German Light Cruisers

Light cruisers of the German Navy. History and photographs of German Light Cruiser Classes including Meteor, Bussard, Gazelle, Bremen, Königsberg, Dresden, Kolberg, Magdeburg, Karlsruhe, Graudenz, Pillau, Wiesbaden, Königsberg II and Cöln classes. CLICK ON THE NAME OF THE SHIP OR CLASS IN THE LIST TO VIEW ITS PAGE
NAME		LAUNCH	FATE
Arcona Class wooden screw frigates
Arcona	19th May 1858			Latterly used as a target ship then scrapped in 1884.
Gazelle	19th December 1859			Sold for scrap in 1904.
Vineta	4th June 1863			Sold for scrap in 1904.
Hertha	1st October 1864			Sold for scrap in 1904.
Elisabeth	18th October 1868			Sold for scrap in 1904.
Nymphe Class wooden flush-decked screw corvettes
Nymphe	15th April 1863			Scrapped after 1887.
Medusa	20th October 1864			Scrapped after 1881.
Augusta Class wooden flush-decked screw corvettes
Augusta	1864			Sunk during a hurricane on 2nd June 1885, all hands lost.
Victoria	1864			Scrapped in 1892.
Ariadne Class wooden flush-decked screw corvettes View Class
Ariadne	21st July 1871			Scrapped in 1891.
Luise	16th December 1872			Scrapped in 1897.
Freya	29th December 1874			Scrapped in 1896.
Leipzig Class iron flush-decked corvettes View Class
Leipzig	13th September 1875			Hulked in 1894.
Sedan	17th June 1876			Hulked in 1890.
Bismarck Class iron flush-decked corvettes
Bismarck	25th July 1877			Hulked in 1891.
Blücher	20th September 1877			Sold as a hulk in 1908.
Stosch	8th October 1877			Broken up and used for scrap in 1907.
Moltke	18th October 1877			Hulked in 1910.
Gneisenau	4th September 1879			Wrecked on 16th December 1900.
Stein	14th September 1879			Hulked in 1908.
Carola Class iron flush-decked corvettes View Class
Carola	27th November 1880			Broken up for scrap in 1906.
Olga	11th December 1880			Sold in 1906 and broken up for scrap two years later.
Marie	20th August 1881			Broken up for scrap in 1909.
Sophie	10th November 1881			Hulked in 1908.
Alexandrine	7th February 1885			Broken up for scrap in 1907.
Arcona	7th May 1885			Broken up for scrap in 1906.

Nixe	23rd July 1885			Hulked in 1911.

Charlotte	5th August 1885			Hulked in 1911.
Schwalbe Class
Schwalbe	16th August 1887			Used as a harbour ship in 1911.
Sperber	23rd August 1889			Hulked in 1912.
Bussard Class Click to View class
Bussard	23rd January 1890			Stricken on 25th October 1912.
Falke	4th April 1891			Stricken on 25th October 1912.
Seeadler	2nd February 1892			Hulked in 1914 and then sunk on 19th April 1917.
Condor	23rd February 1992			Stricken on 18th November 1920.
Cormoran	17th May 1892			Scuttled on 28th September 1914.
Geier	18th October 1894			Captured by the US Navy in 1917 and then sunk on 21st June 1918.

Zieten	9th March 1876			Broken up 1921
Blitz Class avisos
Blitz	26th August 1882			Broken up 1921
Pfeil	16th September 1882			Broken up 1922

Greif	29th July 1886			Hulked 1912
Wacht Class avisos
Wacht	27th August 1887			Lost 4th September 1901
Jagid	7th July 1888			Hulked 1910
Meteor Class avisos
Meteor	20th January 1890			Stricken on 24th June 1911.
Comet	15th November 1892			Stricken on 24th June 1911.

Gefion	31st March 1898			Used as a merchant ship in 1920.

Hela	28th March 1895			Sunk by British Submarine E9 with the loss of two crew on 13th September 1914.
Gazelle Class View Class
Gazelle	31st March 1898			Stricken on 28th August 1920.
Niobe	18th July 1899			Stricken on 24th June 1925.
Nymphe	21st November 1899			Stricken on 29th August 1931.
Thetis	3rd July 1900			Stricken on 27th September 1929.
Ariadne	10th August 1900			Sunk on 28th August 1914.
Amazone	6th October 1900			Stricken on 31st March 1913.
Medusa	5th December 1900			Stricken on 27th March 1929 and scuttled on 3rd May 1945.
Frauenlob	22nd March 1902			Sunk on 31st May 1916.
Arcona	22nd October 1902			Stricken on 15th January 1930, scuttled on 3rd May 1945.
Undine	11th December 1902			Sunk on 7th November 1915.
Bremen Class View Class
SMS Bremen	9th July 1903			Mined on 17th December 1915.
SMS Hamburg	25th July 1903			Stricken on 31st March 1931.
SMS Berlin	22nd September 1903			Hulked in 1935, scuttled in 1947.
SMS Lübeck	26th March 1904			Stricken on 5th November 1919.
München	30th April 1904			Stricken on 5th November 1919.
Leipzig	21st March 1905			Sunk 8th December 1914.
Danzig	23rd September 1905			Stricken on 5th November 1919.
Koningsberg Class View Class
Königsberg	12th December 1905			Scuttled on 11th July 1915.
Nurnberg	29th August 1908			Sunk on 8th December 1914.
Stuttgart	22nd September 1906			Broken up in 1921.
Stettin	7th July 1907			Broken up over the years 1921-23.
Dresden Class
Dresden	5th October 1907			Scuttled 14th March 1915.
Emden	26th May 1908			Sunk 9th November 1914.
Kolberg Class View Class
Kolberg	14th November 1908			Broken up in 1929.
Mainz	23rd January 1909			Sunk on 28th August 1914.
Coln (or Köln)	5th June 1909			Sunk on 28th August 1914.
Augsberg	10th July 1909			Broken up in 1922.
Magdeburg Class View Class
Magdeburg	13th May 1911			Sunk on 26th August 1914.
Breslau	16th May 1911			Sunk on 20th January 1918.
Strassburg	24th August 1911			Sunk on 23rd October 1943
Stralsund	4th November 1911			Broken up in 1935.
Karlsruhe Class View Class
Karlsruhe	11th November 1912			Sunk on 4th November 1914.
Rostock	11th December 1912			Sunk on 1st June 1916.
Graudenz Class View Class
Graudenz	25th October 1913			Ceded to Italy in 1921.and became Ancona broken up in 1938
Regensburg	25th April 1914			Ceded to France 1920. and became the new Strasbourg she was broken up in 1944
Pillau Class
Pillau	11th April 1914			Ceded to Italy 1921. and became Bari. Sunk in 1943 by US aircraft
Elbing	21st November 1914			Sunk on 1st June 1916.
Wiesbaden Class View Class
Wiesbaden	30th January 1915			Sunk on 1st June 1916.
Frankfurt	20th March 1915			Sunk 18th July 1921.
Königsberg II Class View Class
Königsberg ii	18th December 1915			Ceded to France in 1920.
Karlsruhe ii	31st January 1916			Scuttled 21st June 1919.
Emden ii	1st February 1916			Broken up 16th December 1926.
Nürnberg ii	14th April 1916			Sunk 7th July 1922.
Cöln Class
Cöln ii	5th October 1916			Scuttled 21st June 1919.
Wiesbaden ii	3rd March 1917			Broken up in 1920.
Dresden ii	25th April 1917			Scuttled 21st June 1919.

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