SMS Frauenlob SMS " Frauenlob " ( " His Majesty ' s Ship " Frauenlob " " ) was the eighth member of the ten - ship , built by the Imperial German Navy . She was built by the AG Weser dockyard in Bremen , laid down in 1901 , launched in March 1902 , and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in February 1903 . Armed with a main battery of ten guns and two torpedo tube s , " Frauenlob " was capable of a top speed of . " Frauenlob " spent her entire career in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet . She saw action during World War I at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 , where she badly damaged the British cruiser , and at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916 . There , in a chaotic night engagement , " Frauenlob " was hit by a torpedo launched by , which caused the ship to capsize and sink with the vast majority of her crew . The wreck was discovered in 2000 , and is in remarkably good condition , sitting upright on the ocean floor . Construction . " Frauenlob " was ordered under the contract name " G " and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in 1901 and launched on 22 March 1902 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 17 February 1903 . She was named for the schooner , launched in 1853 , that had been paid for in part by the donations of women from the German lands ; the name means " praise women . " 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 manufactured by AG Weser . They were designed to give , for a top speed of . The engines were powered by eight coal - fired Marine - type water - tube boilers . " Frauenlob " carried of coal , which gave her a range of at . She had a crew of 14 officers and 256 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 . The ship was protected by an armored deck that was thick . The conning tower had thick sides , and the guns were protected by thick shields . History . After her commissioning , " Frauenlob " was assigned to the fleet reconnaissance forces , where she served for the duration of her career . In 1905 , she was assigned to the Cruiser Division , alongside her sister and the cruisers and . " Frauenlob " was recommissioned into the fleet on 2 August 1914 , as a result of the outbreak of World War I . On 28 August 1914 , " Frauenlob " saw her first action in the Battle of Heligoland Bight . The British Harwich Force , composed of two light cruisers and 33 destroyers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt , raided the German picket line in the Heligoland Bight . " Frauenlob " was stationed to the southwest of the island of Heligoland in support of the picket line . At about 09 : 00 , " Frauenlob " and the light cruiser were sent out to reinforce the beleaguered German patrols . " Frauenlob " shortly thereafter encountered the British cruiser and opened fire at 09 : 09 . She quickly found the range and hit the British ship an estimated 25 – 35 times , disabling all but one of her guns and inflicting serious damage . One shell detonated a cordite charge and set " Arethusa " on fire . The ship ' s engine room flooded and her speed fell to . She turned away to starboard in order to escape from the punishing fire , but " Frauenlob " kept up with the badly damaged British cruiser until she disappeared in the fog . In return , " Frauenlob " was hit ten times , but was not seriously damaged ; in all , five men were killed and another thirty - two were wounded . After the engagement ended , " Frauenlob " took the badly damaged minesweeper under tow and returned her to Heligoland , before proceeding to Wilhelmshaven . By the Battle of Jutland , on 31 May – 1 June 1916 , " Frauenlob " was assigned to the IV Scouting Group , under the command of Commodore Ludwig von Reuter , which was tasked with screening for the High Seas Fleet . She was not actively engaged in the battle until later on the evening of 31 May ; at around 9 : 15 , the IV Scouting Group encountered the British 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron and briefly engaged them , but due to the poor visibility , only " Stettin " and fired for long , and to no effect . Later , during the chaotic night fighting , the battlecruisers and passed too closely in front of " Stettin " , which forced the entire Scouting Group to fall out of line , inadvertently bringing them into contact with the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron . A ferocious firefight ensued , at a range of only . " Frauenlob " opened fire on and , as did the rest of the IV Scouting Group . In return , " Southampton " launched a torpedo that struck " Frauenlob " at around 22 : 35 , which cut her power and caused serious flooding . British shellfire set the deck alight , and the stricken cruiser quickly capsized and sank , taking twelve officers and 308 men down with her . Only 9 men from her crew survived . Wreck . In 2000 , the wreck was located by Danish divers . The British marine archeologist Innes McCartney led a subsequent dive and confirmed that the wreck sits upright on the sea floor and is largely intact . Skeletal remains from the ship ' s crew are scattered around the sunken cruiser . The wreck was positively identified when McCartney ' s team recovered the ship ' s bell in 2001 , which they donated to the Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel , where the bell is currently on display .