Stralsund was assigned to the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career. She saw significant action in the early years of World War I, including several operations off the British coast and the Battles of Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank, in August 1914 and November 1915, respectively. She was not damaged in either action. The ship was in dockyard hands during the Battle of Jutland, and so she missed the engagement. After the end of the war, she served briefly in the Reichsmarine before being surrendered to the Allies. She was ceded to the French Navy, where she served as Mulhouse until 1925. She was formally stricken in 1933 and broken up for scrap two years later.
The Magdeburg-class cruisers were designed in response to the development of the British Invincible-classbattlecruisers, which were faster than all existing German light cruisers. As a result, speed of the new ships must be increased. To accomplish this, more powerful engines were fitted and their hulls were lengthened to improve their hydrodynamic efficiency. These changes increased top speed from 25.5 to 27 knots (47.2 to 50.0km/h; 29.3 to 31.1mph) over the preceding Kolberg-class cruisers. To save weight, longitudinal framing was adopted for the first time in a major German warship design. In addition, the Magdeburgs were the first cruisers to carry belt armor, which was necessitated by the adoption of more powerful 6-inch (150mm) guns in the latest British cruisers.[1]
Model of a Magdeburg-class cruiser in the Marinemuseum in Dänholm
Stralsund was 138.7 meters (455ft 1in)long overall and had a beam of 13.5m (44ft 3in) and a draft of 4.46m (14ft 8in) forward. She displaced4,570t (4,500 long tons; 5,040 short tons) normally and up to 5,587t (5,499 long tons) at full load. The ship had a short forecastle deck and a minimal superstructure that consisted primarily of a conning tower located on the forecastle. She was fitted with two pole masts with platforms for searchlights. Stralsund had a crew of 18 officers and 336 enlisted men.[2]
Her propulsion system consisted of three sets of Bergmann steam turbines driving three screw propellers. These were powered by sixteen coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers, although they were later altered to use fuel oil that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. The boilers were vented through four funnels located amidships. They were designed to give 25,000 shaft horsepower (19,000kW) for a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9km/h; 31.6mph), but she reached 35,515shp (26,484kW) and a top speed of 28.2 knots (52.2km/h; 32.5mph) during her initial speed testing. Stralsund carried 1,200t (1,181 long tons) of coal, and an additional 106t (104 long tons) of oil that gave her a range of approximately 5,820 nautical miles (10,780km; 6,700mi) at 12 knots (22km/h; 14mph).[2][3]
The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5cm (4.1in) 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. The guns had a maximum elevation of 30degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to 12,700m (13,900yd).[4] They were supplied with 1,800 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. She was also equipped with a pair of 50cm (19.7in)torpedo tubes with five torpedoes; the tubes were submerged in the hull on the broadside. She could also carry 120 mines.[5]
Stralsund was protected by a waterline armor belt and a curved armor deck. The deck was flat across most of the hull, but angled downward at the sides and connected to the bottom edge of the belt. The belt and deck were both 60mm (2.4in) thick. The conning tower had 100mm (3.9in) thick sides.[5][6]
Service history
Stralsund in 1913
Stralsund was ordered under the contract name "ErsatzCormoran" and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in September 1910 and launched on 4 November 1911; during the launching ceremony, the mayor of Stralsund, Ernst Gronow, gave a speech. Fitting-out work thereafter commenced. Named for the earlier schoonerStralsund, she was commissioned into active service on 10 December 1912. Fregattenkapitän (FK—Frigate Captain) Magnus von Levetzow served as her first commander, though he served only briefly in that role, before being replaced by FKVictor Harder in January 1913. After entering service, Stralsund conducted sea trials, which lasted until 15 February. The ship then joined the Unit of Reconnaissance Ships, assigned to II Scouting Group, where she took part in the peacetime routine of training exercises and cruises with the High Seas Fleet for the next year.[2][7]
World War I
On 16 August, some two weeks after the outbreak of World War I, Stralsund and Strassburg were ordered to carry out a sweep into the Hoofden to search for British reconnaissance forces, in the hopes of surprising patrolling British destroyers. The operation was led by Harder aboard Stralsund. They were accompanied by the U-boatsU-19 and U-24, which were to ambush any British forces that counter-attacked. The two cruisers departed late on 17 August and early the following morning, they passed through the British patrol line in darkness; at around 04:45, they reversed course with the intention surprising the British destroyers from behind. Stralsund and Strassburg steamed about 50nmi (93km; 58mi) apart to increase their chances of locating British forces; at 06:39, Stralsund spotted a group of eight or ten destroyers and the light cruiser HMSFearless at a distance of about 10,000m (11,000yd).[8][9] The British commander aboard Fearless initially mistook Stralsund for an armored cruiser and he initially ordered his ships to refrain from attacking her. Stralsund, for her part, immediately opened fire on the nearest destroyers. After about half an hour of inaccurate shooting from both sides, German lookouts spotted what they thought was a second British cruiser approaching, so Harder decided to break off the engagement.[10][11]
Battle of Helgoland Bight
The actions of Stralsund in the Battle of Heligoland Bight
In response to Stralsund's raid on the British patrol line, the British naval command decided to stage a retaliatory raid on the German defenses in the Helgoland Bight, to be carried out by the Harwich Force.[12] This led to the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914. British battlecruisers and light cruisers raided the German reconnaissance screen in the Heligoland Bight. At the start of the action, Stralsund and the rest of IIScouting Group were at anchor in Wilhelmshaven, and as soon as reports of British cruisers arrived at the naval command, IIScouting Group was ordered to sea immediately. By 11:30, Stralsund had gotten underway, following Strassburg and the light cruiser Cöln.[13]
At around 13:40, Stralsund, heard the sound of shooting in the distance, and shortly after 14:00, she encountered three British cruisers and a battlecruiser. She came under heavy fire, but suffered only a single hit that failed to explode, though shell fragments from near misses injured several crewmen. Stralsund quickly disengaged and fled south before turning north to come to the aid of the stricken Ariadne, which had been badly damaged by the British battlecruisers Stralsund and Danzig picked up around sixty men from Ariadne. Stralsund and the rest of the surviving light cruisers retreated into the haze and were reinforced by the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group under Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Franz Hipper.[14][15]Stralsund and Danzig returned and rescued most of the crew of Ariadne.[16] During the battle, Stralsund only received a single hit, and none of her crew were wounded.[3]
Raid on Yarmouth
On 9 September, Stralsund and the cruiser Kolberg escorted the minelaying cruisers Albatross and Nautilus and the auxiliary minelayer Kaiser while they laid a minefield in the North Sea. In late September, Stralsund was temporarily moved to the Baltic Sea, where she took part in a sweep for Russian forces as far north as the northern tip of Gotland. She soon returned to the North Sea, and with IIScouting Group, sortied with the battlecruisers of IScouting Group for the raid on Yarmouth.[3] The operation was carried out on 2–3 November 1914, and the ships of IIScouting Group served as the reconnaissance screen for battlecruisers. While the battlecruisers bombarded the town of Yarmouth, Stralsund laid a minefield, which sank a steamer and the submarine HMSD5 which had sortied to intercept the German raiders. After completing the bombardment, the German squadron returned to port without encountering British forces.[17]Stralsund and IIScouting Group next went to sea on 20 November in company with IScouting Group for an uneventful patrol.[3]
Raid of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby
Another battlecruiser raid was carried out on 15–16 December,[3] this time against the coastal towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby. The two scouting groups left the Jade at 03:20.[18] Hipper's ships sailed north, through the channels in the minefields, past Helgoland to the Horns Rev light vessel, at which point the ships turned westward, towards the English coast.[19] The main battle squadrons of the High Seas Fleet left in the late afternoon of the 15th. During the night of 15 December, the main body of the High Seas Fleet encountered British destroyers, and fearing the prospect of a night-time torpedo attack, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl ordered the ships to retreat.[20] Hipper's ships carried out the bombardment regardless,[21] though they were unaware of Ingenohl's withdrawal. They then turned back to rendezvous with the German fleet.[22]
By this time, the British battlecruiser force was in position to block Hipper's egress route, while other forces were en route to complete the encirclement. At 12:25, the light cruisers of IIScouting Group began to pass the British forces searching for Hipper. One of the cruisers in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron spotted Stralsund, and signaled a report to Beatty. At 12:30, Beatty turned his battlecruisers towards the German ships. Beatty presumed that the German cruisers were the advance screen for Hipper's ships, however, those were some 50km(31mi) ahead. The 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron, which had been screening for Beatty's ships, detached to pursue the German cruisers, but a misinterpreted signal from the British battlecruisers sent them back to their screening positions. This confusion allowed the German light cruisers to escape, and alerted Hipper to the location of the British battlecruisers. The German battlecruisers wheeled to the northeast of the British forces and made good their escape.[22]
1915
On 25 December 1914, the British launched the Cuxhaven Raid, an air attack on the German naval base in Cuxhaven and the Nordholz Airbase. Stralsund engaged one of the attacking seaplanes, but was unable to shoot it down.[23]Stralsund joined the light cruiser Graudenz on 3 January 1915 for a patrol into the North Sea to the west of Amrun Bank that ended without locating British forces.[3]Stralsund next carried out a minelaying operation in company with Strassburg on 14–15 January off the Humber.[24] The ship was again part of the reconnaissance screen for the I Scouting Group at the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January. Stralsund and Graudenz were assigned to the front of the screen and Rostock and Kolberg steamed on either side of the formation; each cruiser was supported by a half-flotilla of torpedo boats. At 08:15, lookouts on Stralsund and Kolberg spotted heavy smoke from large British warships approaching the formation. As the main German fleet was in port and therefore unable to support the battlecruisers, Hipper decided to retreat at high speed. The British battlecruisers were able to catch up to the Germans, however, and in the ensuing battle, the large armored cruiser Blücher was sunk.[25]
Stralsund moved to the Baltic for another operation from 17 to 28 March, which targeted Russian forces that were attacking near Memel. On 23 March, she bombarded Russian positions and troop concentrations at Polangen, just to the north of Memel. She returned to the North Sea immediately, in time to participate in a fleet sweep into the North Sea on 29–30 March. She went to sea again on 17 April for a minelaying operation in company with Strassburg that lasted until the following day, this time to lay mines off the Swarte Bank. Stralsund and the rest of IIScouting Group carried out a patrol to the Dogger Bank area on 17–18 May. Another sortie by the entire High Seas Fleet took place on 29–30 May, and like the previous operations, the Germans failed to locate any British vessels. Stralsund embarked on sweeps on 28 June in the direction of Terschelling and on 2 July toward Horns Rev, again without result. That month, FKKarl Weniger replaced Harder as the ship's commander.[7]
In August, Stralsund and the rest of IIScouting Group returned to the Baltic to take part in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga. The ships served as part of the covering force, under Hipper's command, that patrolled outside the gulf to prevent any Russian ships from counterattacking. During this period, Stralsund came under attack by the British submarineHMSE1, but the submarine's torpedoes missed. By 29 August, Stralsund had returned to the North Sea. She loaded 140mines for another minelaying operation on 11–12 September; she laid this field between Terschelling and the Swarte Bank. Another fleet sortie took place on 23–24 October. For Stralsund, the year's operations came to an end with a sweep by IIScouting Group into the Skagerrak and Kattegat from 16 to 18 December.[3]
1916–1918
Stralsund participated in a pair of patrols into the North Sea on 2–3 and 11 February 1916. She was then detached from IIScouting Group on 19 February for a major refit that began two days later at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel.[3] Her twelve 10.5cm guns were replaced with seven 15 cm SK L/45 guns and two 8.8cm SK L/45 guns.[2] She also had her forecastle extended by 10m (33ft) to raise the height of her broadside guns a deck higher, and her torpedo tubes were moved to the middle deck. She also had a night-fighting control station installed on the roof of her bridge. The work lasted until 17 June,[3] and as a result, the ship was not available for the Battle of Jutland on 31 May– 1 June.[26] In June, Kapitän zur See (KzS—Captain at Sea) Hans Gygas relieved Weniger as the ship's captain. Stralsund returned to active service on 6 July, and she briefly served as the flagship of KAdm Ludwig von Reuter, the commander of IV Scouting Group; she held this role from 10 to 17 July. She then returned to IIScouting Group, serving as its flagship from 4 August to 30 October, initially under KAdm Friedrich Boedicker until 11 September, when he was replaced by Reuter. During this period, she led IIScouting Group during the fleet sortie on 18–20 August,[7] which resulted in the action of 19 August 1916, an inconclusive clash that left several ships on both sides damaged or sunk by submarines, but no direct fleet encounter.[27]
Stralsund dry-docked in 1918, showing the damage inflicted by a mine
On 12 September, Stralsund embarked a floatplane, which was used operationally for the first time during a fleet sweep to the east of the Dogger Bank on 18–20 October. She went to sea on 4–5 November with the High Seas Fleet to come to the aid of the U-boats U-20 and U-30, which had run aground on the coast of Denmark. Stralsund was transferred from IIScouting Group to IVScouting Group on 2 December, where she became the flagship of KAdm Karl Seiferling, though he remained aboard for only nine days. Stralsund participated in a patrol out to the Fisher Bank on 27–28 December. On 10 January 1917, the ships of IVScouting Group carried out a minelaying operation in the North Sea between Helgoland and Norderney; they were reinforced by the cruiser Danzig during the operation. On 15 January, Kommodore (Commodore) Max Hahn took command of IVScouting Group, making Stralsund his flagship.[28][a]Stralsund spent the next several months participating in patrols of the southern North Sea, interrupted only by a period in the shipyard at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel for repairs to her turbines, which lasted from 7 August to 15 October. While Stralsund was under repair, Hahn shifted his flag permanently to the cruiser Regensburg.[29]
On 22 October, Stralsund was ready to return to service, and she was sent to Libau in the Baltic. Operation Albion, the amphibious attack on the islands in the Gulf of Riga, had already ended in a German victory, so the ship quickly returned to the North Sea. From 11 to 20 November, KzSPaul Heinrich—the commander of I Torpedo-boat Flotilla—used Stralsund as his flagship. While Heinrich was aboard, the ship took part in a pair of sweeps into the North Sea as far as the lightshipNoordhinder on 12 and 17 November.[29] On 2 February 1918, while covering a minesweeping unit in the North Sea, Stralsund struck a mine laid by British ships. Though two of her watertight compartments flooded, she was able to steam under her own power back to Wilhelmshaven. The dreadnoughtKaiser and several other ships steamed out to escort Stralsund back to port. Repairs lasted from 4 February to 25 April, and as a result,[29][30] the ship was unavailable for the major fleet operation on 23–24 April to intercept a British convoy to Norway.[31]
After returning to service, Stralsund joined the rest of IVScouting Group for training exercises in the Baltic on 27 April. There, on 16 May, she was assigned as the flagship of KAdm Hugo Meurer, the commander of a sonderverband (special unit) that was to operate in the eastern Baltic. She sailed to Mariehamn, arriving on 19 May, where she relieved the cruiser Kolberg, which had been operating in the area. From there, Stralsund sailed for Helsingfors, Finland; there, KAdm Ludolf von Uslar replaced Meurer as the commander of naval forces in the area. Over the next few weeks, the ship cruised to various ports in the region, including Reval, Estonia; Mariehamn, Hanko, and Turku, Finland; Windau, Latvia; and Libau. The ship then departed Libau for Kiel, before moving back to the North Sea on 24 June. She remained there until 8 August, when she was ordered back to the Baltic for a major operation.[29]
Stralsund was assigned to a new sonderverband, which was to carry out Operation Schlußstein, under the command of now Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Boedicker. The planned operation came about as a result of the uncertain military and political situation in Russia in the summer of 1918. The nascent Soviet government was fighting the Russian Civil War against the Whites, and British forces had intervened in northern Russia, occupying Murmansk. The Soviets, who had signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany, requested German help to expel the British, fight White forces, and suppress the Don Cossacks. Though Germany was interested in defeating British forces in north Russia, the German command had no desire to fight the anti-communist Whites or the Cossacks. Operation Schlußstein marked the beginning phase of the campaign against the British intervention in northern Russia; it was to begin with the occupation of St. Petersburg.[29]
The ships assigned to Operation Schlußstein included the dreadnoughts Nassau, Ostfriesland, and Thüringen; the ships of IVScouting Group—Stralsund, Strassburg, Regensburg, and Frankfurt—the cruiser Kolberg; the avisoBlitz; VTorpedoboat Flotilla; a seaplane tender, and numerous mine-warfare vessels and smaller craft. On 12 August, German forces began clearing minefields in the eastern Gulf of Finland, though the major warships of the unit remained behind in Kiel. Four days later, Boedicker and his staff moved to Stralsund, which sailed that day in company with Strassburg, bound for Libau. The ships then continued on to Reval, Helsingfors, Narva, Hungerburg, and Björkö. The wartime situation continued to deteriorate for Germany, which led to the postponement of Operation Schlußstein, and Stralsund was soon recalled. She passed through Helsingfors, Reval, and Libau before arriving back in Kiel. She then returned to the North Sea, arriving in Wilhelmshaven on 9 September, where Boedicker and his staff left the ship.[32]
On 12 September, Stralsund returned to the Baltic and sailed back east, arriving in Björkö to relieve Strassburg as the guardship there on 16 September. She remained there for more than a month, during which time Operation Schlußstein was formally cancelled on 27 September. By that time, Germany's position in the Balkans began to collapse after the Vardar offensive on the Macedonian front inflicted a decisive defeat on German and Bulgarian forces. On 22 October, the old coastal defense shipBeowulf arrived to replace Stralsund, which departed for Helsingfors. She spent the last weeks of the war there, after which she returned to Kiel, where she was decommissioned on 17 December.[33]
Postwar and French service
In French service as Mulhouse
After the war, Stralsund was not included in the fleet that was interned at Scapa Flow during the peace negotiations. She was instead permitted to remain in Germany, and the naval command hoped that she could be preserved for the postwar Reichsmarine. But after the scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow in June 1919, shortly before the Treaty of Versailles was signed, this proved to be an unrealistic expectation.[34][33] The Treaty of Versailles specified that the ship was to be disarmed and handed over to the Allies within two months of the signing of the treaty.[35]Stralsund was accordingly struck from the naval register on 5 November 1919.[33] She was ceded to France as a war prize under the transaction name "Z". Departing Germany on 28 July 1920 in company with the torpedo boat V130, the ships arrived in Cherbourg, France, on 3 August. There, she was formally handed that day.[34][36]
On arriving in France, she underwent a minor refit that consisted primarily of replacing her 8.8cm guns with 75mm (3in) anti-aircraft guns,[37] though the rest of her original armament remained. She was renamed Mulhouse in honor of the eponymous city in Alsace that had been recovered from Germany at the end of World War I. She and four other ex-German or ex-Austro-Hungarian cruisers were commissioned into the French Navy in the early 1920s. Mulhouse was commissioned on 3 August 1922.[38]
Mulhouse was assigned to the French Mediterranean Fleet as part of the 3rd Light Division in company with the other ex-German cruisers Metz and Strasbourg and the ex-Austro-Hungarian Thionville.[37] The unit, which was renamed the 2nd Light Division in December 1926, was moved to the Atlantic in August 1928, though all of the ex-German and ex-Austro-Hungarian vessels were then placed in reserve, since the first generation of post-war cruisers were entering service in the French fleet. Mulhouse and the other old ships were first stationed in Brest, but were moved to the Landévennec in 1930. As the French fleet completed additional cruisers, it no longer had a need to keep Mulhouse in reserve, and she was struck from the naval register on 15 February 1933. She was sold to ship breakers in September,[39] and was broken up in Brest by 1935.[40] The ship's bell was later returned to Germany and is now on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial.[33]
SMS Derfflinger was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine built in the early 1910s during the Anglo-German naval arms race. She was the lead ship of her class of three ships; her sister ships were Lützow and Hindenburg. The Derfflinger-class battlecruisers were larger and featured significant improvements over the previous German battlecruisers, carrying larger guns in a more efficient superfiring arrangement. Derfflinger was armed with a main battery of eight 30.5 cm (12 in) guns, compared to the 28 cm (11 in) guns of earlier battlecruisers. She had a top speed of 26.5 knots and carried heavy protection, including a 30-centimeter (11.8 in) thick armored belt.
SMS Moltke was the lead ship of the Moltke-class battlecruisers of the German Imperial Navy, named after the 19th-century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke. Commissioned on 30 September 1911, the ship was the second battlecruiser of the Imperial Navy. Moltke, along with her sister ship Goeben, was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design, Von der Tann, with increased armor protection and two more main guns in an additional turret. Compared to her British rivals—the Indefatigable class—Moltke and her sister Goeben were significantly larger and better armored.
SMS Elbing was a light cruiser ordered by the Imperial Russian navy under the name Admiral Nevelskoy from the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig in 1913. Following the outbreak of World War I, the ship was confiscated in August 1914 and launched on 21 November 1914 as SMS Elbing. She had one sister ship, Pillau, the lead ship of their class. The ship was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in September 1915. She was armed with a main battery of eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 kn.
SMS Cöln was a Kolberg-class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine during the First World War. She had three sister ships, SMS Kolberg, Mainz, and Augsburg. She was built by the Germaniawerft in Kiel; her hull was laid down in 1908 and she was launched in June 1909. Cöln was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in June 1911. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 25.5 kn. After her commissioning, she served with the II Scouting Group, part of the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet.
SMS Ariadne was the fifth member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The Gazelle class was the culmination of earlier unprotected cruiser and aviso designs, combining the best aspects of both types in what became the progenitor of all future light cruisers of the Imperial fleet. Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots.
SMS Mainz was a Kolberg-class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine during the First World War. She had three sister ships, SMS Kolberg, Cöln, and Augsburg. She was built by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin; her hull was laid down in 1908 and she was launched in January 1909. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in October 1909. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 25.5 kn.
SMS Frankfurt was a light cruiser of the Wiesbaden class built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. She had one sister ship, SMS Wiesbaden; the ships were very similar to the previous Karlsruhe-class cruisers. The ship was laid down in 1913, launched in March 1915, and completed by August 1915. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, Frankfurt had a top speed of 27.5 knots and displaced 6,601 t at full load.
SMS Wiesbaden was a light cruiser of the Wiesbaden class built for the Imperial German Navy. She had one sister ship, SMS Frankfurt; the ships were very similar to the previous Karlsruhe-class cruisers. The ship was laid down in 1913, launched in January 1915, and completed by August 1915. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, Wiesbaden had a top speed of 27.5 knots and displaced 6,601 t at full load.
SMS Strassburg was a light cruiser of the Magdeburg class in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Her class included three other ships: Magdeburg, Breslau, and Stralsund. Strassburg was built at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven from 1910 to October 1912, when she was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 knots.
SMS Stettin was a Königsberg-class light cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine. She had three sister ships: Königsberg, Nürnberg, and Stuttgart. Laid down at AG Vulcan Stettin shipyard in 1906, Stettin was launched in March 1907 and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet seven months later in October. Like her sisters, Stettin was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a pair of 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, and was capable of a top speed in excess of 25 knots.
SMS Roon was the lead ship of her class of armored cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine in the early 1900s as part of a major naval expansion program aimed at strengthening the fleet. The ship was named after Field Marshal Albrecht von Roon. She was built at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel, being laid down in August 1902, launched in June 1903, and commissioned in April 1906. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.4 knots. Like many of the late armored cruisers, Roon was quickly rendered obsolescent by the advent of the battlecruiser; as a result, her career was limited.
SMS Yorck was the second and final ship of the Roon class of armored cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine as part of a major naval expansion program aimed at strengthening the fleet. Yorck was named for Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, a Prussian field marshal. She was laid down in 1903 at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, launched in May 1904, and commissioned in November 1905. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.4 knots. Like many of the late armored cruisers, Yorck was quickly rendered obsolescent by the advent of the battlecruiser; as a result, her peacetime career was limited.
SMS Königsberg was the lead ship of the Königsberg class of light cruisers, built for the German Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. She took the name of the earlier Königsberg, which had been destroyed during the Battle of Rufiji Delta in 1915. The new ship was laid down in 1914 at the AG Weser shipyard, launched in December 1915, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in August 1916. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, the ship had a top speed of 27.5 kn.
SMS Rostock was a light cruiser of the Karlsruhe class built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. She had one sister ship, SMS Karlsruhe; the ships were very similar to the previous Magdeburg-class cruisers. The ship was laid down in 1911, launched in November 1912, and completed by February 1914. Armed with twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns, Rostock had a top speed of 28.5 knots and displaced 6,191 t at full load.
SMS Graudenz was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers. She had one sister ship, SMS Regensburg. The ship was built by the German Kaiserliche Marine in the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel, laid down in 1912 and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in August 1914, days after the outbreak of World War I. She was named for the then-German town of Graudenz. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 knots.
SMS Regensburg was a light cruiser of the Graudenz class built by the German Kaiserliche Marine. She had one sister ship, SMS Graudenz. The ship was built by the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, laid down in 1912, launched in April 1914, and commissioned into active service in January 1915. She was named for the German town of Regensburg. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 knots, though in 1917 she was rearmed with seven 15 cm SK L/45 guns.
SMS Kolberg was a light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine during the First World War, the lead ship of her class. She had three sister ships, SMS Mainz, Cöln, and Augsburg. She was built by the Schichau-Werke; her hull was laid down in early 1908 and she was launched later that year, in November. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in June 1910. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 25.5 kn.
SMS Danzig was a light cruiser of the Imperial German Navy. Named for the city of Danzig, she was the seventh and last ship of the Bremen class. She was begun by the Imperial Dockyard in her namesake city in 1904, launched on 23 September 1905 and commissioned on 1 December 1907. Armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, Danzig was capable of a top speed of 22 knots.
SMS Augsburg was a Kolberg-class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine during the First World War. She had three sister ships, SMS Kolberg, Mainz, and Cöln. The ship was built by the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel; her hull was laid down in 1908 and she was launched in July 1909. Augsburg 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 25.5 knots.
SMS München was the fifth of seven Bremen-class cruisers of the Imperial German Navy, named after the city of Munich. She was built by AG Weser in Bremen, starting in 1903, launched in April 1904, and commissioned in January 1905. Armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, München was capable of a top speed of 22.5 knots.
References
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