Gazelle-class cruiser

1902 lithograph of Gazelle
Class overview
Operators:	Kaiserliche Marine  Royal Yugoslav Navy
Preceded by:	SMS Hela
Succeeded by:	Bremen class
Built:	1897–1904
In service:	1900–1954
Completed:	10
Lost:	4
Scrapped:	6
General characteristics
Displacement:	Normal: 2,643 to 2,706 t (2,601 to 2,663 long tons) Full load: 2,963 to 3,180 t (2,916 to 3,130 long tons; 3,266 to 3,505 short tons)
Length:	105 m (344 ft 6 in)
Beam:	12.20 to 12.40 m (40 ft 0 in to 40 ft 8 in)
Draft:	4.11 to 5.38 m (13 ft 6 in to 17 ft 8 in)
Propulsion:	Gazelle: 2 shafts, 2 triple expansion engines, 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) All others: 2 shafts, 2 triple expansion engines, 8,000 ihp (6,000 kW)
Speed:	Gazelle: 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) All others: 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
Range:	3,560 to 4,400 nmi (6,590 to 8,150 km; 4,100 to 5,060 mi)
Complement:	14 officers 243–256 enlisted men
Armament:	10 × 10.5 cm SK L/40 guns 2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Deck: 20 to 25 mm (0.79 to 0.98 in)

 Kaiserliche Marine

The Gazelle class was a group of ten light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy at the turn of the 20th century. They were the first modern light cruiser design of the Imperial Navy, and set the basic pattern for all future light cruisers in Imperial service. The design of the Gazelle class attempted to merge the fleet scout with the colonial cruiser. They were armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a pair of torpedo tubes, and were capable of a speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).

All ten ships served with the fleet when they were first commissioned, and several served on foreign stations in the decade before the outbreak of World War I. Most were used as coastal defense ships early in the war. Ariadne was sunk at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, Undine was torpedoed in the Baltic by a British submarine in November 1915, and Frauenlob was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916. The rest survived the war to see service with the Reichsmarine, with the exception of Gazelle, which was broken up in 1920.

Niobe was sold to Yugoslavia in 1925 and renamed Dalmacija, and the rest of the cruisers were withdrawn from service by the end of the 1920s and used for secondary duties or broken up for scrap. Medusa and Arcona were converted into anti-aircraft ships in 1940 and were scuttled at the end of World War II. Dalmacija was captured twice during the war, first by the Italians, who renamed her Cattaro, and then by the Germans, who restored the original name of Niobe. She ran aground in December 1943 and was subsequently destroyed by British Motor Torpedo Boats. Amazone was the only member to survive the war intact, as a barracks ship, and she remained in service until 1954, when she was broken up for scrap.