SMS ''Magdeburg'' ("His Majesty's Ship ''Magdeburg''") was a
lead ship
The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels.
Large ships are very complex and may ...
of the of
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s in the German ''
Kaiserliche Marine
{{italic title
The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control.
The term wa ...
'' (Imperial Navy). Her class included three other ships: , , and . ''Magdeburg'' was built at the
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. „Weser”) was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ...
shipyard in
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
from 1910 to August 1912, when she was commissioned into the
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve
10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of . ''Magdeburg'' was used as a torpedo test ship after her commissioning until the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in August 1914, when she was brought to active service and deployed to the
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
* Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
.
In the Baltic, ''Magdeburg'' fired the first shots of the war against the Russians on 2 August, when she shelled the port of
Libau. She participated in a series of bombardments of Russian positions until late August. On the 26th, she participated in a sweep of the entrance to the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
; while steaming off the Estonian coast, she ran aground off the island of
Odensholm
Osmussaar ( sv, Odensholm, german: Odinsholm) is an Estonian island situated in the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, 7.5 km off the Estonian mainland. Administratively the island is part of Lääne-Nigula Parish in Lääne ...
and could not be freed. A pair of Russian cruisers appeared and seized the ship. Fifteen crew members were killed in the brief engagement. They recovered three intact German code books, one of which they passed to the British. The ability to decrypt German wireless signals provided the British with the ability to ambush German units on several occasions during the war, including the
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...
. The Russians partially scrapped ''Magdeburg'' while she remained grounded before completely destroying the wreck.
Design
''Magdeburg'' was
long overall
__NOTOC__
Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and ...
and had a
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
of forward. She
displaced normally and up to at
full load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. Her propulsion system consisted of three sets of Bergmann
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s driving three
screw propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
s. They were designed to give , but reached in service. These were powered by sixteen coal-fired Marine-type
water-tube boiler
A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...
s, although they were later altered to use
fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
that was sprayed on the coal to increase its burn rate. These gave the ship a top speed of . ''Magdeburg'' carried of coal, and an additional of oil that gave her a range of approximately at . She had a crew of 18 officers and 336 enlisted men.
The ship was armed with a
main battery
A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...
of twelve
SK L/45 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the
forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
, eight were located
amidships
This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...
, four on either side, and two were side by side aft. The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to . They were supplied with 1,800 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. She was also equipped with a pair of
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s with five
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...
es; the tubes were submerged in the hull on the
broadside
Broadside or broadsides may refer to:
Naval
* Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare
Printing and literature
* Broadside (comic ...
. She could also carry 120
mines. The ship was protected by a waterline
armored belt
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal vehicle armor, armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers.
The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from p ...
that was thick amidships. The
conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
had thick sides, and the deck was covered with up to 60 mm thick armor plate.
Service history
![SMS Magdeburg Dreblow](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b0/SMS_Magdeburg_Dreblow.jpg)
''Magdeburg'' was ordered under the contract name "''
Ersatz
An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage.
Etymology
''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replacement ...
'' "; the order was awarded to the
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. „Weser”) was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ...
shipyard in Bremen in December 1909. She was
laid down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.
Keel laying is one o ...
in April 1910 and
launched on 13 May 1911, and during the ceremony, she was christened by the mayor of her namesake city. After completing
fitting-out
Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
work, she began a short period of builder's trials on 12 August 1912 before being
commissioned into the
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
eight days later, under the command of (''FK''—Frigate Captain)
Heinrich Rohardt Heinrich may refer to:
People
* Heinrich (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
* Heinrich (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name)
*Hetty (given name), a given name (including a list of peo ...
. The ship conducted these initial tests without her forward funnel installed. After completing her initial
sea trials
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...
, ''Magdeburg'' was used as a torpedo test ship on 1 December, replacing the light cruiser in that role. Later that year, she embarked on a cruise in the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
with other vessels organized into a training squadron.
Another such cruise took place in early April 1913, and in June, she joined the fleet for its annual cruise to Norwegian waters. In August, ''Magdeburg'' went on another fleet cruise into the central Atlantic, steaming as far south as
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
in the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
. During the cruise, she participated in experiments with
wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...
. Following the fleet's return to home waters, the annual large-scale fleet maneuvers took place in the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
. ''Magdeburg'' thereafter went to
Danzig for an overhaul that lasted from mid-September to late October. She resumed torpedo test duties on 26 October, but again joined the fleet for exercises in the
Kattegat
The Kattegat (; sv, Kattegatt ) is a sea area bounded by the Jutlandic peninsula in the west, the Danish Straits islands of Denmark and the Baltic Sea to the south and the provinces of Bohuslän, Västergötland, Halland and Skåne in Sweden ...
later that year, after which she went on another training cruise in the Baltic in December. The year 1914 began with exercises with the training squadron. As Europe drifted toward war during the
July Crisis
The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, Causes of World War I, which led to the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918). The crisis began on 28 June 1 ...
, ''Magdeburg'' was ordered to patrol the
Bay of Kiel
The Bay of Kiel or Kiel Bay (, ; ) is a bay in the southwestern Baltic Sea, off the shores of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany and the islands of Denmark. It is connected with the Bay of Mecklenburg in the east, the Little Belt in the northwest, ...
to help secure the port's defenses. During a patrol on 27 July, she encountered the French
dreadnought battleship
The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
s and , which had taken the
French President
The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...
Raymond Poincaré
Raymond Nicolas Landry Poincaré (, ; 20 August 1860 – 15 October 1934) was a French statesman who served as President of France from 1913 to 1920, and three times as Prime Minister of France.
Trained in law, Poincaré was elected deputy in 1 ...
on a visit to
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
.
World War I
Following the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
at the end of July, she was assigned to the Coastal Defense Division in the Baltic Sea, under the command of Rear Admiral
Robert Mischke. An (Offensive Force) was created with ''Magdeburg'', ''Augsburg'', and the
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of se ...
s , , and for operations against Russian forces in the area. The ships were sent to
Neufahrwassar on 30 July. ''Magdeburg'' fired the first shots of the war with Russia on 2 August when she shelled the Russian port of
Libau while ''Augsburg'' laid a minefield outside what had been Russia's forward naval base. The Russians had in fact already left Libau, which was seized by the German Army. The minefield laid by ''Augsburg'' was poorly marked and hindered German operations more than Russian efforts. From 6 to 8 August, ''Magdeburg'' patrolled off the southern entrance to the
Gulf of Riga
The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia.
The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main con ...
, to the north of Libau. She then joined the rest of the Coastal Defense Division, which was sent north to attack Russian positions in
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
that lasted from 9 to 15 August. During the attacks, ''Magdeburg'' shelled the
Ristna Lighthouse
__NOTOC__
Ristna Lighthouse (Estonian: ''Ristna tuletorn'') is a lighthouse located in Ristna Point, Kõpu Peninsula, on the island of Hiiumaa (on the coast of the Baltic Sea) in Estonia.
History
The lighthouse was built in 1874, as a resu ...
in
Dagerort. She also attacked the
Bengtskär Lighthouse
Bengtskär Lighthouse is located in the Archipelago Sea about 25 kilometers south west of Hanko, Finland. The lighthouse was built in 1906 on the Bengtskär skerry where it rises 52 meters above sea level and is the highest one in the Nordic ...
and a signal station at
Pistna.
On 17 August, ''Magdeburg'', ''Augsburg'', and three torpedo boats, sortied to escort the
minelayer
A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing controll ...
, and the next day, they encountered a pair of powerful Russian
armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
s, and . The Russian commander, under the mistaken assumption that the German armored cruisers and were present, did not attack and both forces withdrew. After arriving in Danzig on 20 August, the was reorganized as the (Unit of the Detached Admiral).
Prince Heinrich, the overall commander of the Baltic naval forces, replaced Mischke with (Rear Admiral)
Ehler Behring. The new commander immediately began planning to make a sortie toward
Gotland
Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to the ...
to search for Russian vessels. Behring ordered the operation for 26 August to sweep for Russian reconnaissance forces in the entrance to the
Gulf of Finland
The Gulf of Finland ( fi, Suomenlahti; et, Soome laht; rus, Фи́нский зали́в, r=Finskiy zaliv, p=ˈfʲinskʲɪj zɐˈlʲif; sv, Finska viken) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and E ...
; ''Magdeburg'' was also to bombard the signal station at
Odensholm
Osmussaar ( sv, Odensholm, german: Odinsholm) is an Estonian island situated in the mouth of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, 7.5 km off the Estonian mainland. Administratively the island is part of Lääne-Nigula Parish in Lääne ...
on the Estonian coast.
![Bundesarchiv Bild 134-B2501, Kleiner Kreuzer Magdeburg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Bundesarchiv_Bild_134-B2501%2C_Kleiner_Kreuzer_Magdeburg.jpg)
''Magdeburg'' got underway the previous day to arrive in the area at the prescribed time. She encountered heavy fog in the early hours of 26 August while steaming at a speed of , and at 01:13, she ran aground near the lighthouse at Odensholm. The ship's
double bottom
A double hull is a ship Hull (watercraft), hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull ...
was badly damaged and she was unable to free herself. The crew attempted to lighten the ship by throwing equipment overboard, but the vessel remained hard aground. The torpedo boat ''V26'' arrived at around 08:30 and attempted to pull her free but was unable to do so. She therefore began taking off part of ''Magdeburg''s crew in preparation to abandon the wreck. Since the cruiser had gone ashore near the lighthouse, which was one of her targets for the planned bombardment, she destroyed it with gunfire in spite of her predicament.
While the evacuation was going on, the Russian cruisers and appeared at around 09:00, having been alerted to the situation by the signal station that ''Magdeburg'' had been unable to destroy. On reaching the area, they opened fire on the stranded cruiser. The Germans destroyed the forward section of the ship, but could not complete her destruction before the Russians reached the ship. Fifteen crew members from ''Magdeburg'' were killed in the attack, and the ship's captain and his adjutant remained aboard and were captured by the Russians; they remained in a Russian prisoner of war camp until March 1918, when they were able to escape and return to Germany. The German code books were also not destroyed; the Russians were able to recover three of the books along with the current encryption key. They passed one copy to the British
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
via a pair of Russian couriers on 13 October. The Russian Navy partially scrapped the ship
in situ
''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
and eventually destroyed the wreck.
The capture of the code books proved to provide a significant advantage for the Royal Navy. The
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
* Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
* Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
*Admiralty, Tr ...
had recently created a deciphering department known as
Room 40
Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War.
The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...
to process intercepted German wireless signals. With the code books and cipher key, the British were able to track the movements of most German warships; this information could be passed on to the Admiral
John Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, (5 December 1859 – 20 November 1935) was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland ...
, the commander of the
Grand Fleet
The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
History
Formed in August 1914 from the ...
. This allowed the British to ambush parts of or the entire German fleet on several occasions, most successfully at the Battles of
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England.
During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...
in January 1915 and
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
in May 1916.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magdeburg
Magdeburg-class cruisers
Ships built in Bremen (state)
1911 ships
World War I cruisers of Germany
History of cryptography
World War I shipwrecks in the Baltic Sea
Maritime incidents in August 1914
Shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland