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 In 1917, she was withdrawn from frontline service and used as a training ship until the end of the war.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. Stettin was fitted with steam turbines on an experimental basis; she was the second cruiser of the German fleet so equipped.
was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. She displaced normally and up to at full load. The ship had a minimal superstructure, which consisted of a small conning tower and bridge structure. Her hull had a raised forecastle and quarterdeck, along with a pronounced ram bow. She was fitted with two pole masts. had a crew of 14 officers and 308 enlisted men.
Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of Parsons steam turbines that drove a pair of screw propellers. Steam was provided by eleven coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers that were vented through three funnels. The ship's propulsion system was rated to produce for a top speed of , though she exceeded these figures in service. Normal coal storage amounted to . At a more economical pace of , the ship had a range of approximately .
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 on the broadside, 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 a curved armor deck that was thick amidships. The deck sloped downward at the sides, with a thickness of , to provide protection against enemy fire. The conning tower sides were thick. Her main battery guns were fitted with thick gun shields.
Service history
was ordered under the contract name " " on 20 December 1905. She was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in her namesake city on 22 March 1906. She was launched on 7 March 1907, and the mayor of Stettin gave a speech at the launching ceremony. Fitting-out work thereafter commenced, which was completed by September 1907. Because of her experimental turbines, the German Navy examined the ship thoroughly before accepting her. She was commissioned into active service on 29 October to begin sea trials. Following her initial testing, she was assigned to the Scouting Unit on 20 January 1908, replacing the cruiser . At that time (FK—Frigate Captain) Friedrich Boedicker took command of the ship. In February, she and the rest of the scouting unit visited Vigo, Spain, during a cruise with the High Seas Fleet. s normal peacetime routine of training exercises was interrupted from 17 June to 8 August, when she was ordered to escort , the yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II. During this period, the ships sailed to Stockholm, Sweden, where the Swedish king, Gustav V visited . Later in August, Boedicker was replaced by FK Curt von Rössing.
In early 1909, civil unrest broke out in the Ottoman Empire against Christians living in the country. At the time, was cruising in the Mediterranean Sea with the cruiser as the escort. was detached to intervene in southern Anatolia in the Ottoman Empire, and was sent to replace her as the escort for . On 9 April, she departed Kiel in company with the light cruiser , which was to support in operations off the coast of Anatolia. The ships arrived in Corfu, an island off Greece, on 1 May. While the ships were in Pola, Austria-Hungary, on 15 May, received orders to return to Germany. She reached Kiel on 26 May. In October, FK Wilhelm Höpfner relieved Rössing as the ship's captain. once again served as the escort for in 1910, from 7 to 30 July. This year, the ships cruised in Scandinavian waters. The ship's commander rotated again in September, with FK Johannes Hartog taking command. The year 1911 passed uneventfully for , beyond the normal peacetime routine of training exercises and fleet maneuvers. In October, FK Wilhelm von Krosigk became the ship's next captain.
In March 1912, was assigned to the East American Cruiser Division, which also included the battlecruiser and the light cruiser , and was commanded by (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz. The ships were sent to make a goodwill cruise to the United States; was the only German capital ship to ever visit the US. 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 for two weeks, they returned to Germany. On the way back, they stopped in Vigo from 22 to 26 June, before continuing on to Kiel, arriving there three days later. thereafter returned to the reconnaissance unit.
In July 1913, was sent to Pillau for a ceremony for the dedication of a monument for Frederick William, the Great Elector. Later that year, she was involved in a minor collision with the steam ship , and had one of her spotting tops torn off a mast. The ship took part in her last peacetime training exercise with the High Seas Fleet in November 1913. She was thereafter replaced in the reconnaissance unit by the new cruiser , and on 4 February 1914, had her crew reduced. On 1 July, the ship was reactivated and received a full crew; she was now to join the U-boat force as a submarine flotilla flagship. became the flagship of II U-boat Flotilla. At that time, (Corvette Captain) Karl August Nerger took command of the ship; he served aboard the ship until March 1916. By that time, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary had been assassinated, which sparked the July Crisis and led to the outbreak of World War I in late July, starting with the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia on the 28th.
Actions in the North Sea continued in her role as a U-boat flotilla flagship after the start of hostilities. 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 sailed about to the northwest of Helgoland and then returned to port without having encountered any British warships. They made a second sweep into the North Sea on 8 August, again without successfully locating any British ships.
Battle of Helgoland Bight
Some two weeks later, on 28 August, was involved in the Battle of Helgoland Bight. At the start of the engagement, , , and stood in support of the line of torpedo boats patrolling the Helgoland Bight; was at anchor to the northeast of Helgoland, 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. In total, had two men killed and nine wounded.
Fleet operations was removed from her role as flotilla flagship on 25 November, and two days later, she was assigned to IV Scouting Group, part of the reconnaissance screen for the battleships of the High Seas Fleet. She became the group flagship, under the command of (Commodore) Karl von Restorff. At that time, Restorff was also the commander of II Torpedo-boat Flotilla. In this new role, became involved in the raids on the British coast that were carried out by the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group. The first that involved began on 15 December, when I Scouting Group, led by Hipper, conducted a 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.