Karlsruhe - class cruiser The " Karlsruhe " class of light cruisers was a pair of two ships built for the German Imperial Navy before the start of World War I . The ships — and — were very similar to the previous s , mounting the same armament and similar armor protection , though they were larger and faster than the earlier ships . Both vessels were laid down in 1911 , and launched one day apart , on 11 and 12 November 1912 . " Karlsruhe " joined the fleet in January 1914 , but fitting out work lasted slightly longer on her sister ; " Rostock " was commissioned the following month . Both of the ships had short service careers . " Karlsruhe " was assigned to overseas duty in the Caribbean , arriving on station in July 1914 , days before the outbreak of World War I . Once the war began , she armed the passenger liner SS " Kronprinz Wilhelm " so it could raid British shipping . After a moderately successful commerce raiding career , during which " Karlsruhe " sank sixteen merchant ships and successfully evaded British cruisers , she sank after an accidental internal explosion on 4 November 1914 . Most of her crew were killed in the sinking , but the survivors returned to Germany on one of " Karlsruhe " s attendant colliers by December . " Rostock " served as a torpedo boat flotilla leader with the High Seas Fleet following her commissioning ; her flotilla frequently screened for the battlecruiser s in the I Scouting Group , including during the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 and operations off the British coast in early 1916 . She saw heavy action during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 as part of the screen for the main battle fleet . In the ferocious night fighting that occurred as the German fleet punched through the British rear - guard , " Rostock " was torpedoed by a British destroyer , which immobilized the ship . She was taken under tow by several torpedo boats , but early on the morning of 1 June , the cruiser located the cruiser . To prevent her capture by the British , the Germans scuttled the ship after taking off her crew . Design . The design for the " Karlsruhe " class was prepared in 1910 , and was an incremental improvement over the previous . " Karlsruhe " and " Rostock " were faster and had a larger , more raked hull and greater displacement , but had the same armament and armor protection . " Karlsruhe " was ordered as " Ersatz " and laid down in 1911 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel , under construction number 181 . She was launched on 11 November 1912 and commissioned into the fleet on 15 January 1914 . " Rostock " was ordered as " Ersatz " and laid down in 1911 at the Howaldtswerke dockyard in Kiel , under construction number 560 . Launching ceremonies took place on 12 November 1912 , a day after her sister . She was completed on 5 February 1914 , the date she joined the fleet . Dimensions and machinery . The " Karlsruhe " class ships were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . They displaced at designed load and at full combat loading . The hull was constructed with longitudinal steel frames and incorporated fifteen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for 45 percent of the length of the hull . The ships had a crew of eighteen officers and 355 enlisted men . " Karlsruhe " and " Rostock " carried a number of smaller vessels , including one picket boat , one barge , one cutter , two yawls , and two dinghies . After 1915 , " Rostock " had spotting tops installed on her masts . The German Navy regarded the two ships as good sea boats . They suffered from slight weather helm in a swell and made severe leeway . They were maneuverable but were slow steering into a turn . With the rudder hard over , they lost up to 60 percent speed . Their transverse metacentric height was . " Karlsruhe " and " Rostock " were powered by two sets of Marine - type steam turbines , each of which drove a three - bladed screw in diameter . Each turbine was divided into its own engine room ; steam was supplied by twelve coal - fired water tube boilers and two oil - fired double - ended water tube boilers split into five boiler rooms . The propulsion system was rated at and a top speed of , but both ships significantly exceeded these figures on speed trials . " Karlsruhe " made at and " Rostock " reached and . Designed coal and oil storage was and , respectively , though internal voids could accommodate up to and , respectively . Electrical power was supplied by two turbo generators rated at 240 and 200 kilowatts , respectively , at 220 volts . Armament and armor . " Karlsruhe " and " Rostock " were armed identically to the previous s . They carried 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 . The ships were also equipped with a pair of torpedo tube s with five torpedo es submerged in the hull on the broadside . They could also carry 120 mines . The ships ' armor was also identical to the preceding class . They were protected by a waterline armored belt that was thick amidships ; the belt was reduced to forward . The stern was not armored . The conning tower had thick sides and a thick roof . The deck was covered with 60 mm thick armor plate forward , amidships , and 20 mm aft . Sloped armor 40 mm thick connected the deck to the belt armor . Service history . SMS " Karlsruhe " . After her commissioning , " Karlsruhe " was assigned to overseas duties in the Caribbean , where she was to relieve the cruiser . She arrived in the area in July 1914 , days before the outbreak of World War I . Once the war began , she armed the passenger liner SS " Kronprinz Wilhelm " so it could operate as a commerce raider , but while the ships were transferring equipment , British cruisers located them and pursued " Karlsruhe " . Her superior speed allowed her to escape , after which she operated off the northeastern coast of Brazil . " Karlsruhe " refueled at Puerto Rico , a possession of the then neutral United States before steaming to Brazil . Off the Brazilian coast , she captured or sank sixteen ships totaling while eluding her pursuers . The ship ' s captain then decided to operate against the shipping lanes to Barbados . While en route on 4 November 1914 , a spontaneous internal explosion destroyed the ship and killed the majority of the crew , including her captain . The survivors used one of " Karlruhe " s colliers to return to Germany in December 1914 . SMS " Rostock " . " 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 Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper ' s battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group on operations against the British coast and the Battle of Dogger Bank . During the battle , British battlecruisers ambushed the German squadron and sank the armored cruiser . In April 1916 , she again screened the battlecruisers during the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft , during which " Rostock " and five other cruisers briefly engaged the British Harwich Force . 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 , including assisting in the destruction of the destroyers and . " Rostock " s participation in the battle culminated 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 . To prevent " Rostock " s capture , the Germans set scuttling charges aboard her and took off the crew before firing torpedoes into the disabled cruiser to ensure she sank .