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SMS Leipzig (1906)

1906 WORLD WAR 1

History

On the eve of World War I, the European powers engaged in a seemingly never-ending naval arms race. In 1904, construction began on a new German cruiser - SMS Leipzig - at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen - which was launched on 21 March 1905 and commissioned on 20 April 1906. The ship became the sixth of seven Bremen-class light cruisers for the Imperial German Navy.

SMS Leipzig promotes the city of the same name as the German city Leipzig - following the naming convention throughout the Bremen class.

The SMS Leipzig was given a traditional hull shape with a pointed raised bow and a rounded lower stern. Its superstructure is concentrated amidships, followed by three funnels. This arrangement is covered by the fore and aft masts.

As a cruiser, Leipzig was a "multi-mission" warship equipped with offensive measures to support larger naval operations. She displaces 3,815 tons, has an overall length of 365 feet, a beam of 43.5 feet, and a draft of 18.3 feet. Her power comes from a pair of triple expansion steam engines that drive 2 x shafts. Under ideal conditions, it can reach a top speed of 22 knots and a range of 4,700 nautical miles. Her crew consisted of 288 people, including 14 officers.

The main armament is the 10 x 105mm SK L/40 deck gun. It also carried 2 x 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes, as were the surface warships of the time. Armor protection reaches 80mm at its thickest point.

With the official start of World War I in late July 1914, the next month Leipzig found itself off the west coast of Mexico, when cries for arming were heard across the German Empire. She joined the East Asia Squadron, whose main field was the Pacific due to German colonial interests.

The squadron then patrolled off the west coast of the United States looking for British merchant ships. Near Peru, Leipzig successfully attacked a British merchant ship, successfully sinking the war. In early September, she was stockpiling supplies at a Mexican port. The squadron then sailed from Easter Island to Valparaiso, Chile. Once there, the team was briefed on the HMS Glasgow's docking at Coronel, Chile, a port further south along the coast.

The team then sailed, hoping to seize the British warship in a vulnerable condition.

The British ship was discovered by a detachment of German warships on 1 November 1914, although two armoured cruisers HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth joined it. To commemorate the Battle of Coronel, the two groups met in a battle of steel and guns - Sir Christopher Craddock overseeing developments on the British side, and Count Maximilian von Spee overseeing the German Navy.

Two British armored cruisers were complemented by one light cruiser and one auxiliary cruiser against two German armored cruisers and three light cruisers. German shells crippled both armoured cruisers for a short time, and Leipzig concentrated fire on Glasgow, to no avail. As Leipzig approached to sink the Good Hope, the enemy ship disappeared under the waves on her own.

HMS Glasgow recorded five direct hits in her various sections. A total of 1,570 members of the Royal Navy were killed in the battle and two battleships were killed - this was a decisive German victory at sea against only three wounded German soldiers.

The loss hit the Royal Navy so badly that a special force was deployed to hunt down and end Spee's dominance in the area. The battlecruisers HMS Invincible and Inflexible were both called for action, which would lead to the naval battle of the Falklands, where the British fleet under Doveten Steady would meet von Spee. The force consisted of two British battlecruisers, three armoured cruisers and two light cruisers. This was for two German armored cruisers and three light cruisers.

The battle took place on December 8, 1914.

Spee had planned to attack the Falkland Islands as part of the operation against the Port Stanley coal station. The German ships were attacked by the British emergency, and the responsive, oncoming British navy proved too tenacious for Spee's liking, forcing an order to retreat.

Unable to outpace the advancing British ships alone, the battle began. The Germans split up and confronted the attackers with SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau, while the other ships continued to retreat. The British cruiser followed other ships, including Leipzig.

HMS Glasgow then encountered SMS Leipzig, and the two battleships opened fire as they maneuvered desperately in the chaos. Along with HMS Cornwall and HMS Kent, Leipzig suffered heavy losses in the battle, although she forced Glasgow to withdraw. Cornwall then bore the brunt of Leipzig's artillery fire and was severely damaged.

However, SMS Leipzig itself developed into an overall loss, forcing orders to sink. During the evacuation, the ship came under heavy British fire, hastening its sinking - even her lifeboats were not spared, as only 18 Germans were rescued. Leipzig sank as expected.

The Battle of the Falklands proved a decisive British victory, undoubtedly avenging the previous defeat at Coronel. 1,871 Germans were killed, for a total of about 215 captured. Two German armored cruisers were sunk, joined by a pair of light cruisers. By contrast, the British did not lose their own ships, with a total of 10 casualties and 19 wounded.

Of particular note, von Spee himself and his two sons - the SMS Scharnhorst, the flagship of the German fleet - were killed in battle.