SMS Wiesbaden

Wiesbaden's sister ship Frankfurt
History
German Empire
Name	SMS Wiesbaden
Namesake	Wiesbaden
Ordered	29 June 1913
Builder	A.G. Vulcan
Laid down	10 November 1913
Launched	30 January 1915
Commissioned	23 August 1915
Fate	Sunk at the Battle of Jutland, 1 June 1916
General characteristics
Class and type	Wiesbaden-class light cruiser
Displacement	Normal: 5,180 t (5,100 long tons; 5,710 short tons) Full load: 6,601 t (6,497 long tons; 7,276 short tons)
Length	145.30 m (476 ft 8 in)
Beam	13.90 m (45 ft 7 in)
Draft	5.76 m (18.9 ft)
Installed power	12 × water-tube boilers 31,000 shp (23,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
Range	4,800 nmi (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew	17 officers 457 enlisted
Armament	8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns 2 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns 4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes 120 mines
Armor	Belt: 60 mm (2.4 in) Deck: 60 mm Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)

SMS Wiesbaden^[a] was a light cruiser of the Wiesbaden class built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She had one sister ship, SMS Frankfurt; the ships were very similar to the previous Karlsruhe-class cruisers. The ship was laid down in 1913, launched in January 1915, and completed by August 1915. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, Wiesbaden had a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) and displaced 6,601 t (6,497 long tons; 7,276 short tons) at full load.

Wiesbaden saw only one major action, the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. The ship was badly damaged by gunfire from the battlecruiser HMS Invincible. Immobilized between the two battle fleets, Wiesbaden became the center of a hard-fought action that saw the destruction of two British armored cruisers. Heavy fire from the British fleet prevented evacuation of the ship's crew. Wiesbaden remained afloat until the early hours of 1 June and sank sometime between 01:45 and 02:45. Only one crew member survived the sinking; the wreck was located by German Navy divers in 1983.
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