Model at Deutsches Marinemuseum, Wilhelmshaven |
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| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Albatross |
| Builder: | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Laid down: | 1907 |
| Launched: | 23 October 1907 |
| Commissioned: | 19 May 1908 |
| Fate: | Beached 2 July 1915, broken up 1921 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Nautilus class |
| Displacement: | 2208t designed 2506t full load |
| Length: | 315ft 7in (96.2m) waterline 331ft (100.9m) overall |
| Beam: | 36ft 9in (11.2m) |
| Draught: | 14ft 5in (4.4m) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft VTE, 4 Navy boilers, 6,600ihp |
| Speed: | 20 knots |
| Complement: | 201 to 208 |
| Armament: | Eight 3.45in (8.8cm) SKL/45 guns 200 mines |
SMS Albatross[Note 1] was a German minelaying cruiser built before World War I. Albatross took part in a battle with Russian cruisers off the island of Gotland on 2 July 1915, where the ship was severely damaged, and forced to beach herself in neutral Swedish waters. The ship was salvaged after the war, in 1921.[1]
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Albatross was equipped with eight 3.45 in (8.8 cm) SK L/45 guns.[Note 2] The guns fired 22lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2133 feet per second. The guns could elevate to 25 degrees, for a maximum range of 10,500 yards.[2] The ship also carried 200 mines.
On 2 July 1915, Albatross, the light cruiser Augsburg, and three destroyers were en route to lay mines in Russian waters when the ships were attacked by a superior Russian force—the armored cruisers Bayan and Admiral Makarov and the light cruisers Bogatyr and Oleg. Augsburg escaped, while the three destroyers covered her retreat. Albatross was severely damaged and forced to beach on the Swedish island of Gotland. In July 1915, the ship was refloated by the Swedes, returned to Germany after the war in December 1918, and scrapped in 1921.[1]
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