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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Photo # NH 88628:  German corvette Olga at Kiel, Germany, prior to 1890

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the GERMAN NAVY --

SMS Olga (Corvette, later Training Ship, 1881-1906)

Olga, a 2424-ton Carola class corvette, was built at Stettin, Germany. Commissioned in September 1881, she served overseas during the rest of the decade. On 15-16 March 1889, while stationed in the Pacific, she was damaged and forced aground by the great hurricane that struck the harbor at Apia, Samoa. Olga returned to Germany after that tragic storm and was soon extensively modified for use as a training ship. She continued in that role into the early years of the Twentieth Century. SMS Olga was sold in March 1906 and scrapped two years later.

This page features all the views we have related to the German corvette and training ship Olga.


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 88628

SMS Olga
(German Corvette, 1881)

Photographed at Kiel, Germany, by Arthur Renard, sometime prior to 1890.
This view, which has been retouched to emphasize flags and smoke, may have been taken when Olga first entered service in 1881.

The original print was mounted in an Office of Naval Intelligence register.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 72KB; 740 x 520 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 88777

SMS Olga
(German Corvette, 1881)
and
SMS Carola (German Corvette, 1881)

In the Albert drydock, Tanjong Tagar, Singapore, during the 1880s.

The original print was mounted in an Office of Naval Intelligence register.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 125KB; 555 x 765 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 64255

SMS Olga
(German Corvette, 1881)

Photographed circa 1902, after she had been converted to a training ship.

The original print was received from the Office of Naval Intelligence in 1935.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 80KB; 740 x 525 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42291

German Corvette Olga


Beached on the eastern side of Apia Harbor, Upolu, Samoa, soon after the storm.
View looks to the southwestward, with the wrecks of USS Trenton and USS Vandalia in the left background.
Note Olga's damaged bow. Her funnels and fore and main topmasts are in lowered positions.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 485 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42285

German Corvette Olga


Beached on the eastern side of Apia Harbor, Upolu, Samoa, soon after the storm.
View looks to the northward.
Note her damaged bow, crew's laundry drying in the rigging, and lowered fore and main topmasts.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 105KB; 740 x 585 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42289

Samoan Hurricane of 15-16 March 1889


Wrecked ships in Apia Harbor, Upolu, Samoa, during salvage efforts soon after the storm. The view looks about northward, with USS Trenton and the sunken USS Vandalia to the left and the beached German corvette Olga at right.
Wreckage just off Trenton's stern may be from the German gunboat Eber, which was destroyed when she struck the harbor reef during the hurricane.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 465 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 2150

Samoan Hurricane of 15-16 March 1889


Wrecked ships in Apia Harbor, Upolu, Samoa, soon after the storm. The view looks about northward, with USS Trenton and the sunken USS Vandalia at left, the German corvette Olga beached in the center distance and USS Nipsic beached in the right center.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 79KB; 740 x 570 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42130

Hurricane at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889


"The Olga beached"
Artwork by Rear Admiral Lewis A. Kimberly, contained in his personal journal of the Apia Hurricane. It shows German corvette Olga beached on the eastern side of Apia Harbor, following the storm.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Donation of Miss Elsie S. Kimberly, January 1958.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 117KB; 740 x 555 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42136

Hurricane at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889


"Views of the Trenton, Vandalia, Nipsic, & Olga looking from the shore"
Artwork by Rear Admiral Lewis A. Kimberly, contained in his personal journal of the Apia Hurricane. It shows USS Trenton at left, with USS Vandalia sunk along side her. The stern of USS Nipsic is at right, and the German corvette Olga is beached in the distance.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Donation of Miss Elsie S. Kimberly, January 1958.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 110KB; 740 x 550 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42113

Hurricane at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889


"Plan of the harbor of Apia, with positions of the ships before, and after the hurricane."
Chart drawn by Rear Admiral Lewis A. Kimberly, contained in his personal journal of the Apia Hurricane.
The chart gives locations for the U.S. Navy ships Trenton, Vandalia and Nipsic; German Navy ships Olga, Adler and Eber; and the British Navy ship Calliope.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Donation of Miss Elsie S. Kimberly, January 1958.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 253KB; 1200 x 875 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 42141

Hurricane at Apia, Samoa, 15-16 March 1889


"Sketch of Apia Harbor showing Position of Wrecked Vessels after the Gale, Etc."
Sketch map by Rear Admiral Lewis A. Kimberly, contained in his personal journal of the Apia Hurricane.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Donation of Miss Elsie S. Kimberly, January 1958.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 510 pixels

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

Page made 23 March 2002
New images added 21 April 2002