Product Description
SMS Konigsberg was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). Named after Konigsberg, the capital of East Prussia, she was laid down in January 1905, launched in December of that year and completed by June 1906. Her class included three other ships: Stettin, Stuttgart, and Narnberg. Konigsberg was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 24.1 knots (44.6 km/h; 27.7 mph). Konigsberg then retreated into the Rufiji River to repair her engines. Before the repairs could be completed, British cruisers located Konigsberg, and, unable to steam into the river to destroy her, set up a blockade. After several attempts to sink the ship during the Battle of Rufiji Delta, the British sent two monitors, Mersey and Severn, to destroy the German cruiser. On 11 July 1915, the two monitors got close enough to severely damage Konigsberg, forcing her crew to scuttle the ship. The surviving crew salvaged all ten of her main guns and joined Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's guerrilla campaign in East Africa. Konigsberg was partially broken up in 1963-1965 for scrap, and the remains sank into the riverbed.
