Matt,
"That is more than I had found thus far. Especially the name
"Staerkodder." Does that come from the attempt to sell it to Denmark? I
was also unaware of the sister ship. I have been having a hard time finding
information on this ship. I can only assume it is because I do not now
where to look. Woud you be so kind as to tell me where you found this out?
My main source of information so far has been on the US Navy Military
History site.
I have an account written by one of the Confederates who served on her
during the trans-Atlantic voyage from France to Cuba. I will dig it up and
send it to you if you are interested."
All the info was from "Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945" by
Hansgeorg Jentschura, Dieter Jung, and Peter Mickel. USNI Press 1992.
More info: Ordered for the Confederate States' Navy as the Sphinx; launched
21 June 1864, completed 25 October 1864; bought by Denmark and renamed
Staerkodder, after being blockaded in Corunna by Federal warships Sacramento
and Niagara the sale was not completed, and she was renamed CSS Stonewall;
1865 surrendered to Federal forces after which she was bought for the
Shoguns fleet. You have the rest of the info from this point. A note of
interest is that in Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships they state that
the reason for the US retaking ownership from the Japanese after the initial
purchase was because the Japanese simply did not yet have the facilities to
take care of her nor enough experience to crew her. Once the Japanese were
ready they once again took possession and that is when she was renamed
Kotetsu.
The other source for the above is Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships
1860-1905.
If you want more details as to armament and type of armor manufacture just
let me know. Most you have already but there are some differences between
Conway's, Jane's and Warship's.
Her sister the Prussian/German Prinz Adalbert: (Source-Conway's 1860-1905
German section)
Dis: 1535 tons
Dim: 186' 8" overall, 165' 7" at the waterline, 32'6" beam, 16'6" draft.
Mach: 2-shaft HSE, 1200ihp=10kts.
Armor: Wrought iron, Belt 5", tower 4 ?".
Armament: 1-120mm, 2-170mm.
Crew: 130
This ironclad ram originally known as Cheops, was under construction at
Bordeaux for the Confederacy, to her builders design, together with a sister
ship Stonewall Jackson, later the Japanese Azuma. She was purchased for the
Prussian Navy in June 1865, but not put into service until a year later. She
was not a particularly good bargain, being a bad seaboat, and the timbers of
her composite hull rapidly fell prey to rot. Though the Prussians replaced
her original intended armament of three 32pdrs with bigger guns in the
five-ported bow position and in the two-gun octagonal citadel abaft the
funnel, she could not be considered a particularly powerful ship. She was
schooner rigged. She was placed in reserve because of wood rot as early as
October 1871, and disarmed in 1875/6.
Gee, it feels good to be able to actually answer something here on this
list! ;-)
The first mentioned book is easily available while the older Conway's are a
little harder to find. If you are looking to get them let me know and I will
point you in the right direction.
Cheers
Bill M.
-----Original Message-----
From: M. R. Williams [mailto:
amacobra@...]
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 10:15 AM
To:
samuraihistory@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [samuraihistory] RE: Japanese Ironclad
Bill M.,
That is more than I had found thus far. Especially the name
"Staerkodder." Does that come from the attempt to sell it to Denmark? I
was also unaware of the sister ship. I have been having a hard time finding
information on this ship. I can only assume it is because I do not now
where to look. Woud you be so kind as to tell me where you found this out?
My main source of information so far has been on the US Navy Military
History site.
I have an account written by one of the Confederates who served on her
during the trans-Atlantic voyage from France to Cuba. I will dig it up and
send it to you if you are interested.
Peace,
Matt
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