Graudenz-class cruiser
The Graudenz class of light cruisers was a class of two ships built for the Imperial German Navy. The class comprised and. The ships were both laid down in 1912, launched in October 1913 and April 1914, and commissioned in August 1914 and January 1915, respectively. They were armed with a main battery of twelve guns, though over the course of their careers, they were rearmed with seven more powerful guns. They displaced at full load and were rated at a top speed of
Both ships saw extensive service during World War I, primarily in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet. They participated in several raids on the British coast, screening for the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group. Regensburg saw heavy combat at the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the war; Graudenz had been damaged by a mine and was in dock for repairs at the time of the battle. Both were involved in the Wilhelmshaven mutiny at the end of the war. Following Germany's defeat, Graudenz was ceded to Italy and served as Ancona until 1937, when she was sold for scrap. Regensburg was transferred to France, where she served as Strasbourg until 1936, when she was converted into a barracks ship. She was ultimately scuttled in Lorient to protect the German U-boat pens there.
Design
General characteristics and machinery
The ships of the Graudenz class were long at the waterline and long overall. They had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft. They displaced as designed and at full load. The ships' hulls were constructed with longitudinal steel frames and contained seventeen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for forty-seven percent of the length of the keel.The two vessels each had a standard crew of twenty-one officers and 364 enlisted men. While serving as a second command flagship or a flotilla leader, they had an additional three officers and fourteen enlisted men for the commander's staff. They carried a number of smaller boats, including one picket boat, one barge, one cutter, two yawls, and two dinghies. The German Navy regarded the ships as good sea boats, with slight weather helm and gentle motion in a swell. The cruisers were maneuverable, but were slow going into a turn. Steering was controlled by a single large rudder. They lost speed only slightly in a head sea, but lost up to sixty percent in hard turns. They had a transverse metacentric height of.
The ships' propulsion system consisted of two sets of Marine-type steam turbines, each of which drove a three-bladed screw in diameter. Each turbine was divided into its own engine room. They were designed to give. These were powered by ten coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers and two oil-fired double-ended boilers, divided into four boiler rooms on the centerline. These gave the ship a top speed of. The ships carried of coal, and an additional of fuel oil that gave them a range of approximately at. At, the range fell considerably, to. Each ship had two turbo generators and one diesel generator with a combined output of at 220 Volts.
Armament and armor
The ships were armed with twelve SK L/45 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle, eight were located amidships, four on either side, and two in a superfiring pair aft. The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to. These were replaced with seven SK L/45 guns and two SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns in 1916 for Graudenz and 1917 for Regensburg. They were also equipped with a pair of torpedo tubes with five torpedoes; the tubes were submerged in the hull on the broadside. Two deck-mounted launchers were added for Graudenz when the gun armament was upgraded; Regensburg had her submerged tubes removed and four deck mounted launchers installed. Both ships could also carry 120 mines.The ships were protected by a waterline armored belt that was thick amidships and thick on the bow. The stern was unarmored. The deck was covered with up to 60 mm thick armor plate forward, thick amidships, and thick aft. Sloped armor 40 mm thick connected the deck and belt armor. The conning tower had thick sides and a 20 mm thick roof. A rangefinder was added with thick steel plating. The main battery guns had thick gun shields.