Seiner Majestät Schiff Hertha was a protected cruiser of the Victoria Louise class, built for the Kaiserliche Marine before the turn of the 20th Century. Hertha was the first ship of the class laid down, in October 1895, and also the first completed, in July 1898. She was built at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin; construction costs totaled 9,932,000 Marks.
Dimensions and machinery
was long at the waterline, and had an overall length of She had a beam of and a draught of Hertha
displaced 5,660 tons on a standard load, and 6,491 tons fully loaded. The ship was powered by three shaft triple expansion engines, that produced and delivered a top speed of .
Between 1905 and 1911, the ships of the Victoria Louise
class were modernized. The ships had their boilers replaced, and had their original three funnels reduced to two stacks.
Armor and armament
was protected by thick armor plate on the decks.The ship was armed with a wide mix of armaments. The main armament consisted of two guns mounted in single turrets fore and aft. The secondary armament comprised eight guns in casemates along the length of the ship, along with ten guns, also casemated. The ships were also armed with three torpedo tubes.
served as a colonial cruiser after she was completed. In 1899, she sailed from Germany to Tsingtao
. She was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron
, and served as its flagship
from 17 February 1900 until she was replaced by... Read More