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Leichter Kreuzer Karlsruhe in 1940
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History
The three K-class Light Cruisers were the first
modern cruisers of the German navy after World War I. For the first
time, the main artillery of a German CL was mounted in real turrets
and not in single mounts as before. An interesting detail was
that the afterwards turrets were mounted off the centerline to give
them a better arc of fire. The preserve weight, about 85% of the
hull was welded, but this causes one of the major drawbacks for
those ships, their structural weakness.
With the idea of commerce war in mind, those ships
should have been used in the North Atlantic, but their much too
short endurance and structural problems made this kind of duty
impossible.
The first of the three ships, the Kreuzer B (later Königsberg
) was laid down on April 12th 1926 and completed three years later.
The Kreuzer C (Karlsruhe ) joined the fleet in
November 1929 while the Kreuzer D (Köln ) was
commissioned in January 1930.
All three cruisers made several voyages in many
countries of the world before World War II to "show the
flag". During the war they did see action in the North and
Baltic Sea. Two of them were sunk during Operation "Weserübung",
the invasion of Norway, while the third was sunk at the end of
the war.
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| Construction
Data |
Dimensions |
Commanders |
| Laid
down: |
Deutsche
Werke Kiel, 27.07.1926 |
| Launched: |
20.08.1927 |
| Commissioned: |
06.11.1929 |
| Fate: |
sunk
by Submarine 09.04.1940 (Kristiansand) |
| Costs: |
36
Mio Reichsmark |
|
| Size
(Max): |
7700
t (8350 t since 1939) |
| Length
(Total): |
174,0 m |
| Length
(Waterline): |
169,0
m |
| Beam: |
15,2
m (16,8 m since 1939) |
| Draft: |
6,28
m (6,20 m since 1939) |
| Crew: |
514-850 |
|
| FK/KzS
Eugen Lindau: |
06.11.1929
- Sep 1931 |
| FK/KzS
Erwin Waßner: |
Sep
1931 - Dec 1932 |
| FK/KzS
Freiherr Harsdorf von Enderndorf: |
Dec
1932 - Sep 1934 |
| KzS
Günter Lütjens: |
Sep
1934 - Sep 1935 |
| FK/KzS
Leopold Siemens: |
Sep
1935 - Sep 1937 |
| KzS
Dr. Wernder Förste: |
Sep
1937 - May 1938 |
| KzS
Friedrirch Rieve: |
13.11.1939
- 10.04.1940 |
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Weapons |
Armour and
Aircraft |
Engines
& Performance |
| 15
cm C/25 (5,9"): |
9 |
| 8,8
cm L/45 C/32: |
2
(4 since 1933, 6 since 1936) |
| 3,7
cm L/83 C/30: |
8
(since 1934) |
| 2
cm MG L/83: |
up
to 8 |
| 53,3
cm Torpedoes: |
12
(50 cm until 1934) |
| Mines: |
120 |
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| Deck: |
40
mm |
| Belt: |
50-70
mm |
| Command
Tower: |
100
mm |
| Turrets: |
20-20
mm |
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| Shafts: |
3 |
| Engines: |
4 |
| Type: |
MAN 10-cyl. diesel |
| Turbines: |
2 |
| Type: |
Geared
turbines |
| Total
Performance: |
68000
shp |
| Speed: |
32,1
kn |
| Range: |
7300
miles at 17 kn |
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Operational
History
| 15.10.1929: |
First
trials under the civilian flag. |
| 15.10.1929: |
Commissioned. |
| January
- March 1930: |
Trials
in the Baltic Sea. |
| 24.05.1930-12.12.1930: |
First
international voyage: Mediterranean, Suez Channel, East
Africa, Cape of Good Hope, West Africa,
South America, Spain. |
| -
November 1931: |
Fleet
operations. |
| 30.11.1931-08.12.1932: |
Second
international voyage: West Indies, Central America, Panama
Channel, South America, Cape Horn, New York. |
| -
October 1933: |
Fleet
operations. |
| 14.10.1933-16.06.1934: |
Third
international voyage, around the world: Mediterranean, East
Asia, India, Indonesia, Hawaii, USA,
Panama Channel, USA. |
| 22.10.1934-15.06.1935: |
Fourth
international voyage: South America, Cape Horn, South America,
Central America, North America, Canada, Panama Channel,
USA, Spain. |
| 21.10.1935-13.06.1936: |
Fifth
international voyage, around the world: South Africa,
Seychelles, Indonesia, China, Japan, USA. In San Diego repairs
after heavy storm damage. |
| -December
1937: |
Fleet
operations. |
| 27.12.1936-22.02.1937: |
Operations
in the North Atlantic, near Tanger, the Spanish coast and
Portugal. |
| -May
1938: |
Fleet
Operations. |
| 20.05.1938-13.11.1939: |
Major
refits in Wilhelmshaven Naval Shipyard. |
| April
1940: |
Operation
"Weserübung":
Together with torpedo boats Seeadler , Greif
and Luchs , the Karlsruhe forms
Squadron 4 heading for Kristiansand South and Arendal |
| 09.04.1940: |
British
submarine Truant attacks CL Karlsruhe off
Kristiansand. One torpedo hit in Sections V and VI, disabling
both engines and power stations. Crew is taken over by torpedo
boat Greif which sinks the crippled cruiser with two
torpedoes at 22.50. |
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