SMS Wiesbaden

SMS Wiesbaden was a light cruiser of the Wiesbaden-class cruiser built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She had one sister ship, SMS Frankfurt; the ships were very similar to the previous Karlsruhe-class cruisers. The ship was laid down in 1913, launched in January 1915, and completed by August 1915. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, Wiesbaden had a top speed of 27.5 kn and displaced 6601 MT at full load.

Wiesbaden saw only one major action, the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916. The ship was badly damaged by gunfire from the battlecruiser HMS Invincible (1907). Immobilized between the two battle fleets, Wiesbaden became the center of a hard-fought action that saw the destruction of two British armored cruisers. Heavy fire from the British fleet prevented evacuation of the ship's crew. Wiesbaden remained afloat until the early hours of 1 June and sank sometime between 01:45 and 02:45. Only one crew member survived the sinking; the wreck was located by German Navy divers in 1983.

Design
Wiesbaden was 145.30 m long overall and had a beam of 13.90 m and a draft of 5.76 m forward. She displaced 6601 t at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of Marine steam turbines driving two 3.5 m screw propellers. They were designed to give 31000 shp. These were powered by ten coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers and two oil-fired double-ended boilers. These gave the ship a top speed of 27.5 kn. Wiesbaden carried 1280 t of coal, and an additional 470 t of oil that gave her a range of 4800 nmi at 12 kn. Wiesbaden had a crew of 17 officers and 457 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with a main battery of eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle, four were located amidships, two on either side, and two were placed in a superfiring pair aft. The guns could engage targets out to 17600 m. They were supplied with 1,024 rounds of ammunition, for 128 shells per gun. The ship's antiaircraft armament initially consisted of four 5.2 cm L/55 guns, though these were replaced with a pair of 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns. She was also equipped with four 50 cm torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes. Two were submerged in the hull on the broadside and two were mounted on the deck amidships. She could also carry 120 mines. The ship was protected by a waterline armored belt that was 60 mm thick amidships. The conning tower had 100 mm thick sides, and the deck was covered with up to 60 mm thick armor plate.

Service history
Wiesbaden was ordered under the contract name "Ersatz SMS Gefion" and was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in 1913 and launched on 20 January 1915, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 23 August 1915, after being rushed through sea trials.

Battle of Jutland


Commanded by Captain Fritz Reiss, Wiesbaden was assigned to II Scouting Group of light cruisers under Konteradmiral Friedrich Boedicker, which took part in the Battle of Jutland on 30 May and 1 June 1916. Wiesbaden's sister ship SMS Frankfurt served as Boedicker's flagship. The unit was assigned to screen for the battlecruisers of Vizeadmiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group. At the start of the battle, Wiesbaden was cruising to starboard, which placed her on the disengaged side when SMS Elbing, SMS Pillau, and Frankfurt first engaged the British cruiser screen.

At around 18:30, Wiesbaden and the rest of II Scouting Group encountered the cruiser HMS Chester (1915); they opened fire and scored several hits on the ship. As both sides' cruisers disengaged, Rear Admiral Horace Hood's three battlecruisers intervened. His flagship HMS Invincible (1907) scored a hit on Wiesbaden that exploded in her engine room and disabled the ship. Konteradmiral Paul Behncke, the commander of the leading element of the German battle line, ordered his dreadnoughts to cover the stricken Wiesbaden. Simultaneously, the light cruisers of the British 3rd and 4th Light Cruiser Squadrons attempted to make a torpedo attack on the German line; while steaming into range, they battered Wiesbaden with their main guns. The destroyer HMS Onslow (1916) steamed to within 2000 yd of Wiesbaden and fired a single torpedo at the crippled cruiser. It hit directly below the conning tower, but the ship remained afloat. In the ensuing melee, the armored cruiser HMS Defence (1907) blew up and HMS Warrior (1905) was fatally damaged. Wiesbaden launched her torpedoes while she remained immobilized, scoring one hit against the battleship HMS Marlborough (1912).

Shortly after 20:00, III Flotilla of torpedo boats attempted to rescue Wiesbaden's crew, but heavy fire from the British battle line drove them off. Another attempt to reach the ship was made, but the torpedo boat crews lost sight of the cruiser and were unable to locate her. The ship finally sank sometime between 01:45 and 02:45. Only one crew member survived the sinking; he was picked up by a Norwegian steamer the following day. Among the 589 killed was the well-known writer of poetry and fiction dealing with the life of fishermen and sailors, Johann Kinau, known under his pseudonym of Gorch Fock, who has since then been honored by having two training windjammers of the Kriegsmarine and the German Navy, respectively, named after him. The wreck of Wiesbaden was found in 1983 by divers of the German Navy, who removed both of the ship's screws. The ship lies on the sea floor upside down, and was the last German cruiser sunk at Jutland to be located.