SMS Rostock SMS " Rostock " was a light cruiser of the built by the German " Kaiserliche Marine " ( Imperial Navy ) . She had one sister ship , ; the ships were very similar to the previous s . The ship was laid down in 1911 , launched in November 1912 , and completed by February 1914 . Armed with twelve 10 . 5 cm SK L / 45 guns , " Rostock " had a top speed of and displaced at full load . " Rostock " served with the High Seas Fleet as a leader of torpedo boat flotillas for the duration of her career . She served with the screens for both the battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group on operations against the British coast and the Battle of Dogger Bank . She was assigned to the screen for the battle fleet during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 . She saw major action at Jutland and frequently engaged British light forces , culminating in her torpedoing by destroyers shortly after midnight . She was taken under tow by German torpedo boats , but the following morning the cruiser came upon the retreating ships . The Germans set scuttling charges aboard " Rostock " and took off the crew before " Dublin " arrived on the scene . Construction . " Rostock " was ordered under the contract name " " Ersatz " " and was laid down at the Howaldtswerke shipyard in Kiel in 1911 . She was launched on 12 November 1912 ; at her launching , she was christened by the mayor of Rostock , Dr . Magnus Maßmann . After completing Fitting - out work , the ship was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 5 February 1914 . 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 Marine steam turbines driving two propellers . They were designed to give , but reached in service . These were powered by twelve coal - fired Marine - type water - tube boilers and two oil - fired double - ended boilers . These gave the ship a top speed of . " Rostock " carried of coal , and an additional of oil that gave her a range of approximately at . " Rostock " had a crew of 18 officers and 355 enlisted men . The ship was armed with twelve 10 . 5 cm SK L / 45 guns in single pedestal mounts . Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle , eight were located amidships , four on either side , and two were side by side aft . The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees , which allowed them to engage targets out to . They were supplied with 1 , 800 rounds of ammunition , for 150 shells per gun . She was also equipped with a pair of torpedo tube s with five torpedo es submerged in the hull on the broadside . She could also carry 120 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 up to 60 mm thick armor plate . Service history . Following her commissioning in February 1914 , " Rostock " was assigned as a torpedo boat flotilla leader with the High Seas Fleet . On 24 January 1915 , " Rostock " formed part of the support for Admiral Franz von Hipper battlecruiser s in the I Scouting Group during a sortie to destroy British light forces known to be operating near the Dogger Bank . The ship steamed with three other light cruisers and nineteen torpedo boats . " Rostock " and several of the torpedo boats were tasked with screening the port flank of the battlecruiser squadron . The German group encountered five British battlecruisers , resulting in the Battle of Dogger Bank , during which the armored cruiser was sunk . " Rostock " participated in the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft on 24 April 1916 , and as part of the screen for the I Scouting Group . While the battlecruisers bombarded Lowestoft , " Rostock " and five other cruisers engaged the Harwich Force . Shortly thereafter , the battlecruisers intervened and forced the Harwich Force to withdraw . The German squadron then broke off and returned to port . " Rostock " also participated in the Battle of Jutland , on 31 May 1916 . She served as the leader of the torpedo boat flotillas , flying the flag of " Kommodore " Andreas Michelsen . The flotilla was tasked with screening for the battle squadrons of the High Seas Fleet . As the German fleet reached the engagement between the British and German battlecruiser squadrons at 17 : 30 , a pair of destroyers , and attempted to attack the German battle line . " Rostock " and a number of the battleships engaged the destroyers , which were both disabled by the heavy German fire . The battleships destroyed " Nestor " and " Nicator " and their crews were picked up by German torpedo boats . At 19 : 32 , " Rostock " and several torpedo boats crossed through the German line and began to lay a smoke screen to cover the withdrawal of the German fleet . Some twenty minutes later , Michelsen detached several torpedo boats to assist the badly damaged battlecruiser . By the time the German fleet had assumed its night cruising formation , " Rostock " fell in with the light cruisers of the IV Scouting Group on the port side of the fleet . Shortly before midnight , " Rostock " and the IV Scouting Group came into contact with the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron . Shortly after midnight , the British 4th Destroyer Flotilla attacked the German line , where " Rostock " was positioned . She joined the cannonade directed against the destroyers as they pressed home their attack . The destroyers launched several torpedoes at the Germans , forcing " Rostock " and the other cruisers to turn away to avoid them ; this pointed the ships directly at the battleships in the I Battle Squadron . " Rostock " successfully passed through the formation , but the cruiser was rammed by one of the battleships and disabled . In the chaos of the night engagement , " Rostock " s search lights illuminated the destroyer . Gunfire from " Rostock " and the battleships and smothered the British destroyer ; although heavily damaged , she managed to limp back to port . The ship was attacked by the destroyers HMS " Ambuscade " and " Contact " ; the two ships each fired a single torpedo at high - speed settings at a range of about . One torpedo struck " Rostock " at 1 : 30 , though it is unknown which destroyer launched it . " Rostock " was also hit by three shells , probably from the destroyer " Broke " . The disabled " Rostock " called the destroyer " S54 " to join her ; " S54 " took " Rostock " in tow , at times making up to . The pair was subsequently joined by the destroyers " V71 " and " V73 " , which had been detached from the flotilla to escort " Rostock " back to port . At around 03 : 55 on 1 June , the four German ships encountered the British cruiser . The three destroyers went alongside the crippled cruiser and evacuated her crew , while flashing the first two letters of the British signal challenge . Smoke screens were laid to obscure the identity of the German warships . After about ten minutes , " S54 " departed with " Rostock " s crew aboard , while " V71 " and " V73 " remained . Scuttling charges had been set in the cruiser , but to ensure " Rostock " sank faster , the two destroyers fired a total of three torpedoes into the ship . " Rostock " sank bow - first at approximately 04 : 25 , after which " V71 " and " V73 " made for Horns Reef at high speed . Of " Rostock " s crew , 14 men were killed and 6 were wounded during the battle . In the course of the battle , " Rostock " fired some 500 rounds of 10 . 5 cm ammunition , more than any other German ship . A second " Rostock " , of the , was launched in April 1918 , but was not completed before the end of the war .