 Victoria Louise during the Hudson–Fulton Celebration, 1909
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| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Victoria Louise |
| Namesake | Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia |
| Builder | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Laid down | 9 April 1896 |
| Launched | 29 March 1897 |
| Commissioned | 20 February 1899 |
| Stricken | 1 October 1919 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1923 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Victoria Louise-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 110.60 m (362 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 17.40 m (57 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 6.58 m (21 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 19.2 knots (35.6 km/h; 22.1 mph) |
| Range | 3,412 nmi (6,319 km; 3,926 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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SMS Victoria Louise was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers, built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1890s. She was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in 1895, launched in March 1897, and commissioned into the German fleet in February 1899. She was named after Princess Victoria Louise, the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of 19.2 knots (35.6 km/h; 22.1 mph).
Victoria Louise served with the fleet for the first seven years of her career. During this time, she represented Germany during the funeral of Queen Victoria in 1901. In 1906, she was modernized and after 1908, used as a training ship for naval cadets. In 1909, she visited the United States, and at the outbreak of World War I, was mobilized into V Scouting Group. She was attacked unsuccessfully by the British submarine HMS E1 in October 1914, and at the end of the year she was withdrawn from service. She was used as a minelayer and barracks ship based in Danzig for the rest of the war. Victoria Louise was sold in 1919 and converted into a freighter the following year, though she served in this capacity until 1923, when she was broken up for scrap.