SMS Prinz Adalbert was an armored cruiser built in the early 1900s for the German Kaiserliche Marine. She served as a gunnery training ship, a role she held for the majority of her career. After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, she was assigned to the reconnaissance forces in the Baltic and was tasked with protecting the German coast from Russian attacks. The ship was torpedoed by a British submarine in July 1915, but was able to return to port and was repaired. On 23 October 1915, the torpedo detonated her ammunition magazines and destroyed the ship. Only three men were rescued from a crew of 675; this proved to be the worst German naval disaster in theBaltic during the war.
About SMS Prinz Adalbert (1901) in brief
SMS Prinz Adalbert was an armored cruiser built in the early 1900s for the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included a second ship, Friedrich Carl. She served as a gunnery training ship, a role she held for the majority of her career. After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, she was assigned to the reconnaissance forces in the Baltic and was tasked with protecting the German coast from Russian attacks. She conducted operations against Russian forces, including bombarding the port of Libau in support of the German Army. The ship was torpedoed by a British submarine in July 1915, but was able to return to port and was repaired. On 23 October 1915, the torpedo detonated her ammunition magazines and destroyed the ship. Only three men were rescued from a crew of 675; this proved to be the worst German naval disaster in theBaltic during the war. She sank quickly with heavy loss of life, with only three men being rescued from an estimated 675 crew members. The PrinzAdalbert design was based on that of the previous armored cruiser, Prinz Heinrich, which incorporated a more powerful armament and more comprehensive armor protection. The design was ordered under the Second Naval Law of 1900. The law called for a force of fourteen armored cruisers that would be able to serve in Germany’s colonial empire and scout for the main German fleet in home waters.
The need to fill both roles was the result of budgetary limitations, which prevented Germany from building vessels specialized to each task. Her keel was laid in April 1900, and she was launched in June 1901. Her completion in January 1904 had been delayed by a surplus of construction projects at the Imperial Dockyard. She had an overall length of 126. 5 m, a beam of 19. 6 m, and a draft of 7. 43 m forward. As built, she displaced 9,087 metric tons as built and 9,875 t fully loaded. She carried up to 1,630 t of coal, which enabled a maximum range of up to 5,080 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 12 knots. The ship’s crew consisted of 35 officers and 551 enlisted men. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried a battery of twelve 8. 8 cm guns, also in individual mounts. Her main battery turrets had 150 mm thick armor, and her conning tower had an 80 mm thick tower on the faces of its sides. Her launching ceremony was attended by the Kaiser, Wilhelm II, his brother Admiral Prince Heinrich Wilhem Victoria, and his son Admiral Prince Wilhem Wilhem’s son, Prince Adalberth Wilhem. The ceremony of christening the ship was performed by Princess Irene of Prussia, who then delivered a speech in Fitting Fitting, slowly-out-out slowly, in large part because of the large work-out.
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