SMS Nürnberg (1906)

SMS "Nürnberg", named after the town of Nuremberg, was a German "Königsberg" class light cruiser of 3,450 tons laid down in 1905"The New Zealand Herald", September 3, 1914] and launched in 1907. The "Nürnberg's" design was similar in both size and appearance to the famous "Emden", differing mainly in its uneven funnel spacing. She was armed with ten convert|4.1|in|mm|sing=on guns, eight five pounders, four machine guns and two submerged torpedo tubes. Her top speed was convert|25|kn|km/h.

In August 1914 the "Nürnberg" arrived in Honolulu and was attached to the German Pacific Fleet.

In September 1914 the "Nürnberg" attacked the British Imperial cable station, on the All Red Line, at Fanning Island. [ [http://www.janeresture.com/kiribati_line/fanning.htm Fanning Island, Line Islands, Republic of Kiribati ] ]

Being a latecomer to the Battle of Coronel, "Nürnberg" found the drifting HMS "Monmouth" and finished her off with 75 shells at close range.

"Nürnberg" was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. While Admiral von Spee's armored cruisers SMS "Scharnhorst" and SMS "Gneisenau" were engaging with the British battlecruisers HMS "Invincible" and HMS "Inflexible" the three light cruisers of the German East Asia Squadron were ordered to seek to escape. "Nürnberg" was pursued by the larger and more powerful HMS "Kent". Although nominally faster, "Nürnberg's" engines were badly worn out, which enabled "Kent" to catch up with her. "Nürnberg" opened fire on "Kent" and scored several hits, but was unable to disable the British armored cruiser. After coming into range of her heavier but shorter-ranged guns, "Kent" eventually sank "Nürnberg", although suffering considerable damage herself.

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