SMS Stettin

SMS ("His Majesty's Ship ") was a light cruiser of the (Imperial Navy). She had three sister ships: , , and . Laid down at AG Vulcan Stettin shipyard in 1906, was launched in March 1907 and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet seven months later in October. Like her sisters, was armed with a main battery of ten guns and a pair of torpedo tubes, and was capable of a top speed in excess of .

In 1912, joined the battlecruiser and cruiser for a goodwill visit to the United States. After the outbreak of World War I, served in the reconnaissance forces of the German fleet. She saw heavy service for the first three years of the war, including at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 and the Battle of Jutland in May – June 1916, along with other smaller operations in the North and Baltic Seas. In 1917, she was withdrawn from frontline service and used as a training ship until the end of the war. In the aftermath of Germany's defeat, was surrendered to the Allies and broke up for scrap in 1921–1923.

Design

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. These included internal rearrangements and a lengthening of the hull.

was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. She displaced at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of Parsons steam turbines with steam provided by eleven coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers. 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 of ten SK L/40 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side-by-side forward on the forecastle, six were located amidships, 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, amounting to 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 torpedo tubes with five torpedoes submerged in the hull on the broadside. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was thick amidships. The conning tower had thick sides.

Service history

was ordered under the contract name " " and was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in her namesake city in 1906. She was launched on 7 March 1907, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 29 October 1907.

After her commissioning, served with the High Seas Fleet in German waters. In early 1912, was assigned to a goodwill cruise to the United States, along with the battlecruiser , the only German capital ship to ever visit the US, and the light cruiser . On 11 May 1912 the ships left Kiel and arrived off Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 30 May. There, they met the US Atlantic Fleet and were greeted by then-President William Howard Taft aboard the presidential yacht . After touring the East Coast of the United States, East Coast for two weeks, they returned to Kiel on 24 June.

Actions in the North Sea

At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, was serving in the North Sea with the High Seas Fleet. On 6 August, she and the cruiser escorted a flotilla of U-boats into the North Sea in an attempt to draw out the British fleet, which could then be attacked by the U-boats. The force returned to port on 11 August, without having encountered any British warships. Some two weeks later, on 28 August, was involved in the Battle of Heligoland Bight. At the start of the engagement, , , and stood in support of the line of torpedo boats patrolling the Heligoland Bight; was at anchor to the northeast of Heligoland island, and the other two ships were on either side. The German screen was under the command of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper, the commander of reconnaissance forces for the High Seas Fleet.

When the British first attacked the German torpedo boats, Hipper immediately dispatched and , and several other cruisers that were in distant support, to come to their aid. At 08:32, received the report of German torpedo boats in contact with the British, and immediately weighed anchor and steamed off to support them. Twenty-six minutes later, she encountered the British destroyers and opened fire, at a range of . The attack forced the British ships to break off and turn back west. During the engagement, lookouts aboard spotted a British cruiser in the distance, but it did not join the battle. By 9:10, the British had withdrawn out of range, and fell back to get steam in all of her boilers. During this portion of the battle, the ship was hit once, on the starboard No. 4 gun, which killed two men and badly injured another. Her intervention prevented the British from sinking the torpedo boats and .

By 10:00, had steam in all of her boilers, and was capable of her top speed. She therefore returned to the battle, and at 10:06, she encountered eight British destroyers and immediately attacked them, opening fire at 10:08. Several hits were observed in the British formation, which dispersed and fled. By 10:13, the visibility had decreased, and could no longer see the fleeing destroyers, and so broke off the chase. The ship had been hit several times in return, without causing significant damage, but killing another two and wounding another four men. At around 13:40, reached with the cruiser , which was just coming under attack from several British battlecruisers. s crew could see the large muzzle flashes in the haze, which after having disabled , turned on at 14:05. The haze saved the ship, which was able to escape after ten salvos missed her. At 14:20, she encountered . The German battlecruisers and reached the scene by 15:25, by which time the British had already disengaged and withdrawn. Hipper, in , followed closely behind, and ordered the light cruisers to fall back on his ships. After conducting a short reconnaissance further west, the Germans returned to port, arriving in Wilhelmshaven by 21:30.

On 15 December, the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group, led by Hipper, conducted a Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby on the English coast. The main body of the High Seas Fleet, commanded by Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, stood by in distant support; and two flotillas of torpedo boats screened the rear of the formation. That evening, the German battle fleet of some twelve dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts came to within of an isolated squadron of six British battleships. However, skirmishes between the rival screens in the darkness convinced Ingenohl that he was faced with the entire Grand Fleet. Under orders from Kaiser Wilhelm II to avoid risking the fleet unnecessarily, Ingenohl broke off the engagement and turned the battle fleet back toward Germany.

Operations in the Baltic

On 7 May 1915, IV Scouting Group, which by then consisted of , , , and , and twenty-one torpedo boats was sent into the Baltic Sea to support a major operation against Russian positions at Liepāja, 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 cruisers 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

In May 1916, the German fleet commander, Admiral Reinhard Scheer, planned a major operation to cut off and destroy an isolated squadron of the British fleet. The operation resulted in the battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. During the battle, served as the flagship of Commodore (rank), Commodore Ludwig von Reuter, the commander of IV Scouting Group. IV Scouting Group was tasked with screening for the main German battlefleet. As the German fleet approached the scene of the unfolding engagement between the British and German battlecruiser squadrons, steamed ahead of the leading German battleship, , with the rest of the Group dispersed to screen for submarines. and IV Scouting Group were not heavily engaged during the early phases of the battle, but around 21:30, they encountered the British cruiser . and briefly fired on the British ship, but poor visibility forced the ships to cease fire. Reuter turned his ships 90 degrees away and disappeared in the haze.

During the withdrawal from the battle on the night of 31 May at around 23:30, the battlecruisers and passed ahead of too closely, forcing her to slow down. The rest of IV Scouting Group did not notice the reduction in speed, and so the ships became disorganized. Shortly thereafter, the British 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron came upon the German cruisers, which were joined by , , and . A ferocious firefight at very close range ensued; was hit twice early in the engagement and was set on fire. A shell fragment punctured the steam pipe for the ship's siren, and the escaping steam impaired visibility and forced the ship to abandon an attempt to launch torpedoes. In the melee, was hit by approximately eighteen 10.5 cm shells, including some from . In the meantime, the German cruiser was set on fire and sunk; as the German cruisers turned to avoid colliding with the sinking wreck, IV Scouting Group became dispersed. Only remained with . The two ships accidentally attacked the German destroyers , ''V1'', and at 23:55.

By 04:00 on 1 June, the German fleet had evaded the British fleet and reached Horns Reef; the Germans then returned to port. In the course of the battle, had suffered eight men killed and another 28 wounded. She had fired a total of 81 rounds of ammunition from her 10.5 cm guns.

Fate

In 1917, was withdrawn from front line service and used as a training ship with the U-boat school. She served in this capacity until the end of the war. Under Article 185 of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the war after the Armistice of 11 November 1918, Armistice that ceased fighting on 11 November 1918, was listed among the warships still in German service that were to be surrendered to the Allied powers,s:Treaty of Versailles, Treaty of Versailles Section II: Naval Clauses, Article 185 and accordingly she was stricken on 5 November 1919. She was surrendered to Great Britain as a war prize on 15 September 1920, under the transfer name "T". She was then sold to shipbreakers in Copenhagen and dismantled for scrap in 1921–1923.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stettin
Königsberg-class cruisers (1905)
Ships built in Stettin
1907 ships
World War I cruisers of Germany