SMS Nürnberg (1906)
SMS Nürnberg underway before the war
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History | |
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German Empire | |
Name | Nürnberg |
Namesake | Nürnberg |
Builder | Howaldtswerke, Kiel |
Laid down | 16 January 1906 |
Launched | 28 August 1906 |
Commissioned | 10 April 1908 |
Fate | Sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 8 December 1914 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Königsberg-class light cruiser |
Displacement |
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Length | 115.3 m (378 ft) |
Beam | 13.2 m (43 ft) |
Draft | 5.29 m (17.4 ft) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 23.4 knots (43.3 km/h) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Armor |
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SMS Nürnberg ("His Majesty's Ship Nürnberg"),
Nürnberg served with the fleet briefly, before being deployed overseas in 1910. She was assigned to the East Asia Squadron. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, she was returning to the German naval base at Qingdao from Mexican waters. She rejoined the rest of the Squadron, commanded by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee, which steamed across the Pacific Ocean and encountered a British squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock. In the ensuing Battle of Coronel on 1 November, the British squadron was defeated; Nürnberg finished off the British cruiser HMS Monmouth. A month later, the Germans attempted to raid the British base in the Falkland Islands; a powerful British squadron that included a pair of battlecruisers was in port, commanded by Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee. Sturdee's ships chased down and destroyed four of the five German cruisers; HMS Kent sank Nürnberg, with heavy loss of life.
Design
The Königsberg-class ships were designed to serve both as fleet scouts in home waters and
Nürnberg was 116.8 meters (383 ft)
The ship was armed with a
Service history
Nürnberg was ordered under the contract name "
Nürnberg remained out of service for the next two years before being recommissioned on 1 October 1910 for a deployment abroad. After completing her crew and making preparations for the voyage, she left Wilhelmshaven on 14 February, bound for
Nürnberg was in
In May and June 1912, Nürnberg embarked the squadron commander for a cruise into the
World War I
After completing repairs in the United States, Nürnberg was to sail via Hawaii to Apia, where she was to meet Scharnhorst and the armored cruiser
The four cruisers then departed the central Pacific, bound for Chile. On 13 August the captain of the Emden, Commodore
On 14 September, Spee decided to use his two armored cruisers to raid the British base at
Battle of Coronel
To oppose the German squadron off the coast of South America, the British had scant resources; under the command of Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock were the armored cruisers HMS Good Hope and Monmouth, the light cruiser Glasgow, and the auxiliary cruiser Otranto. This flotilla was reinforced by the elderly pre-dreadnought battleship Canopus and the armored cruiser Defence, the latter, however, did not arrive until after the Battle of Coronel.[22] Canopus was left behind by Cradock, who likely felt that her slow speed would prevent him from bringing the German ships to battle. On the evening of 26 October, the East Asia Squadron steamed out of Mas a Fuera, Chile, and headed eastward. Spee learned that Glasgow had been spotted in Coronel on the 31st, and so turned towards the port.[23]
He arrived on the afternoon of 1 November, and to his surprise, encountered Good Hope, Monmouth, and Otranto as well as Glasgow. Canopus was still some 300 miles (480 km) behind, with the British colliers. At 17:00, Glasgow spotted the Germans; Cradock formed a line with Good Hope in the lead, followed by Monmouth, Glasgow, and Otranto in the rear. Spee decided to hold off on engaging the British until the sun had set more, at which point the British ships would be silhouetted by the sun. Nürnberg was some distance behind the rest of the German squadron, and joined the ensuing action later;[24] she had been delayed from searches of neutral steamers. Arriving late to the battle, Nürnberg found the drifting Monmouth and finished her off with gunfire at a range of around 550 to 900 m (600 to 980 yd).[25]
Voyage to the Falklands
After the battle, Spee took his ships north to Valparaiso. Since Chile was neutral, only three ships could enter the port at a time; Spee took Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Nürnberg in first visit on the morning of 3 November, leaving Dresden and Leipzig with the colliers at Mas a Fuera. In Valparaiso, Spee's ships could take on coal while he conferred with the Admiralty Staff in Germany to determine the strength of remaining British forces in the region. The ships remained in the port for only 24 hours, in accordance with the neutrality restrictions, and arrived at Mas a Fuera on 6 November, where they took on more coal from captured British and French steamers. On 10 November, Dresden and Leipzig were detached for a stop in Valparaiso, and five days later, Spee took the rest of the squadron south to St. Quentin Bay in the Gulf of Penas. On 18 November, Dresden and Leipzig met Spee while en route and the squadron reached St. Quentin Bay three days later. There, they took on more coal, since the voyage around Cape Horn would be a long one and it was unclear when they would have another opportunity to coal.[26]
Once word of the defeat reached London, the Royal Navy set to organizing a force to hunt down and destroy the East Asia Squadron. To this end, the powerful battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible were detached from the Grand Fleet and placed under the command of Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee.[27] The two ships left Devonport on 10 November and while en route to the Falkland Islands, they were joined by the armored cruisers Carnarvon, Kent, and Cornwall, the light cruisers Bristol and Glasgow, and the armed merchant cruiser Macedonia. The force of eight ships reached the Falklands by 7 December, where they immediately coaled.[28]
In the meantime, Spee's ships departed St. Quentin Bay on 26 November and rounded Cape Horn on 2 December. They captured the Canadian
Battle of the Falkland Islands
Gneisenau and Nürnberg were delegated for the attack; they approached the Falklands the following morning, with the intention of destroying the wireless transmitter there. Observers aboard Gneisenau spotted smoke rising from
Kent chased Nürnberg down; at 17:00, Nürnberg opened fire at extreme range, approximately 11,000 m (12,000 yd). Kent was unable to reply until the range fell to 6,400 m (7,000 yd), at which time she began firing salvos rapidly. Nürnberg turned to port in order to bring her entire broadside into action, which was mimicked by Kent. The two ships steered on converging courses, and the distance between the two cruisers dropped to 2,700 m (3,000 yd). By that time, Kent's shells were raining down on Nürnberg and were causing major damage. A serious fire broke out forward at 18:02, and by 18:35, she was dead in the water and had ceased firing. Kent temporarily ceased fire, but after noticing Nürnberg was still flying her battle ensigns, resumed combat. After five more minutes of shelling, Nürnberg struck her colors, and Kent's crew prepared to lower lifeboats to pick up survivors.[35]
Only twelve men were picked up before the ship capsized and sank at 19:26, and five of them died after being rescued. Among the dead was one of Spee's sons, Otto von Spee.[36] In total, 327 officers and men were killed in the battle.[37] In the course of the engagement, Nürnberg had hit Kent thirty-eight times, but did not cause significant damage. One shell struck one of Kent's casemate guns and ignited the propellant charges inside, but the magazine was flooded before the fire could destroy the ship.[36] The sinking was commemorated in a painting entitled The Last Man by Hans Bohrdt, which depicted a German sailor waving the Imperial ensign as Nürnberg slipped beneath the waves.[9]
Notes
Footnotes
- Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship".
Citations
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 142, 157.
- ^ Nottelmann, pp. 110–114.
- ^ a b Gröner, p. 104.
- ^ Campbell & Sieche, pp. 140, 157.
- ^ Gröner, pp. 104–105.
- ^ a b c d Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 6, p. 168.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 3, p. 40.
- ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 6, pp. 168–169.
- ^ a b Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 6, p. 169.
- ^ Gray, p. 184.
- ^ Halpern, p. 71.
- ^ Hough, pp. 3–5.
- ^ Herwig, pp. 155–156.
- ^ Hough, p. 33.
- ^ a b c d Halpern, p. 88.
- ^ Gray, p. 185.
- ^ a b Strachan, p. 471.
- ^ Bennett, pp. 71–72.
- ^ Strachan, p. 472.
- ^ Halpern, p. 89.
- ^ Hawkins, p. 34.
- ^ Herwig, p. 156.
- ^ Halpern, p. 92.
- ^ Halpern, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Bennett, pp. 89, 94.
- ^ Staff, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Strachan, p. 41.
- ^ a b c Strachan, p. 47.
- ^ Staff, pp. 61–62.
- ^ Staff, pp. 62–63.
- ^ Staff, p. 64.
- ^ Bennett, p. 115.
- ^ Bennett, p. 117.
- ^ Halpern, p. 99.
- ^ Bennett, pp. 124–125.
- ^ a b Bennett, p. 125.
- ^ Gröner, p. 105.
References
- ISBN 1-84415-300-2.
- Campbell, N. J. M. & Sieche, Erwin (1986). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 134–189. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- Gray, J.A.C. (1960). Amerika Samoa, A History of American Samoa and its United States Naval Administration. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
- ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
- Halpern, Paul G. (1995). A Naval History of World War I. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-352-4.
- Hawkins, Nigel (2002). Starvation Blockade: The Naval Blockades of WWI. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85052-908-5.
- Herwig, Holger (1980). "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst: Humanity Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 3. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0211-4.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 6. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0237-4.
- Hough, Richard (1980). Falklands 1914: The Pursuit of Admiral Von Spee. Periscope Publishing. ISBN 978-1-904381-12-9.
- Nottelmann, Dirk (2020). "The Development of the Small Cruiser in the Imperial German Navy". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2020. Oxford: Osprey. pp. 102–118. ISBN 978-1-4728-4071-4.
- Staff, Gary (2011). Battle on the Seven Seas: German Cruiser Battles, 1914–1918. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 978-1-84884-182-6.
- Strachan, Hew (2001). The First World War: Volume 1: To Arms. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-926191-8.
Further reading
- ISBN 978-1-68247-745-8.
53°28′S 55°04′W / 53.467°S 55.067°W