 Pillau, c. 1914–16
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Pillau |
| Namesake | Pillau |
| Builder | Schichau, Danzig |
| Laid down | 12 April 1913 |
| Launched | 11 April 1914 |
| Commissioned | 14 December 1914 |
| Stricken | 5 November 1919 |
| Fate | Ceded to Italy 20 July 1920 |
 Italy | |
| Name | Bari |
| Namesake | Bari |
| Acquired | 20 July 1920 |
| Commissioned | 21 January 1924 |
| Fate | Sunk 28 June 1943, scrapped 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Pillau-class light cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 135.3 m (444 ft) |
| Beam | 13.6 m (45 ft) |
| Draft | 5.98 m (19.6 ft) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h) |
| Range | 4,300 nmi (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
SMS Pillau was a light cruiser of the Imperial German Navy. The ship, originally ordered in 1913 by the Russian navy under the name Maraviev Amurskyy, was launched in April 1914 at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). However, due to the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the incomplete ship was confiscated by Germany and renamed SMS Pillau for the East Prussian port of Pillau (now Baltiysk, Russia). Pillau was commissioned into the German Navy in December 1914. She was armed with a main battery of eight 15 cm SK L/45 (5.9-inch) guns and had a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph). One sister ship was built, Elbing.
Pillau spent the majority of her career in II Scouting Group, and saw service in both the Baltic and North Seas. In August 1915, she participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga against the Russian Navy, and on 31 May – 1 June 1916, she saw significant action at the Battle of Jutland. She was hit by a large-caliber shell once in the engagement, but suffered only moderate damage. She assisted the badly damaged battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz reach port on 2 June after the conclusion of the battle. She also took part in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, though was not damaged in the engagement. Pillau was assigned to the planned, final operation of the High Seas Fleet in the closing weeks of the war, but a large scale mutiny forced it to be canceled.
After the end of the war, Pillau was ceded to Italy as a war prize in 1920. Renamed Bari, she was commissioned in the Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in January 1924. She was modified and rebuilt several times over the next two decades. In the early years of World War II, she provided gunfire support to Italian troops in several engagements in the Mediterranean. In 1943, she was slated to become an anti-aircraft defense ship, but while awaiting conversion, she was sunk by USAAF bombers in Livorno in June 1943. The wreck was partially scrapped by the Germans in 1944, and ultimately raised for scrapping in January 1948.