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SMS Dresden (1917)

SMS Dresden (Light Cruiser) scuttled 17 June 1919.jpg
SMS Dresden in Scapa Flow
History
German Empire
Name: Dresden
Namesake: Dresden
Builder: Blohm und Voss
Laid down: 1916
Launched: 25 April 1917
Commissioned: 28 March 1918
Fate: Scuttled in Scapa Flow in 1919
Status: Wreck remains in Scapa Flow
General characteristics
Class and type: Cöln-class light cruiser
Displacement:
  • Design: 5,620 t (5,530 long tons; 6,190 short tons)
  • Full load: 7,486 t (7,368 long tons; 8,252 short tons)
Length: 155.5 m (510 ft)
Beam: 14.2 m (47 ft)
Draft: 6.01 m (19.7 ft)
Propulsion: 31,000 shp (23,000 kW), two shafts
Speed: 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h)
Range: 5,400 nmi (10,000 km; 6,200 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:
  • 17 officers
  • 542 enlisted men
Armament:
  • 8 × 15 cm SK L/45 guns
  • 3 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/45 AA guns
  • 4 × 60 cm (24 in) torpedo tubes
  • 200 mines
Armor:
  • Belt: 60 mm (2.4 in)
  • Deck: 60 cm

SMS Dresden was the second and final ship of the Cöln class of light cruisers to be completed and commissioned in the Kaiserliche Marine. The ship was laid down in 1916 and launched on 25 April 1917; she was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 28 March 1918. She and her sister Cöln were the only two of her class to be completed; eight of her sisters were scrapped before they could be completed. The ships were an incremental improvement over the preceding Königsberg-class cruisers.

Dresden was commissioned into service with the High Seas Fleet eight months before the end of World War I; as a result, her service career was limited and she did not see action. She participated in a fleet operation to Norway to attack British convoys to Scandinavia, but they failed to locate any convoys and returned to port. Dresden was to have participated in a climactic sortie in the final days of the war, but a revolt in the fleet forced Admirals Reinhard Scheer and Franz von Hipper to cancel the operation. The ship was interned in Scapa Flow after the end of the war and scuttled with the fleet there on 21 June 1919, under orders from the fleet commander Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter.

Dresden was ordered under the contract name "Ersatz Ariadne" and was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in 1916. She was launched on 25 April 1917, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 28 March 1918. The ship was 155.5 meters (510 ft) long overall and had a beam of 14.2 m (47 ft) and a draft of 6.01 m (19.7 ft) forward. She displaced 7,486 t (7,368 long tons; 8,252 short tons) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of steam turbines powered by eight coal-fired and six oil-fired Marine-type boilers. These provided a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) and a range of approximately 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph).


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