 Karlsruhe at sea in 1931
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| History | |
|---|---|
  Germany | |
| Name | Karlsruhe |
| Namesake | Karlsruhe, Germany |
| Builder | Deutsche Werke, Kiel |
| Laid down | 27 July 1926 |
| Launched | 20 August 1927 |
| Commissioned | 6 November 1929 |
| Out of service | May 1938 |
| Reinstated | November 1939 |
| Fate | Sunk, 9 April 1940 |
| General characteristics [a] | |
| Class and type | Königsberg-class cruiser |
| Displacement | 7,700 long tons (7,800 t) |
| Length | 174 m (571 ft) |
| Beam | 15.3 m (50 ft) |
| Draft | 6.28 m (20.6 ft) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Range | 5,700 nmi (10,600 km; 6,600 mi) at 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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Karlsruhe was a light cruiser, the second member of the Königsberg class, and served from November 1929 to May 1938, and again from November 1939 to April 1940, seeing action in World War II. She was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Königsberg and Köln. Karlsruhe was laid down in July 1926 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel, launched in August 1927, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine in November 1929. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).
Like her sisters, Karlsruhe served as a training cruiser for naval cadets throughout the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War, she joined the non-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast. She was in the process of being modernized at the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, and was therefore not ready for action until November 1939. In April 1940 Karlsruhe participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. She landed troops at Kristiansand, but while returning to Germany on 9 April, she was struck by a torpedo from the Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant and severely damaged. Unable to return to port, Karlsruhe was scuttled by an escorting German torpedo boat.
Her wreck was discovered in June 2020 in the Norwegian trench, 24 km (13 nm) southeast of Kristiansand at a depth of 490 m (1,610 ft).
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