SMS was a light cruiser of the German (Imperial Navy) during the First World War. She had three sister ships, , , and . The ship was built by the in Kiel; her hull was laid down in 1908 and she was launched in July 1909. was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in October 1910. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of .
After her commissioning, spent her peacetime career first as a torpedo test ship and then as a gunnery training ship. After the outbreak of World War I, she was assigned to the Baltic Sea, where she spent the entire war. On 2 August 1914, she participated in an operation that saw the first shots of the war with Russia fired, and she later took part in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915 and Operation Albion in October 1917, as well as numerous smaller engagements throughout the war. She struck a mine, once, in January 1915, though the ship was again operational in a few months. After the end of the war, was ceded to Japan as a war prize, and was subsequently broken up for scrap in 1922.
Design
The of light cruisers were a development of the preceding . The primary objective during their design process was to increase speed over the earlier vessels; this required a longer hull to fit an expanded propulsion system. Their armament remained the same as the earlier ships, but they received a new, longer-barreled SK L/45 gun instead of the shorter SK L/40 version of the gun. In addition, the new cruisers abandoned the pronounced ram bow that featured in all previous German light cruisers, and instead used a straight stem.
was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. She displaced normally and up to at full load. The ship had a forecastle deck that extended for the first third of the hull, which stepped down to main deck level for the central portion of the ship before stepping back up to a short sterncastle. She had a minimal superstructure that consisted of a small conning tower on the forecastle. The ship carried a pair of pole masts with platforms for searchlights, one directly aft of the conning tower, and the other closer to her stern. had a crew of 18 officers and 349 enlisted men.
Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of Parsons steam turbines driving four screw propellers. They were designed to give . Steam was provided by fifteen coal-fired Marine water-tube boilers, which were vented through three funnels placed amidships. These gave the ship a top speed of . carried of coal that gave her a range of approximately at .
The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve SK L/45 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle; eight were located on the broadside, four on either side; and two were side by side aft. These were replaced in 1916–1917 with six SK L/45 guns. She also carried four SK L/55 anti-aircraft guns, though these were replaced with a pair of two SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns in 1918. She was also equipped with a pair of torpedo tubes submerged in the hull. Two deck-mounted torpedo tube launchers were added in 1918. She could also carry 100 mines.
The ship was protected by an armor deck that was thick, and which curved downward at the sides to provide a measure of protection against enemy fire. Her conning tower had thick sides, and the main battery guns were fitted with gun shields that were thick.
Service history
was ordered as a replacement for the old unprotected cruiser under the contract name , and was laid down on 22 August 1908 at the shipyard in Kiel. She was launched on 10 July 1909, and at the ceremony, Georg von Wolfram, the mayor of her namesake city, gave a speech. Fitting-out work then commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 October 1910, initially under the command of (KK—Corvette Captain) Ernst-Oldwig von Natzmer. She then embarked on sea trials that lasted into 1911; while still on her initial testing on 17 January, she took part in salvage operations for the sunken U-boat U-3 in Heikendorfer Bay. After completing her trials, on 24 February, was assigned to the Torpedo Inspectorate for use as a torpedo training ship, a role that had been planned while she was still under construction. In March, (FK—Frigate Captain) Johannes von Karpf replaced Natzmer as the ship's commander. She thereafter joined the Training and Test Ships Unit for training exercises in the central Baltic Sea that lasted from 2 to 29 April. In July, conducted torpedo target practice in Norwegian waters. Later that month, she was part of the naval review held during the visit of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. During the German fleet's annual autumn training exercises in August and September, was temporarily assigned to II Scouting Group.
The ship was then dry docked for periodic maintenance that lasted from 18 November to 5 January 1912. The first half of the year passed with routine training exercises; during this period, she operated with the Training and Test Ships Unit (which had been renamed the Training Squadron) from 31 March to 28 April. In July, the older cruiser was decommissioned, and the ship's officers and crew were transferred to . The latter vessel was then transferred from the Torpedo Inspectorate to the Naval Artillery Inspectorate to serve as a gunnery training ship, a role that had previously filled. The ship was based at Sonderburg on the island of Alsen, and at that time, FK Victor Reclam took command of the ship. As in the previous year, during the 1912 autumn maneuvers, operated with II Scouting Group. Another shipyard period at the (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig followed from late September to early November. During this period, FK Andreas Fischer replaced Reclam.
The training routine for 1913 followed that of previous years. These activities were interrupted twice; the first was on 30 January. While moored in Sonderburg, was driven to sea by severe storms and then ran aground south of the bridge that connected Alsen to the mainland. She remained there for about four hours before other ships were able to assist her crew in refloating the vessel. The second incident took place in late May, and also involved a grounding. This time, the large armored cruiser ran aground in the Great Belt off the island of Romsø. was among the vessels that came to help free the ship, and these operations continued into early June. was drydocked again in January 1914 for maintenance, and this work lasted until March. On 20 May 1914 she stopped in Dundee on a courtesy visit. Fischer and his crew were welcomed by the Lord Provost and "the greatest friendliness was displayed".Dundee, Perth, Forfar, and Fife's People's Journal - Saturday 23 May 1914 The following month, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, which sparked the July Crisis and led to the outbreak of World War I in late July, starting with the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia on the 28th. and the bulk of the High Seas Fleet had been cruising in Norwegian waters during the crisis, but Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered the fleet home on 26 July as war appeared imminent, and he wanted to avoid a conflict with the British First Fleet.
World War I 1914
Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she was assigned to the Coastal Defense Division of the Baltic Sea, under the command of Rear Admiral Robert Mischke. The unit was tasked with defending the German coast primarily against Russian naval attacks, but the German naval command was also concerned with the possibility of British surface or submarine forces entering the Baltic via the Skagerrak. On 2 August, and the light cruiser carried out a raid on the Russian harbor of Libau. The cruisers laid a minefield off the port and bombarded the city; during the operation, fired the German fleet's first shells during the war. The Russians had in fact already left Libau, which was seized by the German Army. The minefield laid by was poorly marked and hindered German operations more than Russian efforts. and the rest of the Baltic light forces then conducted a series of bombardments of Russian positions.
Mischke transferred his flag to on 7 August, and he commanded a series of raids into the eastern Baltic between 7 and 13 August and then 15 through 20 August. During the latter period, on 17 August, , , three destroyers, and the minelayer encountered a pair of powerful Russian armored cruisers, and . The Russian commander, under the mistaken assumption that the German armored cruisers and were present, did not attack and both forces withdrew. Shortly thereafter, the German naval command divided into eastern and western units. (Rear Admiral) Ehler Behring took command of the eastern division, using the title "Detached Admiral". Behring made his flagship on 23 August. That day, embarked on a sortie into the eastern Baltic in company with , which resulted in the loss of the latter vessel three days later off the island of Odensholm. returned to port two days later.
Over the course of September, carried out a total of four sweeps into the central Baltic. The first began on the 1st; at around midnight on the night of 1–2 September, came under attack by the Russian destroyer , which launched torpedoes at the ship, though they missed. Later on the 2nd, engaged the Russian cruisers and in a brief but inconclusive action. Also in early September, the light forces in the Baltic were reinforced with the IV Battle Squadron, composed of the older and s, and . Starting on 3 September, the combined German force conducted a sweep into the Baltic. During the operation, spotted the Russian cruisers and . She attempted to draw them closer to , but the Russians refused to take the bait and withdrew. On 7 September, and the torpedo boat steamed into the Gulf of Bothnia and sank the Russian steamer off Rauma. By the 9th, the German fleet had returned to port.
In October, KK Johannes Horn replaced Fischer as the ship's captain; he would command the ship for the bulk of her wartime service. That month, took part in two operations in the Baltic that ended without encountering Russian forces. By this time, the armored cruiser had replaced as Behring's flagship. On 17 November, struck mines off Memel and sank; assisted in rescuing her crew, and she resumed her old role as Behring's flagship until 7 December, when she was replaced by the armored cruiser . took part in a further two sweeps into the Baltic, which also failed to locate any Russian vessels.
1915
participated in two offensive operations in January 1915. The first resulted in no combat, but the second saw the ship badly damaged. During the latter, at around midnight on the night of 24–25 January, ran into a Russian minefield off Bornholm and struck a mine. The mine detonated near the third boiler room, killing eight men inside. The crew kept the ship afloat, and she was able to steam back to Stettin under her own power. There, the hole in her hull was patched, allowing her to then sail to the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg for permanent repairs. At the same time, a supplemental oil-firing system was installed for her boilers.