SMS Augsburg

"Augsburg" was intended to replace the airborne cruiser "Sperber". The hull was laid under the Ersatz Sperber contract ^{[~ 2]} in 1908 at the Kaiser shipyard (Kaiserliche Werft) in Kiel . July 10, 1909 the hull was launched, after which work began on the construction of the ship. On October 1, 1910, the ship entered Gokhzeeflott ^[1] . It was 130.5 m long, 14 m wide, had a draft of 5.45 m, a displacement of 4915 tons with a full combat load. The propulsion system consisted of two steam turbine installations of the Parsons system, operating four 2.25 m propellers. Indicator power was 19 thousand horsepower (13 974 kW). Steam for the car was formed in fifteen naval-type water-tube boilers, the fuel for which was coal. "Augsburg" developed a speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km / h). The cruiser could carry 940 tons of coal, which provided a cruising range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km) at a speed of 14 knots (26 km / h). The crew of the cruiser consisted of 18 officers and 349 sailors ^[2] .

The armament of the cruiser was twelve 105 mm quick-fire guns of the SK L / 45 system on single supports, Two guns were placed side by side, eight along the sides, four on each side and two side by side at the stern ^[3] . In 1916-17, the guns were replaced with six SK L / 45 caliber 15 cm guns. The cruiser also carried four SK L / 55 5.2 cm caliber anti-aircraft guns, in 1918 they were replaced with a pair of two SK L / air guns. 45 caliber 8.8 cm. In addition to artillery weapons, the cruiser carried two 450-mm submarine torpedo tubes. The devices were installed in the hull of the vessel under water. In 1918, a pair of 50 cm caliber torpedo tubes were installed on the deck. The cruiser could also carry one hundred sea mines. The thickness of the walls of the cabin was 100 mm, the deck was covered with a thin armor plate of 40 mm thickness ^[2] .

After commissioning, the Augsburg was used as a ship to test torpedoes. In 1912 the ship was transferred to artillery training ^[4] . On May 20, 1914, the cruiser visited Dundee with a courtesy visit. Lord Mayor personally greeted Captain Fisher and his crew, "great friendliness was demonstrated" ^[5] . In August 1914, the ship was assigned to the Baltic ^[4] , where he came under the command of Rear Admiral Robert Mischke. On August 2, Augsburg set up a minefield near the Russian bay of Libau , while Magdeburg fired on the port. The Russian army was forced to leave Libau. The minefield set by Augsburg was not sufficiently marked up and made the Germans more difficult to act than the efforts of the enemy. Subsequently, the Augsburg and other light ships of the Baltic forces conducted a series of shelling of Russian positions. On August 17, the Augsburg, Magdeburg, three destroyers, and the Deutschland minelayer had stumbled upon a pair of powerful Russian armored cruisers Admiral Makarov and Thunderbolt . The Russian commander erroneously suggested that German armored cruisers Roon and Prince Heinrich were present in the German squadron and refused to attack and both squadrons retreated ^[6] .

In September, the light forces in the Baltic were reinforced by the 4th combat squadron, which consisted of the old battleships of the Braunschweig and Wittelsbach classes and the large armored cruiser Blucher . On September 3, the combined German forces launched an operation in the Baltic. During the operation "Augsburg" noticed the Russian cruisers " Pallada " and " Bayan ". The Augsburg attempted to lure the Russian cruisers closer to the Blucher, but they did not bite the bait and retreated. On September 7, the Augsburg and the V25 torpedo boat left for the Gulf of Bothnia and sank the Russian ship near Raumo . On September 9, the German fleet returned to the ports. ^[7] On the night of January 24-25, Augsburg came across a Russian minefield near the island of Bornholm and hit a mine. The crew managed to keep the ship afloat and was towed to the port for repair ^[8] .

Augsburg returned to service in April 1915 and began a large-scale operation against Libau. The German command planned to seize the port as a diversionary maneuver in connection with the main German-Austrian offensive along the line of Gorlice-Tarnuv. The operation required the support of the fleet and the command allocated the Beowulf coast defense ship, three armored cruisers, three light cruisers (including the Augsburg) and a large number of torpedo boats and minelayers. In addition, the 4th reconnaissance squadron, consisting of four light cruisers and twenty-one torpedo boats, was sent to the North Sea for amplification. In May, the German army captured Libau, which later became the forward base for the German fleet ^[9] . In the same month, the German fleet undertook a new operation: Augsburg and Lübeck were to put a minefield at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland . However, the attack on the submarine cruiser " Tethys " forced the German naval command to wind down the operation ^[10] .

On June 1, Augsburg, Roon, Lübeck and seven torpedo boats sorted mine SMS Albatross, while he laid a minefield near the island of Bogskar. On Augsburg, Commander-in-Chief Operation Commodore Johann von Karpf raised his flag. At the end of the mine setting, Karpf sent a radio message to the headquarters about the operation and went to the port. This message was intercepted by the Russian side, the Russian command decided to intercept the German ships. Five Russian armored cruisers came out to intercept. Shortly before the meeting with the Russian squadron, von Karpf divided the squadron: Augsburg, Albatross and three torpedo boats went to Cape Rihshof , other ships headed for Libau. On June 2, after 6:30 pm, Russian ships noticed the patrols at the Augsburg. Von Karpf ordered the Albatross, with its lower speed, to seek refuge in neutral Swedish waters, and the Augsburg and torpedo boats to move away from the enemy at high speed. In the ensuing battle , the Albatross ran aground in Swedish waters. Russian ships turned to join the battle with the second German squadron, but the battle with the "Augsburg" and "Albatross" greatly exhausted the ammunition of the Russian squadron, and she left the battlefield ^[11] .

On the night of June 29, the Russian submarine Okun ( of the Kasatka class ) fired two torpedoes on the Augsburg cruiser but missed ^[12] . In August 1915, Augsburg was given to the forces participating in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga. A powerful connection Gokhzeeflotte, including eight dreadnoughts and three cruisers tried to clear the Gulf of Riga from the Russian forces. On August 16, Augsburg took part in the second attack, which was led by the dreadnoughts Nassau and Pozen ^[13] . On the night of August 19, the Augsburg met two Russian gunboats: the Sivuch and the Koreets . "Augsburg" and "Posen" sank "Sivuch" and "Koreans" managed to leave. Russian surface forces retreated to the island of Muon , the danger from the Russian submarines and mines still in the Gulf of Riga forced the Germans to retreat ^[14] . On October 13, an unknown submarine fired a torpedo at the Augsburg, but the torpedo passed the target ^[15] . In September 1916, Augsburg participated in an attempt to break into the Gulf of Riga through the Irbensky Strait , but the Russians put up stubborn resistance (the old battleship Slava played the main role), which forced the Germans to retreat ^[16] .

In November 1917, Augsburg took part in Operation Albion . The Augsburg was attached to the fourth reconnaissance group, together with the Strasbourg and Kolberg light cruisers (the Sister Thorn of Augsburg). On October 14, 1917, at 06:00, three ships left Libau to cover the mine trawling in the Gulf of Riga. They were fired upon by Russian 300 mm coastal guns and forced them to retreat. However, by 08.45 the ships anchored in the Mikhailovsky banks and the minesweepers began to make passes through the minefields ^[17] . Two days later, "Augsburg" joined the dreadnoughts " König " and " Kronprinz " during the stripping of the Gulf of Riga. While the battleships engaged the Russian forces, Augsburg watched the capture of Arensburg ^[18] .

According to the terms of the armistice that ended the war, the “Augsburg” and the rest of the German fleet not interned in Scapa Flow returned to the German ports and were disarmed ^{[~ 3]} to be disarmed, but the guns remained on board ^{[~ 4]} . September 3, 1920 "Augsburg" under the name "Y" was transferred to Japan as a military prize. But the Japanese did not find a use for the ship and it was broken down to metal in Dordrecht in 1922 ^[4] .

Comments

• Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. - Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1984. - ISBN 0-87021-907-3 .
• Gröner, Erich. German Warships: 1815–1945. - Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1990. - ISBN 0-87021-790-9 .
• Halpern, Paul G. A Naval History of World War I. - Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1995. - ISBN 1-55750-352-4 .
• Polmar, Norman. Submarines of the Russian and Soviet Navies, 1718–1990 / Norman Polmar, Jurrien Noot. - Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1991. - ISBN 0-87021-570-1 .
• Staff, Gary. Battle for the Baltic Islands. - Barnsley, South Yorkshire: Pen & Sword Maritime, 2008. - ISBN 978-1-84415-787-7 .