 Illustration of Augusta, c. 1885
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Augusta |
| Namesake | Augusta of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach |
| Builder | Arman Brothers, Bordeaux |
| Laid down | 1863 |
| Launched | 1864 |
| Acquired | 13 May 1864 |
| Fate | Sank in a storm, 2 June 1885 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Augusta-class corvette |
| Displacement | Full load: 2,272 metric tons (2,236 long tons) |
| Length | 81.5 meters (267 ft 5 in) (loa) |
| Beam | 11.1 m (36 ft 5 in) |
| Draft | 5.03 m (16 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Sail plan | Full ship rig |
| Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
| Range | 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Crew |
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| Armament |
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SMS Augusta was a wooden steam corvette built in the 1860s, the lead ship of the Augusta class. She had one sister ship, Victoria; the ships were armed with a battery of fourteen guns. Augusta was laid down in 1863 at the Arman Brothers shipyard in Bordeaux, France, and was launched in early 1864. Originally ordered by the Confederate States Navy, her delivery was blocked by the French Emperor Napoleon III, and she was instead sold to the Prussian Navy in May 1864. The Prussians had been in search of vessels to strengthen their fleet before and during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, but Augusta arrived too late to see action in the conflict.
Augusta was activated during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, but since the Austrian Navy was occupied with the Italian fleet in the Adriatic Sea, she saw no action. In December 1867, she embarked on the first of three major overseas cruises under what was now the North German Federal Navy, with the secret objective of securing a naval base in Central America. Objections from the United States over an attempt to lease the port of Puerto Limón, Costa Rica caused a minor diplomatic incident and led the Germans to abandon the idea. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, Augusta was used as a commerce raider against neutral vessels carrying arms and other contraband to France; she captured three vessels, two of which were taken as war prizes before being blockaded by a superior French naval force in Vigo, Spain.
The ship went on two more cruises abroad, the first in 1874–1876 and the second in 1876–1878. The first cruise again went to Central American waters, but also saw a stint off the coast of Spain to protect German interests amidst unrest in the country during the Third Carlist War. The second cruise saw Augusta travel to the Pacific Ocean, where her captain negotiated trade agreements with the chiefs in Samoa. She also spent time in China, enforcing treaties signed with the Chinese government. In 1885, Augusta embarked on one last voyage to bring replacement crews to several German ships in Australia, but she sank in a cyclone in the Gulf of Aden while en route; no trace of the vessel or her crew of 222 was ever found.