SMS was a

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 ...

of the (Imperial Navy), named after the city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. She had three

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s: , , and . was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig in 1905, launched in September 1906, and commissioned in February 1908. Like her sisters, was armed with a main battery of ten guns and 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, and was capable of a top speed in excess of . was used as a gunnery training ship from her commissioning to 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 mobilized into the reconnaissance forces of 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 ...

. There, she saw action at 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 ...

, where she engaged the British cruiser . was not damaged during the battle. She was converted into a

seaplane tender A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

in 1918, and after the end of the war, was surrendered to Britain as a

war prize A prize of war is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle, typically at sea. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 19th centuries. Basis in inte ...

in 1920 and subsequently broken up for scrap.

Design

Königsberg class cruiser diagrams Janes 1914

The -class ships were designed to serve both as fleet scouts in home waters and in Germany's colonial empire. This was a result of budgetary constraints that prevented the (Imperial Navy) from building more specialized cruisers suitable for both roles. The class was an iterative development of the preceding . All four members of the class were intended to be identical, but after the initial vessel was begun, the design staff incorporated lessons from the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. These included internal rearrangements and a lengthening of the

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

. 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 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 two 3-cylinder

triple expansion engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...

s powered by eleven 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. These provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at . had a crew of 14 officers and 308 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 ten SK L/40 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 ...

, six 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 ...

, three 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 1,500 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. The ship was also equipped with eight SK guns with 4,000 rounds of ammunition. She was also equipped with a pair of

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 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 ...

. The ship was protected by an armored deck 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.

Service history

was ordered under the contract name "O" and was laid down at the (Imperial Dockyard) in Danzig in 1905. She was launched on 22 September 1906, after which

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 commenced. She was commissioned into the

on 1 February 1908. After her commissioning into the High Seas Fleet, was used as a gunnery training ship for the Fleet's gunners.

World War I

At the outbreak of

, she was mobilized and served with the fleet. After the outbreak of war, she and several other cruisers were tasked with patrol duties in the

Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (german: Helgoländer Bucht) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends fro ...

. The cruisers were divided with the torpedo boat flotillas, and assigned to rotate through nightly patrols into the North Sea. As part of this operation, conducted a patrol on the night of 15 August with and I and II Torpedo-boat Flotillas, without incident. On 15–16 December, participated in the bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby. She was assigned to the cruiser screen of the High Seas Fleet, which was providing distant cover to Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers while they were conducting the bombardment. Following reports of British destroyers from the German screen, Admiral von Ingenohl ordered the High Seas Fleet to turn to port and head for Germany. At 06:59, , the armored cruiser , and the light cruiser encountered Commander

Jones Jones may refer to: People *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname *List of people with surname Jones * Jones (singer), a British singer-songwriter Arts and entertainment * Jones (''Animal Farm''), a human character in George Orwell ...

' destroyers. Jones shadowed the Germans until 07:40, at which point and were detached to sink their pursuers. At 08:02, however, signaled the two light cruisers and ordered them to abandon the pursuit and retreat along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet. On 7 May 1915, IV Scouting Group, which by then consisted of , , , and , and twenty-one torpedo boats was sent into 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 ...

to support a major operation against Russian positions at Libau. The operation was commanded by Rear Admiral Hopman, the commander of the reconnaissance forces in the Baltic. IV Scouting Group was tasked with screening to the north to prevent any Russian naval forces from moving out of the Gulf of Finland undetected, while several

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 other warships bombarded the port. The Russians did attempt to intervene with a force of four cruisers: , , , and . The Russian ships briefly engaged , but both sides were unsure of the others' strength, and so both disengaged. Shortly after the bombardment, Libau was captured by the advancing German army, and and the rest of IV Scouting Group were recalled to the High Seas Fleet.

Battle of Jutland

was assigned to IV Scouting Group during the

on 31 May – 1 June 1916. IV Scouting Group, under the command of Commodore

Ludwig von Reuter Hans Hermann Ludwig von Reuter (9 February 1869 – 18 December 1943) was a German admiral who commanded the High Seas Fleet when it was interned at Scapa Flow in the north of Scotland at the end of World War I. On 21 June 1919 he ordered ...

, departed

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...

at 03:30 on 31 May, along with the rest of the fleet. Tasked with screening for the fleet, 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 ...

were positioned at the rear of the fleet, astern of

II Battle Squadron The II Battle Squadron was a unit of the German High Seas Fleet before and during World War I. The squadron saw action throughout the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where it formed the rear of the German line. ...

. and IV Scouting Group were not heavily engaged during the early phases of the battle, but around 21:30, they encountered the British 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron (3rd LCS). Reuter's ships were leading the High Seas Fleet south, away from the deployed

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 ...

. Due to the long range and poor visibility, only and were able to engage the British cruisers. was the fourth ship in the line, and her gunners could only make out one British ship in the haze. Since that ship was already being engaged by the other German cruisers, held her fire. Reuter turned his ships hard to starboard, in order to draw the British closer to the

capital ship The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet. Strategic im ...

s of the German fleet, but the 3rd LCS refused to take the bait and disengaged. During the ferocious night fighting that occurred as the High Seas Fleet forced its way through the British rear, IV Scouting Group encountered the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron at close range in the darkness. As the two squadrons closed on each other, the Germans illuminated and and concentrated their fire on the two ships. and fired on ''Dublin''. During this period, ''Dublin'' was hit by eight shells, probably all from , though these hits did not do serious damage. The two British ships were badly damaged and set on fire and forced to retreat, while the Germans also fell back in an attempt to bring the British closer to the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

s and . In the melee, the cruiser was hit and sunk by a torpedo launched by ''Southampton''; this forced to haul out of line to starboard. She then lost contact with the rest of IV Scouting Group, so she fell in with

I Battle Squadron The I Battle Squadron was a unit of the German Imperial Navy before and during World War I. Being part of the High Seas Fleet, the squadron saw action throughout the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where it for ...

. She was present during a later encounter with British light forces around midnight. She remained concealed in the darkness and observed I Battle Squadron

dreadnought 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 hammering several British destroyers. The British meanwhile launched torpedoes at the German line, which forced it to turn away. had to thread her way in between the battleships and in the darkness. By 02:30, was steaming at the head of the German line, ahead of , the leading battleship. She led I Battle Squadron back to port, and later assisted

III Battle Squadron The III Battle Squadron was a unit of the German High Seas Fleet before and during World War I. The squadron saw action throughout the war, including the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916, where it formed the front of the German lin ...

and the fleet flagship, . In the course of the battle, had fired 64 rounds, the least of all of the German cruisers in the battle. She emerged from the battle unscathed, unlike many of the other German cruisers.

Conversion and fate

Earlier in the war, the German Navy had experimented with converting steamers into

s. They were too slow to operate with the fleet, however, and so a faster alternative was needed. By 1918, the Navy had decided to convert , which was fast enough to steam with the fleet; conversion work started in February 1918. The work was done at the {{lang, de, Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Dockyard) in Wilhelmshaven, and was completed in May. As a seaplane tender, her forward and rear 10.5 cm guns, and the two rearmost broadside guns were removed, leaving only four broadside guns remaining. Two 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns were installed forward; she retained her submerged torpedo tubes. Two large hangars were installed aft of the funnels, with space for two

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tec ...

s; a third seaplane was carried on top of the hangars.{{sfn, Gröner, pp=104–105 Since {{lang, de, Stuttgart could carry only three aircraft, a number which was deemed insufficient to support the entire High Seas Fleet, plans were drawn up to convert {{lang, de, Roon into a seaplane carrier as well. Neither ship was ever used operationally.{{sfn, Greger, p=88 {{lang, de, Stuttgart survived the war, and was stricken from the

naval register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

on 5 November 1919. She was surrendered to the United Kingdom on 20 July 1920, as the

"S" and subsequently broken up for scrap.{{sfn, Gröner, p=105

Footnotes

{{Reflist, colwidth=20em

References

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