Bremen-class light cruisers

DG_Alpha

Post subject: Re: Bremen-class light cruisers

Posted: March 8th, 2015, 6:32 pm

Posts: 762
Joined: January 1st, 2012, 7:01 pm
Location: Germany

Thanks to everyone, once again.

Let's finish this with the last ship:

SMS Leipzig
The cruiser was ordered under the contract name “N” and laid down at the AG Weser in 1904. She was launched on March 21st, 1905 and commissioned on on April 20th, 1906. Her first captain was then-Fregattenkapitän Franz von Hipper. After a few months in German waters, Leipzig was outfitted for colonial duties in August 1906, to replace the ageing cruiser Hansa.. The new cruiser left in September and arrived on November 19th to join the German East-Asia Squadron. At that point the Squadron now consisted of the cruisers Fürst Bismarck, Leipzig and Niobe, the gunboats Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger and Luchs, the torpedo boats Taku and S90 and the river gunboats Tsingtau, Vorwärts and Vaterland.

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In June 1907, under Squadron commander Admiral von Coerper Leipzig, together with Tiger and S90 travelled up the Jangtse to inspect German economic interests. Similar travels came in 1908 when Leipzig travelled to ports in the Yellow Sea, Shnaghai and once again up the Jangtse. In November the cruiser also represented Germany at the Japanese Fleet Parade at Kobe.

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In February of 1909 unrest broke out in the German colonies of Samoa. Leipzig was one of the ships sent in response, as were Arcona, Jaguar and Titania. The conflict was resolved relatively quickly by Governor Solf, but Leipzig remained in the area until June.

Further travels followed: In late 1909 Leipzig and the new flagship Scharnhorst travelled the Yellow Sea and then spent Christmas together in Hongkong. In early 1910 the two ship and gunboat Jaguar travelled through South-East Asia, visiting Borneo, Manila, Bangkok and Sumatra, followed by a tour of Japan. In July the cruiser was moved to Hankau to deal with local unrest.

In 1911 the Chinese Civil War broke out and Leipzig once again was sent to Hankau to support the gunboats Vaterland and Tiger. International troops evacuated foreign civilians and the German troops were commanded by Kapitänleutnant Rebensburg, first officer of Leipzig. Squadron commander von Krosigk joined the Operation on Iltis together with S90, but the overall command fell to a Japanese Admiral. During the Civil War until August of 1912 Leipzig travelled between the points of unrest among the Jangtse, Tsingtau and also evacuated German women and children to Shanghai. During one of those visits to Shanghai in 1912 Leipzig could be seen in full parade flags, flying the American Stars and Stripes, presumably for a celebration of an American Holiday.

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After resuming regular visiting tours, Leipzig underwent a massive overhaul and repair job in Tsingtau, after having spent six years on uninterrupted colonial duty. Unlike other ships of her class, Leipzig always retained her original two-searchlight outfit and never replaced her ornate bow crest like other German ships. The traditional white-and-gold paintjob, however was replaced with standard grey.

In 1914 Leipzig was assigned to the coats of Mexico to replace the light cruiser Nürnberg and protect German citizens. With the outbreak of the war, Leipzig followed her orders to join up with the rest of the East Asia Squadron. The German refugees on board were handed over to the American cruiser USS California. Traveling from California back to Mexico and the Galapagos Isles, the cruiser unsuccessfully hunted for British ships, but joined up with the German freighters Amasis and Abessinia. The remaining capital ships of the Squadron, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Dresden and Nürnberg as well as the freighters Anubis and Karnak joined up with Leipzig at the Easter Isles on October 17th.

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On November 1st came the Battle of Coronel, where Leipzig engaged the British cruiser HMS Glasgow. Leipzig's 105mm cannons, however, could only inflict minor to no damage. Although an overwhelming German victory, the German ships had also lost more than half of their ammunition in the process. The ships tried to resupply in Chile as best as they could before travelling into the Atlantic. Admiral Graf Spee then made the decision to attack Port Stanley on the Falkland Isles, a decision Captain Haun of Leipzig objected, he preferred to be released for independent cruiser warfare. Nonetheless, the German fleet moved in and was encountered at December 8th, 1914 by a vastly superior British fleet. Leipzig was engaged by cruisers Cornwall and Glasgow, a survivor of Coronel. By 7pm Leipzig had shot all of her ammunition and had suffered heavy damage from her opponents. The crew came together to sing the national anthem, but many simply abandoned ship. By 9pm Leipzig had sunk, only 18 men survived, 315 lost their life. The sinking of Leipzig was later captured in a rather heroic form by the famous painting “Der letzte Mann” (“The last Man”) by Hans Bohrdt.

And since we are in a festive mood: Here is SMS Bremen in her Parade flag appearance during the Hudson-Fulton-Celebrations.
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This concludes my series on the Bremen-class light cruisers. All posts will be collected in the first post over next week or so.

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Last edited by DG_Alpha on March 13th, 2015, 5:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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