Cöln - class cruiser The Cöln class of light cruiser s was Germany ' s last class commissioned before her defeat in World War I . Originally planned to comprise ten ships , only two were completed ; and . Five more were launched , but not completed : " Wiesbaden " , " Magdeburg " , " Leipzig " , " Rostock " and " Frauenlob " , while another three were laid down but not launched : " Ersatz Cöln " , " Ersatz Emden " and " Ersatz Karlsruhe " . The design was a slightly modified version of the preceding " " Königsberg " class . " Cöln " and " Dresden " joined the High Seas Fleet in 1918 , which limited their service careers . They were assigned to the II Scouting Group , and participated in an abortive fleet operation to Norway to attack British convoys . They were to have led attacks on British merchant traffic designed to lure out the British Grand Fleet and force a climactic fleet battle in the final days of the war , but the Wilhelmshaven Mutiny forced the cancellation of the plan . The two ships were interned and eventually scuttled in Scapa Flow in June 1919 . Both " Dresden " and " Cöln " remain on the bottom of Scapa Flow . Design . By 1916 , thirteen German light cruiser s had been lost in the course of World War I . To replace them , the " Kaiserliche Marine " ordered ten new cruisers built to a modified " Königsberg " class design . All ten ships were laid down in 1915 and 1916 . " Cöln " was built by the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Bremen . " Wiesbaden " and " Rostock " were built at AG Vulcan in Stettin , and " Leipzig " , " Ersatz Cöln " , and " Ersatz Emden " were ordered from the AG Weser dockyard in Bremen . " Dresden " and " Magdeburg " were built at the Howaldtswerke shipyard in Kiel , while " Frauenlob " and " Ersatz Karlsruhe " were built by the Imperial Dockyard in Kiel . " Cöln " and " Dresden " , the only two ships to be completed , were launched on 5 October 1916 and 25 April 1917 , respectively . " Wiesbaden " was launched in 3 March 1917 and was five months away from completion when she was canceled in December 1918 . " Magdeburg " followed on 17 November 1917 ; she was nine months from being finished when she was canceled . " Leipzig " was launched on 28 January 1918 and canceled seven months from completion . " Rostock " followed on 6 April , and also was seven months away from being finished . " Frauenlob " , the last ship of the class to be launched , on 16 September , was about thirteen months away from completion when she was canceled . The last three ships were canceled while still on the slipway . General characteristics and machinery . The ships of the class were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . The ships had a designed displacement of , and at full combat load , they displaced . Their hulls were built with longitudinal steel frames . The hulls were divided into twenty - four watertight compartments and incorporated a double bottom that extended for forty - five per cent of the length of the keel . The ships had a complement of 17 officers and 542 enlisted men . They carried several smaller vessels , including one picket boat , one barge , one cutter , two yawls , and two dinghies . The German Navy regarded the ships as good sea boats , having gentle motion . The ships were highly maneuverable and had a tight turning radius , and but lost speed going into a turn ; in hard turns , they lost up to sixty percent of their speed . They were stern - heavy . The ships ' propulsion systems consisted of two steam turbines powered by eight coal - fired boilers and six oil - fired boilers . The turbines drove a pair of three - bladed screws , which were in diameter . The engines were rated at for a top speed of . On trials , " Cöln " reached and a top speed of , while " Dresden " made and . Coal storage was as designed , though up to could be carried . Fuel oil was initially , and could be similarly increased to . At a cruising speed of , " Cöln " could steam for approximately , while " Dresden " could steam for at the same speed . At a higher speed of , the range fell considerably , to . Electrical power was provided by two turbo generators and one diesel generator , with a total output of 300 kilowatts at 220 volts . Steering was controlled by a single , large rudder . Armament and armor . 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 . Aboard " Cöln " , the forward pair of amidships guns were placed on the forecastle deck , while on the rest of the ships in the class , they were placed one deck lower , on the upper deck . 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 . The ships also carried three L / 45 anti - aircraft guns mounted on the centerline astern of the funnels , though one was removed in 1918 . These guns fired a shells at a muzzle velocity of . She was also equipped with four torpedo tube s with eight torpedoes in deck - mounted swivel launchers amidships . The ships were also outfitted to carry up to 200 mines . The " Cöln " class ships were protected by an armored belt composed of Krupp cemented steel . It was thick amidships and forward . The stern was not protected by armor . The armored deck was thick in the stern , thick amidships , and 60 mm thick forward . Sloped armor 40 mm thick connected the deck and belt armor . The conning tower had thick sides and a 20 mm thick roof . The main battery guns were protected with thick gun shields . Service history . After their commissioning , " 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 . During the sailors ' revolt , the crew of the battleship refused to move out of " Dresden " s way ; she aimed one of her gun turrets at " Dresden " , but then backed down and let " Dresden " leave the port . The ship then went to Swinemünde , where she was partially scuttled and subsequently re - floated and returned to seaworthy condition . 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 " and " Dresden " were among the ships interned . 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 . " Dresden " also remains at the bottom of Scapa Flow . The eight ships that were not completed by the end of the war were formally stricken from the naval register on 17 November 1919 . " Wiesbaden " was broken up for scrap in 1920 after she was briefly considered for completion . " Magdeburg " was sold on 28 October 1921 for 1 , 300 , 000 marks and broken up the next year at Kiel - Nordmole . " Leipzig " and " Rostock " were sold in 1921 and scrapped in Hamburg . " Frauenlob " was towed to the Deutsche Werke shipyard in 1921 and broken up . " Ersatz Karlsruhe " was dismantled on the slipway in 1920 , and " Ersatz Cöln " and " Ersatz Emden " were sold for 400 , 000 marks apiece on 21 and 25 June 1921 , respectively . They were scrapped that year in Hamburg .