SMS Cöln (1909)

After the outbreak of World War I at the beginning of August 1914, she and several other cruisers were tasked with patrol duties in the Heligoland Bight. The cruisers were divided with the torpedo boat flotillas, and assigned to rotate through nightly patrols into the North Sea.^[8] From 1 to 7 August, Cöln lay in the Schillig roadstead. She thereafter went to the mouth of the Weser, where she was joined by the cruiser Hamburg and the IV Torpedo-boat Flotilla.^[9] As part of the patrol operations, Cöln conducted a sortie on the night of 15 August with Stuttgart and the I and II Torpedo-boat Flotillas, without incident.^[10]

Battle of Heligoland Bight

At the same time, British submarines began reconnoitering the German patrol lines. On 23 August, several British commanders submitted a plan to attack the patrol line with the light cruisers and destroyers of the Harwich Force, commanded by Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt. These ships would be supported by submarines and Vice Admiral David Beatty's battlecruisers and associated light forces. The plan was approved and set for 28 August.^[11] The British forces began to leave port on the evening of 26 August, beginning with the submarines assigned to the operation. Most of the surface forces went to sea early on the following morning; the 7th Cruiser Squadron, which had been added to provide further support to the Harwich Force, left port later in the day.^[12]

On the morning of 28 August, Cöln was re-coaling in Wilhelmshaven. Her sister, Mainz, was at anchor in the mouth of the Ems, and Ariadne lay in the entrance to the Weser. These three cruisers were assigned to support the cruisers Stettin and Frauenlob, and the aviso Hela, which were stationed on the patrol line that morning. At 07:57, the Harwich Force encountered the outer German torpedo boats, which fled back to the German cruisers on the patrol line. In the ensuing Battle of Heligoland Bight, Stettin engaged the British force first, and was quickly reinforced by Frauenlob. Upon receiving reports of the action, Hipper ordered Maass to deploy his cruisers to support the engaged vessels. At 09:30, Cöln steamed out of port.^[13]

Cöln steamed to aid her sister Mainz, which was under heavy fire from several British cruisers and battlecruisers. At around 13:25, she came upon the damaged cruiser

The reversal of course brought her back in range of the British battlecruisers, however, which quickly opened fire and scored several damaging hits. The order to abandon ship was given, and men began gathering on the deck. Engineers set scuttling charges while the men topside prepared to go into the water. At 14:25, the ship rolled over and sank. The survivors expected the British to pick them up, but they had instead departed the battlefield. German ships searched the area three days later, to find only one survivor, Leading Stoker Neumann; the rest of the crew had died in the meantime.^[15] The wreck was moved in August 1979 to render it less of an underwater hazard. Some parts of the ship were salvaged and are now preserved in the Cuxhaven Shipwreck Museum.^[4]

Footnotes

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