 SMS Prinz Adalbert
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Prinz Adalbert |
| Operators |  Imperial German Navy |
| Preceded by | SMS Prinz Heinrich |
| Succeeded by | Roon class |
| Built | 1900–1904 |
| In service | 1903–1916 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Armored cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 126.5 m (415 ft) o/a |
| Beam | 19.6 m (64 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 7.43 m (24 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 5,080 nautical miles (9,410 km; 5,850 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Crew |
|
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
The Prinz Adalbert class was a group of two armored cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) under the terms of the Second Naval Law. Two ships of the class were built, Prinz Adalbert and Friedrich Carl, between 1900 and 1904. The two ships were heavily based on the previous armored cruiser, Prinz Heinrich, with a series of incremental improvements. Their armor layout was revised slightly to improve internal protection and their main battery consisted of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns instead of the two 24 cm (9.4 in) carried by Prinz Heinrich. The new ships also received more powerful propulsion systems, making them slightly faster. Prinz Adalbert spent her peacetime career as a gunnery training ship while Friedrich Carl initially served as the flagship of the fleet's reconnaissance forces. By 1909, she had been replaced by more modern cruisers and joined Prinz Adalbert as a training vessel.
Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, both vessels were mobilized; Friedrich Carl was assigned to the cruiser squadron in the Baltic Sea and was quickly sunk by Russian naval mines off Memel in November, though most of her crew was safely evacuated. Prinz Adalbert initially served in the North Sea, supporting the Raid on Yarmouth in November 1914 before transferring to the Baltic to replace her lost sister. Prinz Adalbert had little better luck, being torpedoed by British submarines twice in 1915, the first, in July, caused serious damage and necessitated lengthy repairs. The second, in October, caused an internal magazine explosion that destroyed the ship and killed almost her entire crew. Six-hundred and seventy-two men were killed, the greatest single loss of life for the German Navy in the Baltic during the war; there were only three survivors of her sinking.