SMS Freya (1897)

Freya was ordered under the contract name "Ersatz Freya",^[a] and was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft in Danzig on 2 January 1896. She was launched on 27 April 1897; Prince Heinrich of Prussia gave a speech at the ceremony and Queen Charlotte of Württemberg christened the ship. After completing fitting-out work, she began builder's sea trials, which revealed significant problems with her boilers, prompting the navy to issue a formal complaint to the manufacturer, Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, which was forced to provide replacements. Additional problems led the navy to turn to the British Thornycroft boiler, which the design staff of the RMA developed further, leading to what would become the Marine-type boiler. These would be used on most German warships thereafter. Freya was commissioned on 20 October 1898 for additional sea trials, conducted by the navy. During this period, she was officially assigned to II Division of I Battle Squadron, replacing the old ironclad warship Sachsen, though she was not yet ready for active service. In March 1899, Freya was lightly damaged in a collision with a vessel under construction for the Ottoman Empire, after the latter vessel broke free from her moorings. The ship's first commander, Kapitän zur See (KzS—Captain at Sea) Hugo Westphal, arrived aboard the ship in October 1900. Freya occasionally took part in training exercises with other elements of the fleet through mid-1901, though she remained on trials until 8 June, when she was decommissioned.^[11] She was now, finally, ready for active service.^[12]

In the interest of developing the capabilities of the fleet's gunners, the navy established the Artillery Testing Command on 14 December 1901, and on 3 May 1902, Freya was recommissioned to join the new establishment as its core unit, replacing the ancient training ship Mars, which had been built in the 1870s. Fregattenkapitän (Frigate Captain) Hermann Jacobsen took command of the vessel at that time. She began training activities on 15 May, based in Kiel. Later that year, she was allocated to the training fleet for use as a scout for the annual large-scale maneuvers held every August and September. During the exercises, Freya suffered damage to her boilers that necessitated repairs that were completed on 15 September. The ship's boilers would prove to be a continued nuisance throughout her career, but because she was only being used for training, the navy deemed it acceptable. She thereafter resumed her gunnery training duties, along with her tender, the old armored gunboat Brummer. The two vessels accidentally collided on 13 November but suffered no significant damage. The year 1903 passed much the same as the previous one, with gunnery training interrupted only by the fleet maneuvers in August and September. On 11 January 1904, Freya was again decommissioned in Wilhelmshaven.^[11][12]

By this time, the naval command had decided to convert the Victoria Louise-class ships into dedicated training ships for naval cadets and apprentice seamen, as they were no longer suitable for front-line service. They would replace the old screw corvettes that had been in use for that purpose for some time and were by then badly worn out. In 1905, Freya went into drydock at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven for modernization. Despite the problems with her boilers, she did not receive new models; unlike her sister ships, which had their original three funnels reduced to two, Freya kept her original funnels. The refit was finished in early 1907, and she was recommissioned on 4 April, now under the command of KzS Franz von Holleben. She completed a short trials period, operating from Wilhelmshaven and then Kiel, before embarking her first class of trainees in early May. Freya then went on a short cruise in the western Baltic Sea before participating in the Kiel Week regatta.^[12][13]

Freya next embarked on a major training cruise on 19 July that included visits to Norway, various ports on the Atlantic coast of Europe, and the Canary Islands before entering the Mediterranean Sea. There, Freya visited a number of cities, including Venice, Italy, Beirut in the Ottoman Empire, and Alexandria in the Khedivate of Egypt. The ship arrived back in Kiel on 18 March 1908. After embarking a new contingent of cadets and a new captain, KzS Leberecht Maass in April, Freya began the next training cruise, which started with maneuvers off Apenrade and in the North Sea, before crossing the Atlantic to visit North America.^[14] In August, Freya represented Germany at celebrations in Halifax, Canada, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Canadian Parliament.^[15] While entering the port at around midnight on 9 August, she inadvertently rammed a schooner in heavy fog. Nine sailors were killed in the accident.^[16] Freya thereafter steamed south to visit ports in the Caribbean Sea. She arrived back in Kiel on 8 March 1909, where KzS Carl Schaumann relieved Maass.^[14]

Freya's third major cruise began on 2 June 1909, first with a visit to Norway, followed by a short return to Cuxhaven and then Wilhelmshaven, to make preparations to go abroad. From Wilhelmshaven, she got underway for the Mediterranean, stopping in Funchal in Madeira and Tenerife in the Canaries on the way. She steamed as far as the eastern Mediterranean, visiting Alexandria again, where she rendered assistance after a major fire in the city, along with ports in the Levant. Freya arrived back in Wilhelmshaven on 28 March 1910, where she went into dry dock for an overhaul that lasted until 2 May. She then moved to Kiel, where she took on another crew of cadets for a short training cruise to Norwegian waters that ended in Wilhelmshaven on 20 July.^[17]

On 1 August 1910, Freya departed for her next major voyage overseas; unlike previous years that included numerous stops while on the way, the ship steamed directly to Mexico with a special envoy aboard. There, she met the light cruiser Bremen, which was cruising off the coast of South America. The two ships represented Germany at celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Mexico's independence from Spain. Freya disembarked the envoy in Veracruz, Mexico, on 3 September; he went on to meet the President of Mexico. On 16 September, the ship was present for the unveiling of a monument to Alexander von Humboldt, a German explorer and geographer who had surveyed much of Mexico in 1803–1804. Kaiser Wilhelm II donated the monument to Mexico. Freya got underway on 22 September for a cruise through the Caribbean before returning home, arriving in Kiel on 13 March 1911. She then proceeded to Danzig, where she was decommissioned on 28 March for another extensive modernization. This included replacing her troublesome Niclausse boilers with modern Marine-type boilers, and her third funnel was removed at this time. After completing the work in 1913, she was assigned to the reserve fleet, remaining out of commission.^[17]

Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Freya was mobilized for active service, but she was initially only activated for use as a training ship for boiler room personnel. She was briefly commanded KzS Max Schlicht from 4 to 27 August, before being replaced by Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain) Eduard Bartels.^[14] The ship got underway for the first time again on 7 August for initial trials; it was found that her badly fouled hull had reduced her top speed by about 1 knot (1.9 km/h; 1.2 mph), but there were no available dry docks to correct the problem. On 11 August, the ship suffered a serious accident: the inner door of one of her torpedo tubes was left open while the outer door was opened, allowing significant amounts of water to enter the ship. The forward part of the ship was flooded completely up to the level of the armor deck, leading Schlicht to decide to beach the ship to avoid sinking. Two men were killed in the accident, one of whom drowned in the torpedo room and the other a diver who attempted to close the outer door but was sucked into the tube by suction from the pumps inside. Salvage vessels assisted in recovery of the ship, and Freya was transferred into dry dock on the night of 11 August for work that lasted until 27 August; she was decommissioned the following day.^[18]

Freya was soon recommissioned on 12 September for service as a cadet training ship. Following the reestablishment of the Training Inspectorate in April 1915, which had been closed at the start of the conflict, Freya returned to her old training duties in the Baltic. At that time, she moved from Kiel to Flensburg, where she remained through the end of the war. During this period, she routinely served as a target ship for the torpedo training vessel Württemberg and various torpedo boats. She also made frequent trips to Kiel both for training purposes and for periodic maintenance. KzS Ernst-Oldwig von Natzmer took command of the vessel in April 1915, but he remained aboard only for four months, when he was replaced by KzS Wilhelm Goetze.^[14][19] During Natzmer's command, in July, the old aviso Grille became Freya's tender starting in July.^[20] In February and December 1916, Freya made a pair of trips into the North Sea to be dry-docked at Hamburg. She embarked on her final voyage under the Imperial Navy's ensign on 20 September 1918, sailing from Flensburg to Kiel to be dry-docked on 7 October. When work was completed on 21 November, Germany had surrendered and Imperial Germany was no more.^[9]

At some point after the war, Freya was disarmed and then towed to Hamburg, where she was used as a barracks ship for police in the city. She was stricken on 25 January 1920, but continued to serve as a barracks ship. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in Harburg in late 1921.^[9][21]

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