View source for HDMS Valkyrien (1888)

{{Short description|Steamboat}}
{{other ships|HDMS Valkyrien}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Danish Cruiser Valkyrien 1899.jpg
|Ship caption=''Valkyrien'' in 1899
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Denmark|naval}} Denmark
|Ship name=''Valkyrien''
|Ship namesake=the [[Valkyrie]]s
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Orlogsværftet|War Shipyard]], Copenhagen
|Ship laid down=27 October 1886
|Ship launched=8 September 1888
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=
|Ship in service=1890
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap in October 1923
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[Protected cruiser]]
|Ship displacement={{convert|3020|MT|LT}}
|Ship length={{convert|85.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|13.2|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|5.5|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=6 cylinder triple boilers
|Ship speed={{convert|16|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{convert|3200|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|10|kn}}
|Ship complement=282–309 officers and men
|Ship armament=*2 × 21-cm-L/35 Krupp guns
*6 × 15-cm-L/35 Krupp guns
*4 × 5.7-cm-L/44 Hotchkiss machine gun
*8 × 3.7-cm-L/23 Hotchkiss revolver cannon
*5 × 38-cm torpedo tubes
|Ship armor={{convert|64|mm|abbr=on}}
}}
|}
'''''Valkyrien''''' was a [[Denmark|Danish]] [[protected cruiser]] that was in service of the [[Royal Danish Navy]] from 1890 until it was sold for scrap in 1923. It was the largest cruiser in the Danish fleet. The ship was used by [[Prince Valdemar of Denmark]] on a nine-month tour of East Asia in 1899 and 1900, visiting China, Japan, Thailand, and India. During [[World War I]], it was a station ship in the [[Danish West Indies]] from 1915 to 1917, until the islands were sold by Denmark to the [[United States]].
==Technical characteristics==
''Valkyrien'' was built at the [[Orlogsværftet|War Shipyard]] in [[Copenhagen]], started in 1886 and launched in 1888. The machinery was from [[Burmeister & Wain]] and provided 5,300 HP. The construction of ''Valkyrien'' was radically different from the previous Danish cruisers and was strongly inspired by the [[Chilean cruiser Esmeralda (1883)|Chilean cruiser ''Esmeralda'']], which was built a few years earlier at Armstrong in Elswick (near [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]]). The ''Esmeralda'', completed in 1884, came to affect an entire generation of cruisers: the rigging was removed, and instead made room for a more powerful machinery and a double screw for better maneuverability. At that time, there were problems in making the armor powerful enough to withstand the cannon, so Armstrong chose to drop the side armor and settle for an armor tire, and in return bet on a powerful cannon armor. The ''Valkyrien'' followed the recipe from ''Esmeralda'' and was thus a modern ship when it was commissioned in 1890. With its top speed of 17.5 knots, the ''Valkyrien'' was able to evade most major warships and, in turn, could cope with smaller ships–a true [[cruiser]].<ref name="dk">[https://www.navalhistory.dk/English/TheShips/VW/Valkyrien(1890).htm VALKYRIEN (1890-1923)] Danish Naval History. Retrieved 16 April 2020.</ref><ref name="enc">[https://www.naval-encyclopedia.com/ww1/danish-navy-ww1 Danish Navy WW1]. Naval Encyclopedia.</ref>
Like the other [[armored cruiser]]s, ''Valkyrien'' quickly became obsolete. New types of armor appeared that could withstand its guns, and new fast-firing artillery was developed, which was far more effective. Not until 1915 did the ''Valkyrien'' receive powerful, fast-firing cannons, namely two spare guns from the armored ship ''[[Danish ironclad Peder Skram|Peder Skram]].'' The 21&nbsp;cm guns could fire one shot every three minutes and the original 15&nbsp;cm guns one shot per minute. The new 15&nbsp;cm guns fired 5–6 shots per minute. The classification of the ''Valkyrien'' was changed from cruiser-[[corvette]] to cruiser in 1910, and at the same time it was transferred to the reserve.<ref name="dk" />
''Valkyrien'' was also able to carry two small torpedo boats (No. 10 and 11), which were delivered by Thornycroft in 1888. The small boats of 17 t were 21 m long and resembled the boats that had already been delivered for the armored ships ''[[Danish ironclad Tordenskjold|Tordenskjold]]'', ''[[Danish ironclad Helgoland|Helgoland]]'' and {{HDMS|Iver Hvitfeldt|1886|2}}. From 1890 to 1893 they were used with the ''Valkyrien''. They were renamed the patrol boats P 10 and P 11 in 1912 and only decommissioned in 1917.
==Operational history==
''Valkyrien'' entered service for the first time on June 4, 1890, and exercised with the maneuvering squadron from August 5 but was deactivated on September 25. It was put back into service on June 16, 1893, and then accompanied the royal yacht ''Dannebrog'' with guests to the wedding of the [[George V|Duke of York]] (grandson of the Danish king) with the princess [[Mary of Teck]], who later became the English royal couple. Afterwards it visited [[Madeira]]. From August 2 to September 28, 1893, the cruiser then again belonged to the maneuver squadron. The next activation of the ship began with a trip to a wedding in England. This time the trip was carried out with the coastal armored ship ''Iver Hvitfeldt'' and the wedding couple were the later Norwegian royal couple, [[Haakon VII of Norway|Prince Carl of Denmark]] and the [[Maud of Wales|English Princess Maud]], both grandchildren of the ruling monarchs. From July 13 to September 30, 1896, the usual naval service followed for the ''Valkyrien''.
The next activation took place on October 3, 1899, for an East Asia trip expressly advocated by the Danish parliament at the urging of Danish business interests, under the command of the youngest king's son, [[Prince Valdemar of Denmark|Prince Valdemar]]. It was a [[show the flag|show of the flag]] in the Far East by Denmark, where it had commercial interests, as no other Danish warship had been in East Asian waters since ''[[Danish ironclad Tordenskjold|Tordenskjold]]'' in 1870. With a crew of 272, the cruiser began its journey to [[Hong Kong]] via [[Plymouth]], [[Algiers]], [[Malta]], [[Port Said]], [[Aden]], [[Colombo]], [[Singapore]], [[Bangkok]], [[Saigon]]. The cruiser then visited [[Fuzhou]], [[Shanghai]], [[Yokohama]], [[Kobe]], [[Nagasaki]] and then traveled back via [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]], [[Piraeus]], [[Gibraltar]] and [[Le Havre]]. Hans Niels Andersen from ''Det Østasiatiske Kompagni'' as a representative of the Copenhagen Chamber of Commerce and the journalist Henrik Cavling followed the cruiser to Thailand with a group of Copenhagen companies on the new freighter ''Annam''. The prince also visited the Siamese king [[Chulalongkorn]] and the Japanese [[emperor Meiji]]. In Shanghai the crew of the ship, Prince Valdemar, and other passengers attended a banquet. The cruiser returned to Copenhagen on July 31, 1900, and was already on its way back when the [[Boxer Rebellion|Chinese boxer uprising]] began.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dLUtAQAAIAAJ&dq=danish+cruiser+valkyrien&pg=PA128 Commercial Relations of the United States with Foreign Countries, Volume 2]. US Government, 1902, p. 128</ref><ref>Christopher Bo Bramson (2013). [https://books.google.com/books?id=OXL-AQAAQBAJ&dq=danish+cruiser+valkyrien&pg=PA24 Open Doors: Vilhelm Meyer and the Establishment of General Electric in China]. Rutledge, pp. 24–27</ref>
The next service from October 16, 1901, to July 5, 1902, spent the ''Valkyrien'' as a station ship in the [[Danish West Indies]]. From May 11, 1902, it supported French ships, including the cruiser ''[[French cruiser Suchet|Suchet]]'', during rescue measures after a volcanic eruption in [[Martinique]].<ref>Frederick Royce (1902). [https://books.google.com/books?id=ptQ0AQAAMAAJ&dq=danish+cruiser+valkyrien&pg=PA130 The Burning of St. Pierre and the Eruption of Mont Pelee]. Continental Publishing Company, p. 130.</ref> In the first port near the erupted volcano, 600 civilians were taken on board to bring them to safety. From July 1 to September 30, 1903, the cruiser was again in service at home, initially undertaking individual trips and training and from August 3, it was part of the maneuvering squadron. The ship was not reactivated until 1910 and then allocated to the reserve.
On November 4, 1913, the Valkyria was reactivated to be used in the Mediterranean Sea until February 4, 1914. The operation took place after the end of the [[Balkan Wars]] with ongoing tensions between the states, whereby due to the close relationship of the royal families, Denmark had special relations with [[Kingdom of Greece|Greece]]. The cruiser was converted for use and the old, very slow-firing 15&nbsp;cm guns of the side battery were replaced by modern 75&nbsp;mm rapid-fire cannons.
When the Danish Navy set up its neutrality watch in [[World War I]] from August 1, 1914, the ''Valkyrien'' was assigned to the 2nd Squadron on the Great Belt as a residential and training ship. The modernization of weapons started in 1913 was continued and the two old 21&nbsp;cm cannons were replaced by modern 15&nbsp;cm Bofors guns. From April 14 to September 21, 1915, the cruiser served as a training ship for naval officers and prospective engineers.
[[File:Last Danish Parade at Saint Croix.jpg|thumb|A parade as the Danish flag is lowered on Saint Croix, former Danish West Indies. ''Valkyrien'' in the background]]
On November 8, 1915, the ''Valkyrien'' was again the station ship for the Danish West Indies. There was general social unrest among the black population, so Denmark felt compelled to send the cruiser to restore calm and order. In January 1916, the United States and Denmark (again) agreed to sell the Danish West Indies. When the secret negotiations in Denmark became known in the summer of 1916, the nationalists protested. The question was first put to the Danish people's vote. The majority of the Danes [[1916 Danish West Indian Islands sale referendum|voted on December 14, 1916, for the sale of Danish West Indies]] to the United States. On April 1, 1917, the islands changed hands for $25 million. The commander of the ''Valkyrien'', Royal Danish Navy Captain [[Henri Konow]], was the last Danish governor of the islands and handled the handover, in a ceremony with the US-designated acting governor, [[United States Navy]] Commander [[E. T. Pollock]]. The islands became the [[United States Virgin Islands]] after the Danish flag was lowered and replaced by the US flag, in the presence of the crew of ''Valkyrien''. The cruiser returned to Denmark on May 10, 1917, and was deactivated.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bJkXAQAAMAAJ&dq=danish+cruiser+valkyrien&pg=PA565 The Abridgment: Containing Messages of the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress with Reports of Departments and Selections from Accompanying Papers]. US Government, 1918, p. 565</ref>
In 1918 the old cruiser was in Holmen and served as a (quarantine) hospital during the [[Spanish flu]]. From May to September 1919, it was again a training ship for cadets. In July the ship was sent to Egypt and Malta to move North [[Schleswig]] under the German prisoners of war to return to Denmark. The ship returned with 160 men from the camps. From October to February 1920 trips to the Netherlands, Belgium and France followed, which brought another 135 "sønderjyder" back to Denmark. In the summer of 1921 the ''Valkyrien'' was used for a trip by the Danish king to the [[Faroe Islands]] and [[Iceland]].
From May 17 to September 15, 1923, the last active phase of the ship followed, which served as a training ship for the officers 'and officers' school. The ''Valkyrien'' was then sold for demolition, which was completed in Denmark in 1924.
==Danish cruisers==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:97%;"
|-
! Name
! align=right|<small>Launched</small>
! align=right|<small>Displacement</small>
! align=right|<small>Speed</small>
! <small>Armament</small>
|-
|'''''Valkyrien'''''
|align=right| 8 September 1888
|align=right|3,020 t
|align=right|17.5 kn
|2 × 21&nbsp;cm L/35, 6 × 15&nbsp;cm L/35
|-
|{{HDMS|Hekla||2}}
|align=right|28 November 1890
|align=right|1,322 t
|align=right|17.1 kn
|2 × 15&nbsp;cm L/35
|-
|{{HDMS|Gejser||2}}
|align=right| 8 May 1893
|align=right|1,282 t
|align=right|17.3 kn
|2 × 12&nbsp;cm L/40
|-
|{{HDMS|Hejmdal||2}}
|align=right|30 August 1894
|align=right|1,342 t
|align=right|17.0 kn
|2 × 12&nbsp;cm L/40
|-
|}
==Notes==
{{reflist}}
==Literature==
*Mads Kirkebæk: China and Denmark: relations since 1674. NIAS Press Copenhagen 1999, {{ISBN|8787062712}}.
*Benito Scocozza and Grethe Jensen: The History of Politics of Denmark. Publisher of Politics, 3rd edition, Copenhagen 2005. {{ISBN|87-567-7064-2}}.
*R. Steen Steensen: Our Cruisers, Marine History Society, 1971.
*Alexander Svedstrup: The Danish Road, Gyldendalske Boghandels Forlag Copenhagen 1902 (Historical description of the Travels of Cruisers).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkyrien (1888), HDMS}}
[[Category:1888 ships]]
[[Category:Ships of the Royal Danish Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Copenhagen]]
[[Category:1910s in the Danish West Indies]]