SMS Berlin SMS " Berlin " ( " His Majesty ' s Ship " Berlin " " ) was the third member of the seven - vessel , built by the Imperial German Navy . Throughout her over 40 - year long career , she served with the Imperial Navy , the " Reichsmarine " , and the " Kriegsmarine " . She was built by the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig , laid down in 1902 , launched in September 1903 , and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in April 1905 . Armed with a main battery of ten guns and two torpedo tube s , " Berlin " was capable of a top speed of . " Berlin " served in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet from her commissioning to 1911 , when she was sent abroad for overseas duties . She returned to the scouting forces the following year , where she remained through the first two years of World War I . She spent 1916 as a minelayer , and was disarmed in 1917 . She was one of six cruisers permitted to Germany by the Treaty of Versailles , and she remained in service with the new " Reichsmarine " through the 1920s as a training ship . She was withdrawn from active duty in 1929 , and later used as a barracks ship by the " Kriegsmarine " , a role she filled through World War II . After the end of the war , she was loaded with chemical weapon s and scuttled in the Skagerrak . Construction . " Berlin " was ordered under the contract name " Ersatz " and was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig in 1902 and launched on 22 September 1903 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 4 April 1905 . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward . She displaced at full combat load . Her propulsion system consisted of two triple - expansion engine s , designed to give for a top speed of . The engines were powered by ten coal - fired Marine - type water - tube boilers . " Berlin " carried up to of coal , which gave her a range of at . She had a crew of 14 officers and 274 – 287 enlisted men . The ship was armed with ten 10 . 5 cm SK L / 40 guns in single mounts . Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle , six were located amidships , three on either side , and two were placed side by side aft . The guns could engage targets out to . They were supplied with 1 , 500 rounds of ammunition , for 150 shells per gun . She was also equipped with two torpedo tube s with five torpedo es . They were submerged in the hull on the broadside . In 1915 , " Berlin " was modified to carry 80 naval mine s . The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to thick . The conning tower had thick sides , and the guns were protected by thick shields . Service history . After her commissioning , " Berlin " was assigned to the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet . In 1911 , she was deployed abroad for service on foreign stations . She returned to Germany the following year , and rejoined the fleet cruiser squadron . In October 1913 , the ship left Germany again bound for Veracruz , to relieve in the Caribbean . In 1915 , the ship was retrofitted to carry 80 mines . She was in drydock in May 1916 , and so she was unavailable for the Battle of Jutland on the last day of the month . In October 1916 , the British submarine attacked " Berlin " , but its torpedoes missed . After the end of the year , " Berlin " was disarmed . She was thereafter used as a coastal defense ship , a role she performed through to the end of the war in 1918 . " Berlin " was among the six light cruisers Germany was permitted to retain by the Treaty of Versailles . In the service of the newly reorganized " Reichsmarine " , " Berlin " served as a training cruiser , starting in 1922 . That year , Wilhelm Canaris was assigned to the ship , which went to Norway in November 1923 . In January 1924 , " Berlin " departed German waters for an extended overseas cruise , which was the first time a German warship had done so since the end of World War I . While on the cruise , Canaris met a naval cadet by the name of Reinhard Heydrich , who went on to become a close friend and eventual architect of The Holocaust . In 1928 , " Berlin " conducted a training cruise around the world , which included a stop in Fremantle . Training duties lasted until 1929 , when she was withdrawn from service . Starting in 1935 , the " Kriegsmarine " used " Berlin " as a barracks ship in Kiel . There , she survived World War II ; in the aftermath of the war , she was loaded with chemical weapons and scuttled in the Skaggerak to dispose of them , on 31 May 1947 .