sms sms light cruiser class built german kaiserliche_marine sister ship ships similar previous class cruisers ship laid launched november completed january armed guns speed knots mph allowed escape british cruisers career commissioning assigned overseas duties caribbean arrived area july days outbreak world war war began armed passenger liner ships transferring equipment british ships located pursued superior speed allowed escape operated northeastern coast brazil captured sank sixteen ships route attack shipping lanes barbados november spontaneous internal explosion destroyed ship killed majority crew survivors return germany december construction ordered contract laid shipyard kiel september christened mayor launched november fitting work commenced commissioned high_seas_fleet january ship meters long overall beam draft forward displaced long tons short tons combat load propulsion system consisted sets marine steam turbines driving meter propellers designed shaft horsepower reached shp service powered coal fired marine type water tube boilers oil fired double ended boilers 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 commanding officer following commissioning january assigned overseas service command outbreak world war following august ship based caribbean cruiser dresden anchored received warnings war europe imminent standing orders event war saw ship conducting commerce raiding campaign british merchant traffic hunt merchant ships arm auxiliary cruisers royal_navy deployed cruiser squadrons powerful commanded british forced disperse ships cover areas german cruisers auxiliary cruisers arm operate august passenger ship nmi north process transferring guns equipment liner flagship appeared south germans managed transfer guns machine gun sailors time suffolk arrived ships quickly departed different directions suffolk followed cruisers ordered intercept faster speed allowed quickly bristol joined pursuit briefly fired german cruiser german gunners scored hits bristol short engagement turned east high speed evade british ships british failed relocate august reached puerto_rico tons coal limited options coal caribbean took ship northeast coast brazil area heavily patrolled british easy access coal supplies chartered captured vessels frequently kept prizes assist search targets course patrols brazilian coast sank captured sixteen merchant ships british ships dutch vessel totaled gross register tons grt decided area remaining area increase chances tracked british turned ship west_indies attack barbados shipping lanes barbados trinidad steamed barbados night november spontaneous internal explosion destroyed ship hull split half bow section quickly sank took crew stern remained afloat long ship crew escape attending commander senior surviving officer took charge placed men aboard liner scuttled second steamed north iceland ship cover major storm slip british blockade north_sea norway returned germany early december unaware loss coincidentally ship order return germany germany kept loss ship secret british continued searching learned fate march widow christened cruiser bear launching august
SMS Karlsruhe