Coastal defence ship

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The Finnish coastal defense ship Väinämöinen, one of the last examples of the type.

Coastal defense ships (sometimes called coastal battleships, coast defense ships or Baltic dreadnoughts[citation needed]) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defense, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrificed speed and range for armor and armament. They were usually attractive to nations that either could not afford full-sized battleships or that could be satisfied by specially-designed shallow-draft vessels capable of littoral operations close to their own shores. The Nordic countries and Thailand found them particularly appropriate for their island-dotted coastal waters. Some vessels had limited blue-water capabilities; others operated in rivers.

The coastal defense ships differed from earlier monitors by having a higher freeboard, usually higher speed, sometimes casemated guns (monitors' guns were almost always in turrets) and usually possessed secondary armament. They varied in size from around 1,500 tons to 8,000 tons.

Their construction and appearance was often that of miniaturized pre-dreadnought battleships. As such, they carried heavier armor than cruisers or gunboats of equivalent size, carried a main armament of two or four heavy and several lighter guns in turrets or casements, and could steam at a higher speed than most monitors. In service they were mainly used as movable coastal artillery rather than instruments of sea control or fleet engagements like the battleships operated by blue-water navies. Few of these ships saw combat in the First World War, though some did in Second World War. The last were scrapped in the 1970s.

Navies with coastal defense ships as their main capital ships included Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Ecuador, Finland, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand and the British colonies of India and Victoria. Germany and Russia also built them, with Russia using three at the Battle of Tsushima in 1905.

Apart from specially-built coastal defense ships, some navies used obsolescent pre-dreadnought battleships in this role. The Royal Navy deployed four Majestic class battleships as guardships in the Humber at the start of the First World War. Similarly, the U.S. Navy redesignated the Indiana and Iowa classes as "Coast Defense Battleships" in 1919. Such ships tended to be near the end of their service lives and while considered generally no longer fit for front line service, were still powerful enough for defensive duties in reserve.

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[edit] Categorization

This type of vessel has always been categorized differently by different countries, due to treaties, differences in judgments related to design or intended roles, and also national pride. In the United Kingdom the Scandinavian ships were known as "coast defence ships". From the 1920s onward Germany referred to the Scandinavian ships as "coastal armored ships" (Küstenpanzerschiff), in contrast to their own Deutschland class of larger seagoing "armored ships" (Panzerschiff), which were later rerated as "heavy cruisers" (Schwere Kreuzer). The Danes referred to their ships as both "coast defense ships" (Kystforsvarsskib) and "armored ships" (Panserskib). In Norway they were referred to as "armored ships" (Panserskip). The Dutch called their ships "cruisers" (Kruiser), "armoured ships" (Pantserschip) or "battleships" (Slagschip). The Swedish term for these ships was "armored ship" (Pansarskepp).

As an example of the profusion of terms and classifications which often contradicted each other, the 1938 edition of Jane's Fighting Ships lists the Swedish Pansarskepps of the Sverige class as battleships.

[edit] The Swedish Pansarskepps

The Swedish Pansarskepps were an outgrowth of the earlier Swedish adoption of the monitor and were used for similar duties.

[edit] Technical details

The Pansarskepp, with the notable exception of the Sverige class, were relatively small vessels with limited speed, shallow draft, and very heavy guns relative to the displacement. They were designed for close in-shore work near the islands or in the fjords of Scandinavia, and other countries with shallow coastal 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 had similar naval requirements.

[edit] Effectiveness

It has been suggested that the Sverige class ships were one reason why Germany did not invade Sweden during World War II.[1] This is unlikely. If the Germans had invaded they could have used their forces in Norway, as well their air power, to gain tactical superiority wherever needed.[citation needed]

[edit] The Dutch Pantserschips

The Dutch used their armoured ships mainly to defend their interests overseas, in particular in their colonial possessions in the West Indies and the East Indies. For this reason the ships had to be capable of long-range cruising, providing artillery support during amphibious operations, and carrying the troops and equipment needed in these operations. At the same time the ships had to be well enough armed and armored to face contemporary cruisers of the Imperial Japanese Navy (the likely enemy). As such they were expected to act as mini-battleships rather than as strictly coastal defense vessels.

The last Dutch pantserschip HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën, was built in 1909 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. This ambition was never realized due to the outbreak of the First World War. The Second World War put an end to a similar project to obtain fast capital ships in the late 1930s with German assistance.

Prior to World War II, the Dutch had relegated all the surviving pantserschips to secondary duties. The Axis powers converted several to serve as floating anti-aircraft batteries and subsequently utilized some as block ships.

[edit] Operators

  • Argentina:
    • La Plata class (La Plata and Los Andes)
    • Independencia class (Independencia and Nueve de Julio)
  • Austria-Hungary:
    • Kronprinzessin Erherzogin Stephanie
    • Kronprinz Erherzog Rudolf
    • Monarch class (Monarch, Wien, and Budapest)
  • 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)
  • Denmark
    • Herulf Trolle class (Herulf Trolle, Olfert Fischer and Peder Skram[1])
    • Niels Juel[2]
  • Portugal:
    • Vasco da Gama
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[edit] References

  1. ^ This speculation appeared in Warship Magazine[when?] - the author[who?] was writing an article on the Sverige class, and so may have been prejudiced.
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