sms sms light cruiser class german kaiserliche_marine class included ships built shipyard wilhelmshaven october commissioned high_seas_fleet ship armed main battery guns speed knots mph spent year service overseas assigned reconnaissance forces high_seas_fleet saw significant action battle bight august participated raid december ship transferred baltic operate saw action october including screening battleships returned north_sea planned final operation weeks war involved forced cancellation operation ship served briefly new transferred italy war prize formally transferred july renamed taranto service rebuilt colonial duties additional anti aircraft guns installed saw significant action world war armistice ended italy participation war scuttled captured raised germans sunk allied bombers october germans raised ship sunk second time bombers september taranto finally broken scrap design ordered contract laid shipyard wilhelmshaven launched august fitting work commenced commissioned high_seas_fleet october ship long overall beam draft forward displaced long tons short tons combat load propulsion system consisted sets steam turbines driving meter propellers designed metric horsepower shp reached shp service powered sixteen coal fired marine type water tube boilers later altered use fuel oil sprayed coal increase burn rate gave ship speed knots mph carried tonnes long tons coal additional tonnes long tons oil gave range approximately nautical miles knots mph crew officers enlisted men ship armed guns single pedestal mounts placed forward forecastle located amidships aft guns maximum elevation degrees allowed engage targets supplied rounds ammunition shells gun equipped pair torpedo tubes torpedoes submerged hull broadside carry mines ship protected waterline armored belt thick amidships conning tower thick sides deck covered thick armor plate service history spent year service overseas selected participate long distance cruise test reliability new turbine propulsion system battleships kaiser ships organized special detached division trio departed germany december proceeded german colonies western africa ships visited victoria africa ships sailed rio_de_janeiro arriving february detached visit buenos_aires argentina returning meet battleships ships sailed south north chile arriving april remaining week april ships departed long journey germany return trip ships visited ports including argentina returning rio_de_janeiro ships left rio_de_janeiro atlantic leg journey stopped cape_verde spain route germany kaiser arrived kiel june course voyage ships traveled nautical miles week later june dissolved returning germany spent majority career reconnaissance forces high_seas_fleet august weeks outbreak world war conducted sweep search british reconnaissance forces cruisers encountered group sixteen british destroyers light cruiser distance significantly outnumbered german cruisers broke contact returned port heavily engaged battle bight weeks later august british battlecruisers light cruisers raided german reconnaissance screen commanded bight german cruiser leave port reinforce german reconnaissance forces encountered badly damaged british cruiser hit times stettin sms attacked driven 1st destroyer flotilla lost contact british mist located sound british gunfire destroyed cruiser badly damaged british destroyers laurel liberty driven shortly british battlecruisers intervened sank flagship rest surviving light cruisers retreated reinforced battlecruisers present raid december screening force battlecruisers rear admiral completing bombardment towns germans began withdraw british forces moved intercept screening cruisers torpedo boats steamed british squadrons heavy mist reduced visibility sister ship spotted briefly germans able use bad weather cover withdrawal ship transferred baltic missed assigned saw action russian naval forces october left escort operations attacked russian inch coastal guns approach temporarily forced turn away anchored began clear path minefields days later joined dreadnoughts sweep ensuing battleships destroyed old pre dreadnought forced pre dreadnought leave gulf october battleship tasked assaulting island ships bombarded island expended approximately rounds port october carried military governor captured islands october assigned participate final climactic attack high_seas_fleet hipper intended inflict damage possible british navy order secure better position germany cost fleet morning october days operation scheduled begin crew members engine room slipped ship went wilhelmshaven crewmen rounded returned ship moved men cruisers unit refused work protest war support armistice proposed prince morning october order given sail wilhelmshaven following day starting night october sailors battleships unrest ultimately forced hipper cancel operation early november steamed commander took command naval forces port invited sailor council formed assist controlling forces italian service war served briefly reorganized stricken naval register march ceded italy war prize transferred july french port commissioned italian regia marina royal_navy june changed taranto anti aircraft guns replaced italian inch anti aircraft guns following year modified handle reconnaissance seaplane taranto reclassified cruiser july seaplane replaced seaplane ship rebuilt colonial service boilers forward funnel removed reduced ship speed knots mph world war knots mph maintained machine guns added close range anti aircraft defense significant service world war early july taranto pair destroyers laid series minefields southern adriatic totaling mines scuttled september day armistice ended war italy declared germans captured ship floated sunk allied bombers october germans floated ship sunk bombers september outer taranto ultimately broken scrap
SMS Strassburg