Empire's first naval victory of the Great War. Berndt and his crew were, somewhat apologetically, 'put in the bag.'"

From "Tip and Run" (2007) by Edward Paige. He goes on to say the disabled ship was refloated in 1918 by the British and renamed the King George.

Byron Farwell also mentions the Hermann von Wissmann in "The Great War in Africa", but only in passing and puts it on Lake Tanganyika. He seems to have got either his ship names or his lakes muddled up, so his input isn't really of any use.

Finally, this website also mentions the incident quoted above:
http://www.zum.de/psm/imperialismus/kolonialatlas18/atlas11e.php

Sorry I don't have anything more scholarly than this, but I'm not a scholar.



Edit: Spelled Paige's named wrong in original post.

[Prof.Witchheimer]

Sorry I don't have anything more scholarly than this, but I'm not a scholar.

Scholarly enough for me Many thanks, Plynkes!

Looks like,  this ship doesnt have a spectacular story to show. Disabled with a single shot  :cry:

[Plynkes]

Well, you could always game "What if Captain Berndt had known the war had begun?" If they had been ready things may have turned out different. Interesting that the two captains were friends, too.

Also, the Brits seem to have been happy to leave the ship where it was in 1914, and then spent the rest of the war worrying that the Germans would refloat her and put a Königsberg gun on her and take control of Nyasa.

Another "What if...?" scenario perhaps?

[warrenpeace]

Well, I am so grossly wrong that wrongness clings to me like a coat of green paint on a zombie!  The German language website that I cited above has a section in the "Der I. Weltkrieg auf den Seen von Deutsch-Ostafrika" article titled "Einsatz auf dem Njassa-See." That section refers to the 100 ton Hermann von Wissmann built in 1893 and destroyed on August 13, 1914 at Sphinxhafen. Guess I should look more closely at my own cites. :roll:

Thank you Plynkes for making me look at what happened on the other lakes. :oops:

p.s. the German article mentions the British ships available on Lake Njassa as the 350 ton Guendolen and the 320 ton Chancey Maples, in case anybody is interested. Now I've got to figure out what a "Dampfer" and a "Schlepper" are.

[abbot_amaury]

Now I've got to figure out what a "Dampfer" and a "Schlepper" are.

Dampfer = steamer
Schlepper = tugboat

[Prof.Witchheimer]

the site is top notch, lots of articles and some very nice pics there

need these in 28mm  :love:



that one
"Heiße Grüße für die englischen Landungstruppen"
"Hot Greetings for the british landing troops"
::

[Plynkes]

Great pics! That last one, would it be one of those Schnellfeuergeschutz (pardon my German) thingies? I've seen that pic before, but not so gloriously big. Don't suppose any mini manufacturers make a model of that gun, do they?

That site does have some wonderful piccies. (I want to do Kamerun now! German Askari Lancers in red fezzes!) Thanks, warrenbruhn. Great stuff.

But I dearly wish the tiny bit of German I learned at school hadn't totally evaporated...

[Westfalia Chris]

Great pics! That last one, would it be one of those Schnellfeuergeschutz (pardon my German) thingies? I've seen that pic before, but not so gloriously big. Don't suppose any mini manufacturers make a model of that gun, do they?

That site does have some wonderful piccies. (I want to do Kamerun now! German Askari Lancers in red fezzes!) Thanks, warrenbruhn. Great stuff.

But I dearly wish the tiny bit of German I learned at school hadn't totally evaporated...

I´m unsure about the Schnellfeuergeschütz - to me, it looks more like a "Revolverkanone", a 2in Gatling-type weapon used a lot on light cruisers of the  German Navy in the late 19th and early 20th century.

[Plynkes]

That's interesting, as in an English book I have Schnellfeuergeschutz is translated as "Revolver Cannon", and Revolver Cannon was what I meant when I used that word (I was just trying to come across as smart and clever!)  

So are Schnellfeuergeschutz and Revolverkanone two different things?

Seems to be some confusion,  and something going awry in translation here!  

[Prof.Witchheimer]

just found that, Schnellfeuergeschütz 1908

[Westfalia Chris]

That's interesting, as in an English book I have Schnellfeuergeschutz is translated as "Revolver Cannon", and Revolver Cannon was what I meant when I used that word (I was just trying to come across as smart and clever!)  

So are Schnellfeuergeschutz and Revolverkanone two different things?

Seems to be some confusion,  and something going awry in translation here!  

From what I know, "Schnellfeuergeschütz" (both in the general meaning and for the type-specific gun) is best translated by "Quickfiring Gun" (as in "ordnance, quick-firing/OQF"). Seeing the photograph above, though, I am not 100% sure if the gun on the painting is indeed a Revolverkanone.

I´ve found a page on the Rev. Botched the caliber, 3,7cm/1.5in is the correct caliber. Don´t know how I came to 5cm.

http://www.mars.slupsk.pl/fort/a04-37hg.htm

I´m not sure, but it might indeed be the gun on the above pic. I´ve read numerous accounts which tell of revolver cannon being dismounted from their parent ships and used as field pieces.

[Hammers]

I need these in 28mm

HLBS makes them, I have them. They come both mounted and dismounted.