SMS Leopard (1912)

SMS Leopard
History
Name
  • 1912: Yarrowdale
  • 1917: Leopard
Namesake1912: the valley of Yarrow Water
OwnerMackill Steamship Co
Operator
Port of registry1912: United Kingdom Glasgow
BuilderWm Dobson & Co, Walker
Yard number178
Launched3 May 1912
CompletedJune 1912
Commissionedinto German Navy: 9 January 1917
Identification
Capturedby SMS Möwe, 11 December 1916
Fatesunk by gunfire, 16 March 1917
General characteristics
Typecargo ship
Tonnage4,652 GRT, 2,914 NRT
Displacement9,800 tons
Length390.2 ft (118.9 m)
Beam52.0 ft (15.8 m)
Depth26.6 ft (8.1 m)
Decks2
Installed power429 NHP
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h)
Complementas auxiliary cruiser: 319
Armament

SMS Leopard was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1912 as Yarrowdale, captured in 1916 by the Imperial German Navy, converted into a commerce raider in Germany, and sunk with all hands by the Royal Navy in 1917.

Yarrowdale's British operator was Robert Mackill & Co of Glasgow, who gave this name to at least three different ships. This was the second of the three.

Leopard was the last commerce raider that Germany sent out in the First World War. After the Royal Navy sank her, Germany relied entirely on U-boats to sink Allied merchant ships.