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Arcona at anchor
History
Prussia
Name	SMS Arcona
Builder	Königliche Werft, Danzig
General characteristics
Class and type	Arcona-class frigate
Displacement	2,391 t (2,353 long tons)
Length	71.95 m (236 ft 1 in)
Beam	13 m (42 ft 8 in)
Draft	5.55 m (18 ft 3 in)
Installed power	4 × fire-tube boilers 1,365 PS (1,346 ihp)
Propulsion	1 × marine steam engine 1 × screw propeller
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Speed	12.4 knots (23.0 km/h; 14.3 mph)
Range	1,150 nmi (2,130 km; 1,320 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement	35 officers 345 enlisted men
Armament	6 × 68-pounder guns 20 × 36 pounder guns

SMS Arcona was the lead ship of the Arcona class of steam frigates built for the Prussian Navy in the late 1850s and early 1860s. The class comprised five ships, and were the first major steam-powered warships ordered for the Prussian Navy.

Design

In the immediate aftermath of the First Schleswig War against Denmark, Prince Adalbert began drawing up plans for the future of the Prussian Navy; he also secured the Jade Treaty that saw the port of Wilhelmshaven transferred to Prussia from the Duchy of Oldenburg, and which provided the Prussian fleet with an outlet on the North Sea. Adalbert called for a force of three screw frigates and six screw corvettes to protect Prussian maritime trade in the event of another war with Denmark. Design work was carried out between 1854 and 1855, and the first two ships were authorized in November 1855; a further pair was ordered in June 1860, and the final member of the class was ordered in February 1866.

Arcona was 71.95 meters (236 ft 1 in) long overall and had a beam of 13 m (42 ft 8 in) and a draft of 5.55 m (18 ft 3 in) forward. She displaced 1,928 metric tons (1,898 long tons) as designed and 2,391 t (2,353 long tons) at full load. The ship had short forecastle and sterncastle decks. Her superstructure consisted primarily of a small deckhouse aft. She had a crew of 35 officers and 345 enlisted men.

Her propulsion system consisted of a single horizontal single-expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-burning fire-tube boilers. Exhaust was vented through a single funnel located amidships. Arcona was rated to steam at a top speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph), but she significantly exceeded this speed, reaching 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h; 14.3 mph) from 1,365 metric horsepower (1,346 ihp). The ship had a cruising radius of about 1,150 nautical miles (2,130 km; 1,320 mi) at a speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). To supplement the steam engine on long voyages abroad, she carried a full-ship rig with a total surface area of 2,200 m (24,000 sq ft). The screw could be retracted while cruising under sail.

Arcona was armed with a battery of six 68-pounder guns and twenty 36-pounder guns. By 1870, she had been rearmed with a uniform battery of seventeen 15 cm (5.9 in) K L/22 guns; later in her career, the number of these guns was reduced to eight.

Service history

The keel for Arcona was laid down at the Königliche Werft (Royal Dockyard) in Danzig in 1855. She was launched on 19 May 1858. After completing fitting out work, she was commissioned into active service on 15 April 1859.

Notes

1. Nottelmann, pp. 110–113, 119, 124.
2. Sondhaus, p. 55.
3. ^ Gröner, p. 42.
4. Lyon, p. 250.
5. Gröner, pp. 42–43.

References

• Embree, Michael (2007). Bismarck's First War: The Campaign of Schleswig and Jutland 1864. Solihull: Helion & Co Ltd. ISBN 978-1-906033-03-3.
• Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 1. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0237-4.
• Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Nottelmann, Dirk (2022). Wright, Christopher C. (ed.). "From "Wooden Walls" to "New-Testament Ships": The Development of the German Armored Cruiser 1854–1918, Part I: "Humble Beginnings"". Warship International. LIX (2): 102–129. ISSN 0043-0374.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.

• 1858 ships
• Ships built in Danzig
• Arcona-class frigates