_scuttled_17_June_1919.jpg) SMSDresden in Scapa Flow | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Dresden |
| Namesake | Dresden |
| Builder | Blohm und Voss |
| Laid down | 1916 |
| Launched | 25 April 1917 |
| Commissioned | 28 March 1918 |
| Fate | Scuttled inScapa Flow in 21 June 1919 |
| Notes | Wreck remains in Scapa Flow |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cöln-classlight cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 155.5 m (510 ft) |
| Beam | 14.2 m (47 ft) |
| Draft | 6.01 m (19.7 ft) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 27.5knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) |
| Range | 5,400 nmi (10,000 km; 6,200 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor | |
SMSDresden was the second and final ship of theCöln class oflight cruisers to be completed and commissioned in theKaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). The ship was laid down in 1916 and launched on 25 April 1917; she was commissioned into theHigh Seas Fleet on 28 March 1918. She and her sisterCöln were the only two of her class to be completed; eight of her sisters were scrapped before they could be completed. The ships were an incremental improvement over the precedingKönigsberg-class cruisers.
Dresden was commissioned into service with the High Seas Fleet eight months before the end ofWorld War I; as a result, her service career was limited and she did not see action. She participated in a fleet operation to Norway to attack British convoys to Scandinavia, but they failed to locate any convoys and returned to port.Dresden was to have participated in a climactic sortie in the final days of the war, but arevolt in the fleet forced AdmiralsReinhard Scheer andFranz von Hipper to cancel the operation. The ship was interned inScapa Flow after the end of the war andscuttled with the fleet there on 21 June 1919, under orders from the fleet commander Rear AdmiralLudwig von Reuter.
In the first year after the start ofWorld War I in July 1914, the GermanKaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) suffered heavy losses among itslight cruisers; by late 1915, the decision was made to begin construction on replacements. The navy was no longer constrained by thenaval laws that had previously governed expenditures, and war funding was allocated for the construction of ten new vessels. Owing to the need to begin work as quickly as possible, only minor alterations were made to the precedingKönigsberg class design, including the number ofanti-aircraft guns and the location of thetorpedo tubes.[1][2]
Dresden was 155.5 meters (510 ft)long overall and had abeam of 14.2 m (47 ft) and adraft of 6.01 m (19.7 ft) forward. Thedisplaced 5,620 t (5,530long tons) normally and up to 7,486 t (7,368 long tons; 8,252 short tons) atfull load. Her propulsion system consisted of two sets ofsteam turbines, which drove a pair ofscrew propellers. Steam was provided by eight coal-fired and six oil-fired Marine-typewater-tube boilers. The boilers were ducted into threefunnelsamidships. The engines were rated to produce 31,000shaft horsepower (23,000 kW) for a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) and a range of approximately 6,000nautical miles (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph). The crew complement consisted of 17 officers and 542 enlisted men.[3]
The ship was armed with eight15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on theforecastle, four were located amidships, two on either side, and two were arranged in asuper firing pair aft. These guns fired a 45.3-pound (20.5 kg) shell at amuzzle velocity of 840 meters per second (2,800 ft/s). The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to 17,600 m (57,700 ft).[4] They were supplied with 1,040 rounds of ammunition, for 130 shells per gun.[3]Dresden was to have carried three8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns mounted on thecenterline astern of the funnels, though only two were installed, due to shortages in artillery by that late point in the war.[5] She was also equipped with a pair of 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes with eight torpedoes in deck-mounted swivel launchers amidships. She also carried 200mines. The ship was protected by a waterlinearmored belt that was 60 mm (2.4 in) thick amidships. Theconning tower had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides, and the armordeck was covered with 60 mm thick armor plate.[3]
Dresden was ordered under the contract name "ErsatzDresden",[a] and was laid down at theBlohm & Voss shipyard inHamburg in August 1916. Named for the earlier cruiserDresden that was sunk at theBattle of Más a Tierra in March 1915, the new cruiser was launched on 25 April 1917, after whichfitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into active service on 28 March 1918 to beginsea trials. She was the last major warship to enter service with the imperial fleet, and the last light cruiser to be completed. The ship's first captain wasKorvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain)Prince Adalbert, the son ofKaiserWilhelm II. After the completion of her trials in August,Dresden joined the reconnaissance screen for the High Seas Fleet.[2][7] The ship was assigned toII Scouting Group, alongside the cruisersKönigsberg,Pillau,Graudenz,Nürnberg, andKarlsruhe.[8] Later that month,Dresden joined a minelaying operation to the west of the mouth of theEms, but she was torpedoed and had to return to port with a torpedo boat as escort.[9]
In October 1918,Dresden and the rest of II Scouting Group were to lead afinal attack on the British navy.Dresden,Cöln,Pillau, andKönigsberg were to attack merchant shipping in theThames estuary while the rest of the Group were to bombard targets inFlanders, to draw out the BritishGrand Fleet.[8] Scheer intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy, in order to secure a better bargaining position for Germany, whatever the cost to the fleet. On the morning of 29 October 1918, the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day. Starting on the night of 29 October, sailors onThüringen and then on several other battleshipsmutinied. The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation.[10]
During the sailors' revolt,Dresden was ordered to steam toEckernförde to serve as a relay to Kiel. Communications had been disrupted by major unrest there. The battleshipMarkgraf laid inDresden's path, and her unruly crew refused to move out ofDresden's way;Markgraf aimed one of her 30.5 cm (12 in) gun turrets atDresden, but then her crew backed down and letDresden leave the port. The ship then went toSwinemünde, where she was decommissioned on 7 November. Her crew partially scuttled her following reports that mutinous ships were en route to attack the cruisers stationed there. After these proved false,Dresden was re-floated and returned to seaworthy condition. This involved removing the ammunition for all of the guns and allowing them to air-dry.[9][11] Following the capitulation of Germany on 11 November, most of the High Seas Fleet's ships, under the command of Rear AdmiralLudwig von Reuter, were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow.[12]Dresden was among the ships interned,[3] but owing to the ship's poor condition following the naval mutiny, she was not able to steam with the rest of the fleet in November.Dresden arrived on 6 December, leaking badly.[13]
The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced theVersailles Treaty. Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919, which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty. Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd, Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the next opportunity. On the morning of 21 June, the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers, and at 11:20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships.[14]Dresden began to sink at 13:50,[15] and she sank before British sailors could board the ship or tow her to shallow water. She was never raised for salvage like many of the other wrecks, and instead salvage rights to the ship and her sisterCöln were sold off in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some work was carried out to remove parts of their hulls while still submerged, but they were never raised. Salvage rights for the two cruisers expired on 17 September 1985, and their remains were sold to the Orkney Islands Council for 1 pound on 3 November 1986. Her wreck was declared ascheduled monument on 23 May 2001.[16]
The wreck lies to this day on the port side at the bottom of Scapa Flow to the south east of the island of Cava, in a depth of 25 to 45 meters (82 to 148 ft). The upper decks have been badly damaged and theweather deck has separated from the hull, exposing her internal structure. The main guns are buried in mud.[17] In 2017, marine archaeologists from the Orkney Research Center for Archaeology conducted extensive surveys ofDresden and nine other wrecks in the area, including six other German and three British warships. The archaeologists mapped the wrecks with sonar and examined them withremotely operated underwater vehicles as part of an effort to determine how the wrecks are deteriorating.[18] The wreck lies between 25 and 38 m (82 and 125 ft) and remains a popular site for recreational scuba diving.[19]
58°52′52″N3°08′34″W / 58.8811°N 3.1429°W /58.8811; -3.1429
