German cruiser Königsberg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Career


Built By:	Reichsmarinewerft, Wilhelmshaven
Laid down:	12 April 1926
Launched:	26 March 1927
Commissioned:	17 April 1929
Paid off:
Fate:	sunk 10 April 1940 at Bergen, Norway
Penant:
General Characteristics
Type:	light cruiser
Displacement:	7700 tons
Length:	174 metres (overall)
Beam:	15.2 metres
Draught:	6.28 metres
Propulsion:	3 shafts driven by 4 MAN 10-cylinder diesels (cruising) or 2 geared turbines;68000 shp
Speed:	32 knots
Range:	7300 miles at 17 knots
Complement:	514 - 850
Armament (WWII):	9 5.9 inch (150 mm) guns (3 × 3) 6 3.5 inch (88 mm) 8 37 mm anti-aircraft (4 × 2) 21 inch torpedo tubes (4 × 3) 120 mines
Armour:	command tower: 100 mm deck: 40 mm, turrets: 20 mm, belt: 50-70 mm, internal boiler room sides
Aircraft:	Heinkel He 60: 2

Königsberg was a light cruiser of the K class in the German Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine. Her sisterships were Köln and Karlsruhe.

After a number of foreign visits in the 1930s, the ship operated along the Spanish coast from November 1936 to January 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. Her design and construction rendered her poorly suited to commerce raiding or deep-water operations, and when war broke out in September 1939 she was assigned to duty as a torpedo training ship in the Baltic and subsequently used for mining operations in the North Sea (Operation "Westwall").

In early April 1940, Königsberg participated in the occupation of Norway (Operation "Weserübung"), transporting troops from Wilhelmshaven to Bergen, Norway, together with her sistership Köln, the artillery training ship Bremse and the torpedo boats Wolf and Leopard. Königsberg and Bremse were damaged by Norwegian shore batteries on 9 April 1940, causing them to remain in port while the other ships returned to Germany. The next day, 15 Blackburn Skua dive bombers of the British Fleet Air Arm (7 of 800 Naval Air Squadron and 9 of 803 Naval Air Squadron, launched from Hatston, Orkney) scored three direct hits on Königsberg. The ship capsized and sank in Bergen harbor.

The wreck was raised on 17 July 1942, and after being righted in March 1943 was used as a pier for U-boats. The wreck capsized again on 22 September 1944, and was broken up after the end of World War II in Bergen.