SMS Geier
USS Schurz

Type:
Cruiser (4th class) (Kaiserliche Marine)
Gunboat (US Navy)

Class:
Bussard
Builder:
Kaiserliche Werft
Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Hull Number:
N/A
Ordered:
N/A
Commissioned:
October 24, 1895 (Kaiserliche Marine)
September 15, 1917 (US Navy)
Keel Laid:
1894
Decommissioned:
N/A
Launched:
October 18, 1894
Stricken:


August 26, 1918 (from US Navy)
Fate:
Sunk June 21, 1918 after being rammed in foggy conditions by SS Florida.

Location: North Atlantic, 32 miles south of Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
(34.11.218N - 76.36.127W)

1 crewman killed (Seaman 2nd Class Manuel Gouveia, Jr.),
214 survivors picked up by SS Florida and SS Saramacca.


Dimensions, Machinery and Performance

Length:
254'
Engines:
2 three cylinder triple expansion
Beam:
32' 1"
Boilers:
Coal fired unknown number and type
Draft:
14' 2"
Shafts:
2
Displacement:
1,630 std
SHP:
2,800
Speed:
15.5 knots
Crew:
161 (Kaiserliche Marine)
197 (US Navy)
Range:
2,850 NM @ 9 knots


Armament As Built
Number Carried
Type
Arrangement
Maximum Range / Ceiling
8
4.1"/35
single mounts
13,340 yards @ 30°
5
37mm revolver canon
single mounts
N/A
2
14" (350mm)
torpedo tubes
single launchers
440 yards @ 29 knots
89 lb. TNT warhead


Combat Victories
Date
Name
Type
Tons
Nationality
Notes
Sept. 4, 1914
Southport
Cargo
3,588
UK
Captured


Commanders
From
To
Name
1903
1906
Sept. 15, 1917
Commander Arthur Crenshaw


History
1898:
Stationed off Haiti during uprising.
1898:
Evacuated German citizens from Havana, Cuba during the Spanish-American War.
1898-1900:
Stationed off South American coast patrolling off German naval bases.
1900-1905:
Supporting German forces during the Boxer rebellion.
1911:
On station during the Turkish-Italian war to protect German interests.
1913-1914:
Stationed at Dar es Salaam.
Aug. 1914:
Ordered to join Adm. Maximilian Graf von Spee's East Asia Squadron at Tsingtao, China.
Sept. 4, 1914:
Captured British cargo ship SS Southport at Kusaie in the Eastern Caroline Islands, disabled the engines and released the ship. The crew repaired the engines and sailed
to Australia where her captain reported the presence of the Geier. Unable to reach China
due to enemy ships Geier set sail for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

Oct. 17, 1914:
Arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Shortly after her arrival two Japanese warships, Hizen and Asama, began patrolling outside the three mile limit awaiting Geier's departure.

Nov. 8, 1914:
Interned by the US Navy at Pearl Harbor.
Apr. 6, 1917:
Seized by the US Navy.
May 22, 1917:
President Woodrow Wilson signs Executive Order 2624 officially authorizing the US Navy to take possession of the Geier.
German armament removed and refit with 4 x 5" guns.

June 9, 1917:
Renamed Schurz.
Sept. 15, 1917:
Commissioned as USS Schurz.
Oct. 1917-
June 1918:

Patrol and escort duties on the US east coast, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.
June 21, 1918:
Sunk in collision.
Aug. 26, 1918:
Stricken from the US Navy register.


Class Overview
Builder's Data
Page published Dec. 18, 2006