SMS Hela

:"for other meanings, see also the disambiguation page Hela"

SMS "Hela" was a light cruiser of the German Imperial Navy prior to and during World War I.

The only ship of her class, SMS "Hela" was built as an aviso and launched on 28 March 1895 in Bremen. She was named after the Hela peninsula near Danzig (present-day Gdańsk). From about 1900 onward she served in the German overseas colonies. In 1910 she was modernized and converted into a light cruiser. 100 m long, 11 m wide and with 4.5 m draught, she displaced 2,040 tons and had a top speed of 19.5 knots. She carried four 8.8 cm guns and six 5 cm guns. The peacetime crew was about 180 officers and men.

When WWI broke out, "Hela" was assigned to the covering forces for the German torpedo boats that formed the outer ring of coastal scouting patrols in the German portion of the North Sea. These forces were surprised and attacked by superior British forces on 28 August 1914 in the first Battle of Heligoland Bight. SMS "Hela" escaped without damage, but three other German light cruisers and a torpedo boat were sunk.

However, two weeks later, on the morning of 13 September 1914, "Hela" was torpedoed six miles southwest of Heligoland by the British submarine HMS "E9" under the future Admiral Max Horton. "Hela" was hit amidships and sank. All but two of her crew were rescued by the German submarine "U 18" and another German ship.

Although pursued most of the day by German naval forces, HMSM "E 9" managed to reach Harwich safely. Entering the port, captain Horton initiated the tradition of British submariners of hoisting the pirate flag Jolly Roger after a sinking.

External links

* [http://german-navy.de/hochseeflotte/ships/avisos/hela/index.html German-navy.de on the "Hela"] en icon