SMS Cöln ( 1916 ) SMS " Cöln " was a light cruiser in the German " Kaiserliche Marine " , the second to bear this name , after her predecessor SMS " Cöln " had been lost in the Battle of Heligoland Bight . " Cöln " , first of her class , was launched on 5 October 1916 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg and completed over a year later in January 1918 . She and her sister were the last two light cruisers built by the " Kaiserliche Marine " ; eight of her sisters were scrapped before they could be completed . The ships were an incremental improvement over the preceding " Königsberg " class cruisers . " Cöln " was commissioned into service with the High Seas Fleet ten months before the end of World War I ; as a result , her service career was limited and she did not see action . She participated in a fleet operation to Norway to attack British convoys to Scandinavia , but they failed to locate any convoys and returned to port . " Cöln " was to have participated in a climactic sortie in the final days of the war , but a revolt in the fleet forced Admirals Reinhard Scheer and Franz von Hipper to cancel the operation . The ship was interned in Scapa Flow after the end of the war and scuttled with the fleet there on 21 June 1919 , under orders from the fleet commander Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter . Unlike many of the other ships scuttled there , " Cöln " was never raised for scrapping . Construction . " Cöln " was ordered under the contract name " Ersatz " and was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in 1915 . She was launched on 5 October 1916 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 17 January 1918 . 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 sets of steam turbines powered by eight coal - fired and six oil - fired Marine - type boilers . These provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at . The ship was armed with eight 15 cm SK L / 45 guns in single pedestal mounts . Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle , four were located amidships , two on either side , and two were arranged in a super firing pair aft . These guns fired a shell at a muzzle velocity of . The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees , which allowed them to engage targets out to . They were supplied with 1 , 040 rounds of ammunition , for 130 shells per gun . " Cöln " also carried three 8 . 8 cm SK L / 45 anti - aircraft guns mounted on the centerline astern of the funnels , though one was removed in 1918 . She was also equipped with a pair of torpedo tube s with eight torpedoes in deck - mounted swivel launchers amidships . She also carried 200 mines . The ship was protected by a waterline armored belt that was thick amidships . The conning tower had thick sides , and the deck was covered with 60 mm thick armor plate . Service history . After their commissioning under the command of Erich Raeder ( 17 January 1918 – October 1918 ) , " Cöln " and " Dresden " joined the High Seas Fleet . They were assigned to the II Scouting Group , alongside the cruisers , , , , and . The ships were in service in time for the major fleet operation to Norway in 23 – 24 April 1918 . The I Scouting Group and II Scouting Group , along with the Second Torpedo - Boat Flotilla were to attack a heavily - guarded British convoy to Norway , with the rest of the High Seas Fleet steaming in support . The Germans failed to locate the convoy , which had in fact sailed the day before the fleet left port . As a result , Admiral Reinhard Scheer broke off the operation and returned to port . In October 1918 , the two ships and the rest of the II Scouting Group were to lead a final attack on the British navy . " Cöln " , " Dresden " , " Pillau " , and " Königsberg " were to attack merchant shipping in the Thames estuary while the rest of the Group were to bombard targets in Flanders , to draw out the British Grand Fleet . " Großadmiral " Reinhard Scheer , the commander in chief of the fleet , intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy , in order to secure a better bargaining position for Germany , whatever the cost to the fleet . On the morning of 29 October 1918 , the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven the following day . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on and then on several other battleships mutinied . The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation . When informed of the situation , the Kaiser stated , " I no longer have a navy . " Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918 , most of the High Seas Fleet ' s ships , under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow . " Cöln " was among the ships interned . On the voyage there , her captain radioed the fleet commander that one of the ship ' s steam turbines had a leaking condenser . Reuter dispatched another light cruiser to remain with the ship in the event that she needed to be towed . Despite the problematic turbine , " Cöln " managed to steam into port , the last ship in the German line . The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Versailles Treaty . Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919 , which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty . Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd , Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the next opportunity . On the morning of 21 June , the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers , and at 11 : 20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships . " Cöln " sank at 13 : 50 and was never raised for scrapping .