SMS Nürnberg (1916)

One of the Königsberg-class cruisers en route to Scapa Flow
History
German Empire
NameNürnberg
NamesakeNürnberg
BuilderHowaldtswerke, Kiel
Laid down8 May 1915
Launched14 April 1916
CommissionedFebruary 1917
FateSunk as target 7 July 1922
General characteristics
Class & typeKönigsberg-class light cruiser
Displacement
Length151.4 m (496 ft 9 in)
Beam14.2 m (46 ft 7 in)
Draft5.96 m (19 ft 7 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed27.5 knots (50.9 km/h)
Range4,850 nmi (8,980 km; 5,580 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew
  • 17 officers
  • 458 enlisted men
Armament
Armor

SMS Nürnberg was a Königsberg-class light cruiser built during World War I by Germany for the Imperial Navy. She had three sisters: Königsberg, Karlsruhe, and Emden. The ship was named after the previous light cruiser Nürnberg, which had been sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. The new cruiser was laid down in 1915 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, launched in April 1916, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in February 1917. Armed with eight 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, the ship had a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

Nürnberg saw relatively limited service during the war, due to her commissioning late in the conflict. She participated in Operation Albion in October 1917 against the Russian Navy in the Baltic. The following month, she was engaged in the Second Battle of Helgoland Bight, but was not significantly damaged during the engagement. She was assigned to the final, planned operation of the High Seas Fleet that was to have taken place in the closing days of the war, though a major mutiny forced the cancellation of the plan. After the end of the war, the ship was interned in Scapa Flow. In the scuttling of the German fleet in June 1919, British ships managed to beach Nürnberg and she was later refloated and sunk as a gunnery target in 1922.