K1-class gunboat
The K1 class was a type of gunboat designed by the German Kriegsmarine before World War II. The class was to have comprised four ships, which had been ordered under the provisional names K1, K2, K3, and K4. The four ships were ordered in November 1938, and were scheduled to have been completed by early 1942. However, the contracts for the four ships were canceled on 19 September 1939, two weeks after the start of World War II.
Design
In the mid-1930s, particularly after the Nazi party came to power in 1933 and signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement in 1935, the Reichsmarine began to consider a major naval construction program. Various elements in the German navy and government favored different priorities, ranging from a large battle fleet like the Imperial-era High Seas Fleet to a force of long-range commerce raiders. The K1 design was prepared in 1938, while the discussions that resulted in the adoption of Plan Z in January 1939 were still on-going.General characteristics and machinery
The K1-class gunboats were long at the waterline, and long overall. The ships had a beam of, a draft of, and a displacement of as designed, standard displacement, and up to at full load displacement. The ships were of steel construction, and their hulls would have been divided into eleven watertight compartments.The ships were to have used a pair of 4-cylinder, triple-expansion engines that drove a pair of screw propellers. The number and type of boilers that would have provided steam to the engines is unknown, but they would have been vented through a pair of funnels. The engines were rated to provide, which would have given the ships a top speed of. At a more economical speed of, they would have had a cruising radius of. The ships were designed to carry 176 tons of fuel oil.
Armament
The K1-class ships primary armament consisted of four L/65 quick-firing guns in two twin-turrets, one fore and one aft of the superstructure. The 10.5 cm guns fired two types of projectiles: a high explosive shell and a incendiary round. Both types of ammunition used a single propellant charge: the RPC/32 charge. The guns could elevate to 80 degrees, and could hit targets flying at. When the guns were used to engage surface targets, they could hit targets away, at an elevation of 45 degrees.The ships were also armed with two L/83 Flak guns, and four heavy machine guns. The 3.7 cm guns fired high-explosive shells at a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute, and a muzzle velocity of. The guns could elevate to 85 degrees and hit targets flying at, although the tracers were limited to.