| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Cöln |
| Namesake: | Cologne |
| Laid down: | 1908 |
| Launched: | 5 June 1909 |
| Completed: | 16 June 1911 |
| Fate: | Sunk during the Battle of Heligoland Bight, 28 August 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Kolberg-class light cruiser |
| Displacement: | 4,362 metric tons (4,293 long tons) |
| Length: | 130 m (426.5 ft) |
| Beam: | 14 m (45.9 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.4 m (17.7 ft) |
| Installed power: | 19,000 ihp (14,000 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
4 shafts, 2 sets of Germania Steam turbines |
| Speed: | 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) |
| Range: | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph) |
| Complement: | 367 |
| Armament: |
12 × 1 - 105 mm (4.1 in) guns |
| Armor: | Deck: 20–40 mm (0.79–1.6 in) Gun shields: 50 mm (2 in) Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in) |
SMS Cöln was a light cruiser of the Kolberg class in the Imperial German navy, launched on 5 June 1909 at Germania shipworks in Kiel. She was 130.5 m long, 15 m wide, and had a draught of 5.58 m. She displaced 4,350 tons and had a top speed of 26.8 knots. Her main armament consisted of twelve 10.5 cm rapid fire guns, and her crew numbered 380 in peacetime and 485 in combat.
SMS Cöln was the flagship of Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass in the first Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914, her final battle. Planning to attack German patrols off the north-west German coast, the British Harwich Force of two light cruisers and 31 destroyers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt made a raid upon German shipping close to the German naval base at Heligoland. Providing cover was the First Battle Cruiser Squadron under Vice Admiral Beatty, consisting of the battlecruisers New Zealand and Invincible and three cruisers. The Harwich Force sank a German torpedo-boat at around 7 am on 28 August, and the Germans hastily deployed the light cruisers SMS Frauenlob and SMS Stettin to the scene. They were joined soon afterwards by a squadron of four more light cruisers from Wilhelmshaven, including SMS Cöln under the command of Captain Meidinger. Due to low water, the German battlecruisers in Wilhelmshaven were unable to leave harbour in time to provide support.
SMS Cöln encountered and engaged the British light cruiser HMS Arethusa and eight destroyers which were fighting the German light cruiser SMS Mainz. Outgunned and with HMS Arethusa heavily damaged, Commander Tyrwhitt requested urgent assistance. Beatty's squadron, some 25 miles to the north, arrived at 12.40 pm, completely surprising the Germans. The superior speed and firing power of the British battlecruisers was decisive, and the Germans lost SMS Mainz, SMS Cöln, and SMS Ariadne. Three other light cruisers escaped severely damaged. The Germans lost 712 killed and 419 captured.
SMS Cöln sank at about 14.30 pm. Of her crew of about 485, some 200 initially survived the sinking, but all but one drowned soon after. The sole survivor, a stoker, managed to cling to the remnants of a lifeboat for 76 hours before being rescued. The wrecked boat later washed ashore on the island of Norderney and is today exhibited in Cologne in a side arch of the Eigelsteintorburg medieval city gate.
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