SMS Elbing

Encyclopedia : S : SM : SMS : SMS Elbing

Career
Ordered:
Laid down: 1913
Launched: November 21, 1914
Commissioned: September 4, 1915
Fate: sunk night of May 31, 1916
General characteristics
Displacement: 5252 t
Length: 135,3 m
Beam: 13,6 m
Draft: 5,98 m
Propulsion: 2 Shafts, 2 geared turbines, 30000shp
Speed: 27,5 kn
Complement: 442
Armament: 8 x 15 cm L/45, 4 x 5,2 cm L/55,
2 x 50 cm Torpedo tubes,
150 Mines
The SMS Elbing was a German Pillau class light cruiser, named after the Prussian city of Elbing. Intended for the Russian navy under the name Admiral Newelski, the ship was built at F. Schichau shipyard in Danzig in 1913-1914. Following the outbreak of World War I, the ship was confiscated and launched on 21 November 1914 als SMS Elbing. Technical problems with her guns (originally intended to be fitted with Russian 13-cm guns, she was eventually equipped with new German 15-cm guns, she and her sister SMS Pillau being the first German light cruisers to be fitted with 15-cm guns) delayed her deployment until September 1915.


Career
Ordered:
Laid down:	1913
Launched:	November 21, 1914
Commissioned:	September 4, 1915
Fate:	sunk night of May 31, 1916
General characteristics
Displacement:	5252 t
Length:	135,3 m
Beam:	13,6 m
Draft:	5,98 m
Propulsion:	2 Shafts, 2 geared turbines, 30000shp
Speed:	27,5 kn
Complement:	442
Armament:	8 x 15 cm L/45, 4 x 5,2 cm L/55, 2 x 50 cm Torpedo tubes, 150 Mines

Under the command of Commander Madlung, the ship participated in the Battle of Jutland from May 31 to June 1 of 1916, where she was the first to open fire, registering a hit at extreme range on HMS Galatea (the shot did not explode). Together with the light cruisers SMS Hamburg, SMS Stuttgart und SMS Rostock, she then engaged a flotilla of British destroyers, receiving a heavy hit with a loss of 4 dead and 12 wounded.

During the night of 31 May to 1 June, Elbing collided with the German battleship SMS Posen, quickly taking heavy water, listing rapidly and losing all propulsion. Efforts to contain the damage failed, and the ship was scuttled by its crew in the early morning hours.

External links

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