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
was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. She displaced normally and up to at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of Parsons steam turbines driving four propellers. They were designed to give . These were powered by fifteen coal-fired Marine water-tube boilers. These gave the ship a top speed of . carried of coal that gave her a range of approximately at . had a crew of 18 officers and 349 enlisted men.
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 amidships, 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 conning tower had thick sides, and the deck was covered with up to thick armor plate. The main battery guns were fitted with gun shields that were thick.
Service history
was ordered as a replacement for under the contract name and was laid down in 1908 at the shipyard in Kiel. She was launched on 10 July 1909, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 October 1910. After her commissioning, was used as a torpedo test ship. In 1912, she was transferred to gunnery training. On 20 May 1914 she visited Dundee on a courtesy visit. Captain Fischer and his crew were welcomed by the Lord Provost and "the greatest friendliness was displayed".
World War I
1914
Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she was assigned to the Baltic Sea, under the command of Rear Admiral Robert Mischke. On 2 August, laid a minefield outside the Russian harbor of Libau, while shelled the port. 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. 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.
In September, the light forces in the Baltic were reinforced with the IV Battle Squadron, composed of the older and s, and the large armored cruiser . 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 a Russian steamer off Raumo. By the 9th, the German fleet had returned to port.