SMS Rostock (1912)



Ship data
Construction designation	Replacement vulture
Ship type	Small cruiser
Ship class	Karlsruhe class
Keel laying :	1911
Launching ( ship christening ):	November 12, 1912
Commissioning:	February 5, 1914
Builder:	Howaldtswerke in Kiel construction no .: 560
Crew:	373 men
Building-costs:	8,124,000 million gold marks
Ship coat of arms:
Fate:	Abandoned after being too badly damaged in the Battle of Skagerrak on June 1, 1916 and sunk by 5 torpedoes from the German torpedo boats V 71 and V 73
Technical specifications
Displacement :	Construction: 4,900 t Maximum: 6,191 t
Length:	KWL : 139 m over all: 142.2 m
Width:	13.7 m
Draft :	5.38 m
Machinery:	12 coal marine boilers 2 oil marine double boilers 2 sets of marine turbines
Power:	26,000 PSw
Number of screws:	2 three-leaf 3.5 m ${\ displaystyle \ varnothing}$
Shaft speed:	449 / min
Top speed:	Continuous use: 27.8 kn Test drive: 29.3 kn
Driving distance:	5000 nm at 12 kn
Fuel supply:	approx. 1300 t coal, approx. 200 t oil
Armament
Rapid fire cannons:	12 × 10.5 cm L / 45 cannons
Torpedo tubes ø50 cm	2
Commanders
Frigate Captain Thilo von Trotha	February to August 1914
Frigate captain / sea captain Otto Feldmann	August 1915 to June 1916

SMS Rostock was a small cruiser of the Imperial Navy . The ship was named after the Hanseatic city of Rostock , then located in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin .

completion

The second small cruiser of the Karlsruhe class, the Rostock , was the replacement for the "Cruiser IV. Class" Geier , which was about to be decommissioned at the time. It was launched on November 12, 1912 and entered service on February 5, 1914.

War effort

M destroyer HMS Oracle

At the beginning of the First World War , the Rostock was involved in various missions in the North and Baltic Seas . Since August 29, 1914, one day after the sea battle near Heligoland , she was the flagship of the first leader of the torpedo boats . In this role she took part in the Skagerrak Battle on May 31, 1916, with Commodore Andreas Michelsen on board . The Rostock formed at the same time, together with the small cruisers Wiesbaden , Frankfurt , Pillau and Elbing , the II reconnaissance group, which was subordinate to Rear Admiral Friedrich Boedicker on the Frankfurt .

In the course of the battle could already damaged two British destroyers of the Admiralty M class , the HMS Nestor and Nomad , sink. This sea battle also meant the end of the small cruiser Rostock . During the march back of the deep sea fleet he ran in the keel line with the small cruisers Elbing , SMS Hamburg and SMS Stuttgart on the port side of the 1st squadron. British destroyers attacked at around 1:30 a.m. on June 1st. When trying to evade to starboard and retreat through her own line, the Rostock received a torpedo hit . The turbines failed and the crew was then taken over by torpedo boats . The tow attempt had to be abandoned at around 5:25 a.m. and the Rostock was sunk by five torpedoes from the German torpedo boats V 71 and V 73 , as capital ships of the British Royal Navy appeared. During the fighting on the Skagerrak 14 crew members of the Rostock were killed.

Two 10.5 cm guns from SMS Rostock are now in the " Sea War Museum Jutland ".

Web links

Commons : SMS Rostock (1912) - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

[1] German side to Rostock
Karlsruhe class on worldwar1.co.uk (Engl.)
Karlsruhe class on historyofwar.org (Engl.)

Individual evidence

↑ Cf. Innes McCartney: Jutland 1916: The Archeology of a Naval Battlefield , London 2016, p. 213 and p. 215.

[1] Cf. Innes McCartney: Jutland 1916: The Archeology of a Naval Battlefield , London 2016, p. 213 and p. 215.