SMS Bremen
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The SMS Bremen was a small cruiser of the Imperial Navy and the lead ship of the seven-ship Bremen class . The launch took place on July 9, 1903 at the Werft AG Weser in Bremen . The commissioning took place on May 19, 1904 in Wilhelmshaven .
history
Foreign assignment
After the tests were completed on July 15, 1904, the Bremen was detached to the East American station in order to replace the small cruiser Gazelle there . The ship left Kiel on August 27, 1904 and arrived in Rio de Janeiro on September 25, 1904 . This was followed by 9½ years of service as a station cruiser . The Bremen visited many ports in South, Central and North America.
In November 1910, a British and a US warship carried out together with the Bremen under German command the removal of the Revolutionary General Valladares in the Pacific port of Amapala in Honduras .
In December 1912 she was ordered to West Africa to support the gunboats Panther and Boar after the outbreak of unrest in Liberia . In January 1913 she returned to the East American station. In June 1913 the Bremen was ordered back home, with the ship visiting the German colonies of Cameroon and Togo on the return voyage in August 1913 . When she entered Funchal , Madeira on September 24, 1913 , the order to return home was revoked.
The Dresden planned as a new station cruiser was not yet ready for use. The Bremen had to run to the east coast of Mexico , where it remained until January 21, 1914 because of the unrest. It was replaced by Dresden . Now the Bremen had to go to Haiti because there was also unrest there. On February 13, 1914, she was finally able to travel home to Germany, where she arrived on March 18, 1914.
On March 27, 1914, the Bremen in Wilhelmshaven was temporarily decommissioned. This was followed by a thorough shipyard overhaul and partial modernization. Four 10.5 cm guns were exchanged for two 15 cm cannons. In addition, the chimneys were changed, the bow rebuilt and the electrical measuring system renewed.
First World War
On May 27, 1915, the Bremen was put back into service and ordered to the Baltic Sea.
At the beginning of July 1915 the ship moved from Kiel to Libau . Together with the IV. Squadron an advance was made into the eastern Baltic Sea. On August 8, 1915, the Bremen rescued the crew of the torpedo boat T 52 . This had run into a mine. During the venture to conquer the Gulf of Riga , there were some combat contacts with Russian warships.
Downfall
On the evening of December 17, 1915, the Bremen left the port of Windau together with the torpedo boats V 191 and V 186 . On the Sponbank ran V 191 at 17:10 on a mine . The Bremen immediately began with the rescue measures. A tow attempt failed. While rescuing the castaways, the cruiser itself received two mine hits. At 6:04 p.m. the small cruiser sank in the Baltic Sea. 250 crew members were killed. 53 survivors were rescued by V 186 .
Commanders
| May to July 1904 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Paul Schlieper |
| July 1904 to December 1906 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Richard Koch |
| December 5, 1906 to November 15, 1908 | Frigate captain / sea captain Hermann Alberts |
| December 1908 to October 1909 | Frigate Captain / Sea Captain Albert Hopman |
| October 1909 to October 1911 | Frigate captain / sea captain Ernst Goette |
| October 4, 1911 to April 14, 1912 | Corvette Captain Hans Seebohm |
| April to May 1912 | Corvette Captain / Frigate Captain Heinrich Retzmann |
| May 9, 1912 to March 27, 1914 | Frigate Captain Hans Seebohm |
| May to December 17, 1915 | Corvette Captain Axel Walter |
10.5 cm cannon on the deck of the Bremen
The Bremen visiting a German squadron in the United States in 1912
Model of the small cruiser Bremen in the Focke-Museum Bremen
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gerhard Wiechmann: The Prussian-German Navy in Latin America 1866-1914 , Verlag HM Hauschild, Bremen 2002, pages 190 and 206