- German cruiser Karlsruhe
"Karlsruhe" was a
light cruiser of the German "K" class in World War II, the other ships in class being "Königsberg" and "Köln". The "K" class were the first cruisers of the German navy to employ electric welding techniques and a newly designed triple 5.9 inch (150 mm) gun turrets were installed.Launched on
20 August 1927 and commissioned on6 November 1929 , "Karlsruhe" became a training ship and made a world cruise but weakness in her hull plating meant obliged her to be refitted and structural repairs undertaken atSan Diego during the cruise. During the 1930s, the ship undertook a number of further overseas training voyages and also saw fleet service. In January and February 1937, she patrolled the coasts of Spain and Portugal during theSpanish Civil War .In early April 1940, "Karlsruhe" took part in the invasion of
Norway (Operation "Weserübung") as part of Task Force ("Gruppe") 4, carrying troops and, together with the torpedo boats "Seeadler", "Greif" and "Luchs", forcing her way intoKristiansand in the early hours of9 April . During her return to Germany, that same evening, the Britishsubmarine "Truant" attacked "Karlsruhe" off Kristiansand, hitting her with one torpedo that disabled both engines and power stations. Her crew was picked up by the torpedo boat "Greif" which then sank the crippled cruiser with two torpedoes at 22:50 in the evening.Commanding Officers
Construction Indoctrination - FK Eugen Lindau - 10 October 1929 - 6 November 1929
FK / KzS Eugen Lindau - 6 November 1929 - 25 September 1931(Promoted KzS on 1 February 1930.)
FK / KzS Erwin Wassner - 25 September 1931 - 8 December 1932(Promoted KzS on 1 October 1932.)
FK / KzS Harsdorf von Enderndorf - 8 December 1932 - 16 September 1934(Promoted KzS during tenure of command; exact date unknown.)
KzS
Günther Lütjens - 16 September 1934 - 23 September 1935FK / KzS Leopold Siemens - 23 September 1935 - 29 September 1937(Promoted KzS on 1 April 1936.)
KzS Erich Forste - 29 September 1937 - 21 May 1938
REFIT - 21 May 1938 - 13 November 1939
KzS Friedrich Rieve - 13 November 1939 - 10 April 1940
ee also
*
List of shipwrecks in 1940 External links
* [http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/lightcruiser/karlsruhe/index.html German Naval History - Light Cruiser "Karlsruhe"]
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/germany/pages/cruisers/karlsruhe.htm Maritimequest "Karlsruhe" photo gallery]
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