SMS Karlsruhe (1916)

SMS Karlsruhe en route to Scapa Flow 1919
History
German Empire
Name	Karlsruhe
Namesake	Karlsruhe
Ordered	1913
Builder	Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven
Laid down	May 1915
Launched	31 January 1916
Commissioned	December 1916
Fate	Scuttled at Scapa Flow, 21 June 1919
General characteristics
Class and type	Königsberg-class light cruiser
Displacement	Normal: 5,440 t (5,350 long tons) Full load: 7,125 t (7,012 long tons)
Length	151.4 m (496 ft 9 in)
Beam	14.2 m (46 ft 7 in)
Draft	5.96 m (19 ft 7 in)
Installed power	31,000 shp (23,000 kW) 12 × water-tube boilers
Propulsion	2 × screw propellers 2 × steam turbines
Speed	27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
Range	4,850 nmi (8,980 km; 5,580 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew	17 officers 458 enlisted men
Armament	8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns 3 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns 4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes 200 mines
Armor	Belt: 60 mm (2.4 in) Deck: 60 cm Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)

SMS Karlsruhe was a light cruiser of the Königsberg class, built for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) during World War I. She was named after the earlier Karlsruhe, which had sunk in November 1914, from an accidental explosion. The new cruiser was laid down in 1914 at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel, launched in January 1916, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in November 1916. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, the ship had a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

She saw relatively limited service during the war, due to her commissioning late in the conflict. She was present during a brief engagement with British light forces in August 1917, though she did not actively participate in the battle. She joined the large task force assigned to Operation Albion in October 1917, but did not see significant action during that operation either. She was assigned to what was to have been the final sortie of the High Seas Fleet in the closing days of the war, but a large-scale mutiny in significant parts of the fleet forced the cancellation of the plan. Karlsruhe was interned in Scapa Flow after the end of the war, and scuttled there on 21 June 1919. Unlike most of the other ships sunk there, her wreck was never raised.