SMS Berlin
Pre-war illustration of Berlin
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| History | |
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 German Empire
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| Name: | Berlin |
| Laid down: | 1902 |
| Launched: | 22 September 1903 |
| Commissioned: | 4 April 1905 |
| Fate: | Scuttled, 1947 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Bremen-class light cruiser |
| Displacement: | 3,792 metric tons (3,732 long tons) |
| Length: | Length overall: 111.1 meters (365 ft) |
| Beam: | 13.3 m (43.6 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.51 m (18.1 ft) |
| Installed power: | 11,750 ihp (8,760 kW) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts, 2 Triple-expansion steam engines |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Range: | 4,270 nmi (7,910 km; 4,910 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: |
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| Armor: | Deck: 80 mm (3.1 in) |
SMS Berlin ("His Majesty's Ship Berlin") was the third member of the seven-vessel Bremen class, built by the Imperial German Navy. Throughout her over 40-year-long career, she served with the Imperial Navy, the Reichsmarine, and the Kriegsmarine. She was built by the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig, laid down in 1902, launched in September 1903, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in April 1905. Armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and two 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes, Berlin was capable of a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph).
Berlin served in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet from her commissioning to 1911, when she was sent abroad for overseas duties. She returned to the scouting forces the following year, where she remained through the first two years of World War I. She spent 1916 as a minelayer, and was disarmed in 1917. She was one of six cruisers permitted to Germany by the Treaty of Versailles, and she remained in service with the new Reichsmarine through the 1920s as a training ship. She was withdrawn from active duty in 1929, and later used as a barracks ship by the Kriegsmarine, a role she filled through World War II. After the end of the war, she was loaded with chemical weapons and scuttled in the Skagerrak.
Berlin was ordered under the contract name Ersatz Zieten and was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig in 1902 and launched on 22 September 1903, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 4 April 1905. The ship was 111.1 meters (365 ft) long overall and had a beam of 13.3 m (44 ft) and a draft of 5.51 m (18.1 ft) forward. She displaced 3,792 t (3,732 long tons; 4,180 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion engines, designed to give 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) for a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph). The engines were powered by ten coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers. Berlin carried up to 860 tonnes (850 long tons) of coal, which gave her a range of 4,270 nautical miles (7,910 km; 4,910 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). She had a crew of 14 officers and 274–287 enlisted men.
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