SMS Crocodill (1879)

Crocodill's sister ship Natter in Kiel
History
NameCrocodill
NamesakeSMS Crocodill
OperatorImperial German Navy
BuilderAG Weser, Bremen
Laid down1878
Launched13 September 1879
Commissioned20 September 1880
Decommissioned24 September 1900
Stricken18 March 1911
FateBroken up, 1918
General characteristics
Class & typeWespe-class gunboat
Displacement
Length46.4 m (152 ft 3 in)
Beam10.6 m (34 ft 9 in)
Draft3.2 to 3.4 m (10 ft 6 in to 11 ft 2 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed11.2 knots (20.7 km/h; 12.9 mph)
Range700 nmi (1,300 km; 810 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph)
Complement
  • 3 officers
  • 73–85 enlisted
Armament1 × 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun
Armor
  • Belt: 102 to 203 mm (4 to 8 in)
  • Barbette: 203 mm (8 in)
  • Deck: 44 mm (1.7 in)

SMS Crocodill was an ironclad gunboat of the Wespe class built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. The ships, which were armed with a single 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun, were intended to serve as part of a coastal defense fleet. Because Crocodill was a purely defensive vessel, she saw little active use, apart from brief stints in active service for sea trials in 1880, followed by training exercises in 1884 and then 1894–1895. During the latter period, she served as the flagship of the Wespe-class gunboats assigned to the Baltic Sea. Crocodill reprised the role in 1897 and again in 1900. The ship was struck from the naval register in 1911 and then used as a target ship until 1913, when she was converted into a floating workshop. Crocodill was broken up after 1918.