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Königsberg Light Cruiser

Königsberg (Light Cruiser, 1929-1940)

Königsberg, first of a class of three 6000-ton light cruisers, was built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. She was commissioned in mid-April 1929 and was primarily engaged in training duties during the following decade. She spent the first several months of World War II being refitted to upgrade her combat systems and partially correct structural weaknesses that limited the usefulness of ships of her class. Thus, Königsberg's first real combat operation was the invasion of Norway in April 1940. Her mission in this risky undertaking was the occupation of the west coast port city of Bergen. In company with her sister, Köln, and several other warships, Königsberg was loaded with German Army troops and secretly left Germany for the long and potentially dangerous run up to the target area. The strike force approached Bergen during the early morning of 9 April, offloaded some of their troops to smaller craft and engaged the defending Norwegian shore batteries. Königsberg received serious damage in this engagement, which restricted her speed and prevented her from leaving the area with her companions. She was also the target of a British air raid on the 9th, but was not hit. On the following day, 10 April 1940, the cruiser was tied up to a Bergen quay when several British "Skua" dive bombers delivered a deadly attack, making five hits and one close near miss that set her afire, holed her hull and killed many crewmen. It soon became clear that she could not be saved. After her crew abandoned ship, Königsberg capsized to port and sank. Her hull was refloated in July 1942 and later turned upright. However, the hulk sank again in 1944 and, following the end of World War II, was broken up.

(Light Cruiser, 1929-1940)

Karlsruhe, a 6000-ton Königsberg class light cruiser, was built at Kiel, Germany. Commissioned in November 1929, she spent much of the next several years on training cruises that took her to much of the World. During her 1931 cruise to the Americas she became the first German warship to visit New York City since prior to World War I. In mid-decade Karlsruhe patrolled off Spain during that nation's civil war. The frequently rough seas in that region revealed structural deficiencies in the ships of her type, causing her to be restricted to German waters until she could be strengthened. Rebuilt at Wilhelmshaven between June 1938 and November 1939, Karlsruhe missed the opening operations of the Second World War. She served in the Baltic after returning to active service and was assigned to attack the southern port city of Kristiansand during the German invasion of Norway. The cruiser, accompanied by several smaller warships, arrived off their target on the morning of 9 April 1940. Following a lengthy engagement with defensive coast artillery the German ships were able to land their troops and equipment and begin their departure. However, before they had gotten far from Kristiansand, Karlsruhe was torpedoed by the British submarine Truant and stopped. Though she might have been towed back into port, her damage control efforts were inadequate to the need. After her crew was taken off by her consorts, Karlsruhe was scuttled by one of the German torpedo boats.

Köln (Light Cruiser, 1930-1945)

Köln, a 6000-ton Königsberg class light cruiser built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany, was commissioned in mid-January 1930. Like other cruisers of the German Navy she made extensive training cruises during the 1930s and, after the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, patrolled off that strife-torn nation. The latter duty demonstrated the structural weaknesses of Köln and her sister ships, a problem that, with her heavy fuel consumption and resulting short range, would limit her usefulness in the years to come. After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, Köln mainly operated in the Baltic. On 13 December 1939 she participated in a cruiser sortie into the southern North Sea that left two of her consorts badly damaged by British submarine torpedoes. During the invasion of Norway in April 1940, Köln carried troops to Bergen, engaging the defending batteries as she successfully landed her passengers. For the next two years she was back in the Baltic, primarily on minelaying and training service, but in October 1941 she bombarded a Soviet short battery in the Gulf of Riga. In July 1942 Köln steamed north to Trondheim, Norway, and later moved further up the coast to Narvik and then to the Alta Fjord. Her intended use in laying mines in Russian waters was thwarted by weather and her poor steaming radius. The ship returned to the Baltic in 1943 and spent most of the rest of the War inactive, under refit, or on training duties. She was used for minelaying between Denmark and Norway in late 1944. While at Wilhelmshaven on 30 March 1945, Köln was sunk in shallow water by U.S. Army Air Force bombs. She was scrapped after the end of World War II.