Prinz Adalbert class armored cruiser

The "Prinz Adalbert" class was a class of armored cruisers built in Germany in the early 1900s. Two ships of the class were built, "Prinz Adalbert", and "Friedrich Carl". They were an improvement upon the design of the previous unique armored cruiser, "Prinz Heinrich", having a more extensive armor belt, and four main guns in twin turrets, as opposed to "Prinz Heinrich's" two main guns in single turrets.

Design

ize and machinery

"Prinz Adalbert" was built at Navy Dockyard; laid down in April 1900, and completed in January 1904. "Friedrich Carl" was built at Blohm and Voss in Hamburg; laid down in August 1901, and completed in December 1903. The ships were convert|410|ft|4|in|m at the waterline, convert|415|ft|4|in|m overall. They had a beam of convert|64|ft|4|in|m, and a draught of convert|25|ft|7|in|m They displaced 9,087 tons standard (9233 t), and 9,875 at full load (10,033 t). They were powered by 3 shaft triple expansion engines, which delivered convert|16200|ihp|abbr=on, and a top speed of convert|20|kn|km/h|0.

Armor and armament

The ship was protected by a convert|6|in|cm|sing=on thick armor belt, and had convert|8|in|cm of armor on the turret faces. The deck was covered by 2-3 inches (5.1-7.6 cm) of armor plate. The main armament consisted of four convert|8.2|in|cm|0|sing=on guns mounted in twin turrets, one fore and one aft. Secondary armament consisted of ten convert|5.9|in|cm|0|sing=on guns in a combination of casemates and single turrets, twelve convert|3.45|in|cm|0|sing=on guns in casemates and shielded mounts, and four submerged convert|17.7|in|cm|0|sing=on torpedo tubes.

ervice history

Both ships of the "Prinz Adalbert" class had short careers during World War I. At the start of the war, "Prinz Adalbert" was serving in the III Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet, however in November 1914, she was transferred to the Baltic Sea. On 23 October, 1915, she was sunk by the British submarine E8, to the west of Libau.

In August 1914, "Friedrich Carl" was undergoing a refit. In September of that year, she was assigned to the Baltic Sea. Two months later, on 17 November, 1914, she was struck Russian mines near Memel and sank.

External links

* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/armoured-cruiser/sms-prinz-adalbert.html World War 1 Naval Combat]