HNLMS Schorpioen
{{Short description|19th century Royal Netherlands Navy ship}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Den helder schorpioen.JPG |Ship caption=Schorpioen in Den Helder, Netherlands }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=Netherlands |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Netherlands|naval}} |Ship name=Schorpioen |Ship namesake=Scorpion |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder= Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée, La Seyne-sur-Mer, France |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down=August 1867 |Ship launched=18 January 1868 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1 October 1868 |Ship commissioned=1868 |Ship decommissioned=1 April 1909 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship reclassified=As an accommodation hulk, 1 April 1909 |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport=Den Helder |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship captured=May 1940 }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Germany |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}} |Ship name= |Ship acquired=May 1940 |Ship captured=8 May 1945 |Ship fate=Returned to Netherlands |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Netherlands |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Netherlands}} |Ship name=Schorpioen |Ship decommissioned=1982 |Ship recommissioned=18 May 1947 |Ship struck=1982 |Ship homeport=Den Helder |Ship identification=*HW-5, 1947
|Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship acquired=8 May 1945 |Ship fate= |Ship status=Museum ship, 1982 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption=(as completed) |Ship class={{sclass|Schorpioen|monitor|0}} monitor |Ship displacement={{convert|2175|t|LT|sp=us}} |Ship length={{convert|59.65|m|1|abbr=on|order=flip}} (p/p) |Ship beam={{convert|39|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|15|ft|10|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship power=*{{convert|2225|ihp|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=2 shafts, 2 steam engines |Ship speed={{convert|12|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|1030|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}} |Ship complement=136 |Ship armament=2 × 1 − Armstrong {{convert|9|in|0|adj=on}} muzzle-loading rifles |Ship armour=* Belt: {{convert|3 |
6|in|0|abbr=on}}
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| 11|in|0|abbr=on}}
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| 1|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship notes= }} |
HNLMS Schorpioen is a {{sclass|Schorpioen|monitor|0}} monitor built in France for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1860s. These new ships were equipped with heavy rifled {{convert|23|cm|in|abbr=on|0}} guns, and a heavy armor. The hull had an armor plated belt of {{convert|15|cm|in|abbr=on|0}} and the gun turret, housing the two guns, had almost {{convert|30|cm|in|abbr=on}} of armor.
She came from the building yard with two tripod masts and able to employ about {{convert|600|m2|abbr=on}} of sails, but she proved to be a difficult sailing ship and some years later the yards, masts and the sails were removed. As with {{HNLMS|Buffel||2}} her huge steam engines gave her a maximum speed of {{convert|13|kn|lk=in}}. Her striking weapon was the pointed ram bow, slightly different from Buffel{{'}}s, but she never ever used this overestimated weapon.
Service record
File:Wachtschip Schorpioen (1948).jpg
As with Buffel, her record is not very impressive. In 1886 Schorpioen was hit in the stern quarter by a paddle steam tugboat in the harbor of Den Helder and sank in two hours. It was possible to raise and repair her. In 1906 she completed her role as an operational warship and was transformed into an accommodation ship.
At the beginning of World War II, she fell into German hands, was towed to Germany, and served there as a lodging - and storage ship. After the war, in 1947 she was found in Hamburg, Germany and towed back to Den Helder; again to become a lodging ship, first in Amsterdam and later in Den Helder where she became the barracks for the Dutch WRNS. In 1982, after decommissioning, she was bought by a private foundation that was established to transform her into a floating museum in Middelburg, in the southern part of the country. Seven years later, after a complete renovation, she opened her doors to visitors, as a museum ship.
In 1995, the Royal Netherlands Navy re-acquired the ship and put her under the supervision of the Dutch Navy Museum in Den Helder where she is now the third, and largest, vessel on display. In May 2000, after a renovation period of eighteen months to restore her to her former glory, the ship was opened to visitors.
See also
Notes
{{Reflist}}
References
- {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor=Gardiner, Robert|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
- {{cite journal| last1 = Classen| first1 = Robert J.|last2=van Djk|first2=A.| year = 1994| title = Answer to Question 22/93| journal = Warship International| volume = XXXI| issue = 2| pages = 203–206| issn = 0043-0374}}
- {{cite journal|year=1972|title=Dutch Ironclad Rams|journal=Warship International|volume=IX|issue=3|pages=302–304}}
- {{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
{{commons category|Hr.Ms. Schorpioen (ship, 1868)}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20100918140203/http://arbeitskreis-historischer-schiffbau.de/ontour/swmschif/buffel/buffel.htm Photo-collection on Dutch ironclads]
- [http://www.marinemuseum.nl HMLMS Schorpioen at Dutch Naval Museum]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071014044139/http://hnsa.org/ships/schorpioen.htm HNSA Ship Page: HMLMS Schorpioen]
{{coord|52.96242|N|4.77206|E|type:landmark_region:NL|display=title}}
{{Schorpioen-class monitor}}
{{Oldest surviving ships (pre-1919)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schorpioen}}
Category:19th-century naval ships of the Netherlands
Category:Naval ships of the Netherlands captured by Germany during World War II
Category:Museum ships in the Netherlands