Nautilus class cruiser

SMS Albatros
Class overview
Builders:	AG Weser, Bremen
Operators:	Kaiserliche Marine
Succeeded by:	Brummer class
Built:	1905 to 1907
Completed:	2
Lost:	1
Retired:	1
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nautilus class
Displacement:	2208t designed 2506t full load
Length:	315ft 7in (96.2m) waterline 331ft (100.9m) overall
Beam:	36ft 9in (11.2m)
Draught:	14ft 5in (4.4m)
Propulsion:	2-shaft VTE, 4 Navy boilers, 6,600ihp
Speed:	20 knots
Complement:	201 to 208
Armament:	eight 3.45in (8.8cm) SKL/45 guns 200 mines

The Nautilus class was a pair of light cruisers designed for minelaying operations. Nautilus was laid down in 1905 and completed by 1907, and Albatross was laid down in 1907, and completed the same year. Both ships were built by the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen.

Design

The Nautilus class ships were equipped with eight 3.45 in (8.8 cm) SK L/45 guns.^{[Note 1]} The guns fired 22lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2133 feet per second. The guns could elevate to 25 degrees, for a maximum range of 10,500 yards.^[1] The ships also carried 200 mines.

See also

Media related to Nautilus class cruiser at Wikimedia Commons

Notes

1. ^ In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick loading, while the L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, meaning that the gun is 45 times long as it is in diameter.

Footnotes

1. ^ Gardiner and Gray (1984), p. 140

References

• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.