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Buffel-class monitor

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=Buffel (1868).jpg

|Ship caption=Right elevation line drawing of the Buffel class}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

|Name=Buffel class

|Builders=

|Operators={{navy|Netherlands}}

|Class before= {{sclass|Schorpioen|monitor|4}}

|Class after={{sclass|Heiligerlee|monitor|4}}

|Built range=1867–1870

|In service range=1869–1908

|In commission range=

|Total ships completed=2

|Total ships scrapped=1

|Total ships preserved=1

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=(as completed)

|Ship type= Monitor

|Ship displacement={{convert|2198|LT|t|sp=us}}

|Ship length={{convert|205|ft|8|in|m|1|abbr=on}} (o/a)

|Ship beam={{convert|40|ft|4|in|m|1|abbr=on}}

|Ship draught={{convert|15|ft|9|in|m|1|abbr=on}}

|Ship power=*{{convert|2000|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}}

|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 compound-expansion steam engines

|Ship speed={{convert|11|kn|lk=in}}

|Ship range=

|Ship complement=117, later 159

|Ship armament=*1 × twin 23 cm Armstrong RML, replaced by:

|Ship armour=*Belt: {{convert|3

6|in|0|abbr=on}}

11|in|0|abbr=on}}
  • Deck: {{convert|0.75
    • 1|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
  • Conning tower: {{convert|144|mm|in|abbr=on|1|disp=flip}}

    • |Ship notes=

    }}

    The Buffel-class monitors were a pair of ironclad monitors built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1860s. They had uneventful careers and were stricken from the Navy List in the late 1890s. {{HNLMS|Guinea||2}} was scrapped in 1897, but {{HNLMS|Buffel||2}} was hulked and converted into an accommodation ship in 1896. She was captured by the Germans during World War II, but survived the war. She became a museum ship in 1979.

    Design and description

    The Buffel-class ships were designed to the same specification as the {{sclass|Schorpioen|monitor|4}}. The ships were {{convert|205|ft|8|in|m|1}} long overall, had a beam of {{convert|40|ft|4|in|m|1}} and a draft of {{convert|15|ft|9|in|m|1}}. They displaced {{convert|2198|LT|t|0}} and was fitted with a ram bow. Their crew initially consisted of 117 officers and enlisted men and then later increased to 159.Silverstone, p. 340

    The ships had a pair of two-cylinder compound-expansion steam engines, each driving one {{convert|3.66|m|ft|adj=on|disp=flip}} propeller, using steam from four boilers. The engines were designed to produce a total of {{convert|2000|ihp|lk=in}} and give the ships a speed of {{convert|12.4|kn|lk=in}}. They could only reach {{convert|11.2|kn}}, however."Dutch Ironclad Rams", p. 304 The Buffels carried a maximum of {{convert|150|LT|t|0}} of coal and had two pole masts.Campbell, p. 372

    The Buffel-class monitors were armed with a pair of Armstrong {{convert|9|in|adj=on|0}} rifled, muzzle-loading guns mounted in the Coles-type gun turret. They were also equipped with four 30-pounder smoothbore guns. The ships had a complete waterline belt of wrought iron that ranged in thickness from {{convert|6|in|0}} amidships to {{convert|3|in|0}} at the ends of the ships. The gun turret was protected by {{convert|8|in|0}} inches of armor and the armor thickness increased to {{convert|11|in|0}} around the gun ports. The base of the turret was also protected by 8 inches of armor and the walls of the conning tower were {{convert|144|mm|1|disp=flip}} thick. The deck armor ranged in thickness from {{convert|0.75|to|1|in|mm|0}}.

    Ships

    class="wikitable" border="1"
    Ship

    !Builder

    !Laid downSilverstone, pp. 345–46

    !Launched

    !Completed

    {{HNLMS|Buffel}}

    |Robert Napier and Sons, Glasgow, Scotland

    |align=center|10 June 1867

    |align=center|10 March 1868

    |align=center|22 July 1869

    {{HNLMS|Guinea}}

    |Rijkswerf, Amsterdam

    |align=center|1867

    |align=center|5 May 1870

    |align=center|16 October 1873

    Service

    The Dutch bought a license for the design of Buffel from Napier and built one sister ship in their own dockyard in Amsterdam. The ships had uneventful careers since the Netherlands was at peace during their active periods. Buffel was stricken in 1896 and became an accommodation ship on 11 June of that year. She was captured by the Germans during World War II, but survived the war. She became a museum ship in 1979 in the Maritime Museum Rotterdam. Guinea was stricken and sold for scrap in 1897.

    See also

    Notes

    {{Reflist|30em}}

    References

    • {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|last=Campbell |first=N. J. M. |chapter=The Netherlands |editor-last=Gardiner |editor-first=Robert|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=978-0-8317-0302-8|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2 |pages=371–377}}
    • {{cite journal|year=1972|title=Dutch Ironclad Rams|journal=Warship International|publisher=Naval Records Club|location=Toledo, OH|volume=IX|issue=3|pages=302–04}}
    • {{cite book|last=Silverstone|first=Paul H.|title=Directory of the World's Capital Ships|year=1984|publisher=Hippocrene Books|location=New York|isbn=0-88254-979-0}}

    External links

    • [https://web.archive.org/web/20100918140203/http://arbeitskreis-historischer-schiffbau.de/ontour/swmschif/buffel/buffel.htm Photo-collection on Dutch ironclads]
    • [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014043305/http://hnsa.org/ships/buffel.htm HNSA Web Page: HNLMS Buffel]

    {{Buffel-class monitor}}

    Category:Ironclad classes