SMS Pillau

Pillau, c. 1914–16
History
German Empire
Name:	Pillau
Namesake:	City of Pillau
Builder:	Schichau, Danzig
Laid down:	1913
Launched:	11 April 1914
Commissioned:	14 December 1914
Struck:	5 November 1919
Fate:	Ceded to Italy 20 July 1920
Italy
Name:	Bari
Namesake:	city of Bari
Acquired:	20 July 1920
Commissioned:	21 January 1924
Fate:	sunk 28 June 1943, scrapped 1948
General characteristics
Class and type:	Pillau-class light cruiser
Displacement:	Design: 4,390 t (4,320 long tons; 4,840 short tons) Full load: 5,252 t (5,169 long tons; 5,789 short tons)
Length:	135.3 m (444 ft)
Beam:	13.6 m (45 ft)
Draft:	5.98 m (19.6 ft)
Propulsion:	2 × steam turbines 2 × shafts 30,000 shp (22,000 kW)
Speed:	27.5 knots (50.9 km/h)
Range:	4,300 nmi (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement:	21 officers 421 enlisted men
Armament:	8 × 15 cm SK L/45 guns 2 × 8.8 cm SK L/45 guns 2 × 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes 120 mines
Armor:	Deck 80 mm (3.1 in) Conning tower: 75 mm (3.0 in)

SMS Pillau was a light cruiser ordered by the Imperial Russian navy under the name Maraviev Amurskyy from the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig in 1913 and launched in April 1914. Following the outbreak of World War I, the ship was confiscated in August 1914 and renamed SMS Pillau in honor of the East Prussian port of Pillau (now Baltiysk, Russia). The ship was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in December 1914. The lead ship of her class, she had one sister ship, Elbing. She was armed with a main battery of eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

Pillau spent the majority of her career in the II Scouting Group, and saw service in both the Baltic and North Seas. In August 1915, she participated in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga against the Russian Navy, and on 31 May – 1 June 1916, she saw significant action at the Battle of Jutland. She was hit by a large-caliber shell once in the engagement, but suffered only moderate damage. She assisted the badly damaged battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz reach port on 2 June after the conclusion of the battle. She also took part in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, though was not damaged in the engagement. Pillau was assigned to the planned, final operation of the High Seas Fleet in the closing weeks of the war, but a large scale mutiny forced it to be canceled.