SMS Arcona SMS " Arcona " was the ninth member of the ten - ship , built by the Imperial German Navy , and named after Cape Arkona on the German island of Rügen . She was built by the AG Weser dockyard in Bremen , laid down in 1901 , launched in April 1902 , and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in May 1903 . Armed with a main battery of ten guns and two torpedo tube s , " Arcona " was capable of a top speed of . " Arcona " served in all three German navies in the first half of the 20th century . She served both with the fleet and abroad during her career in the Imperial Navy in the early 1900s . In World War I , she was used as a coastal defense ship and then as a support vessel for the U - boat campaign in the Atlantic . After the war , she served briefly in the " Reichsmarine " before being withdrawn and used for secondary duties . The " Kriegsmarine " rebuilt " Arcona " as a floating anti - aircraft battery and used her to defend several German ports during World War II . She was scuttled in the final days of the war , and broken up for scrap in 1948 – 1949 . Construction . " Arcona " was ordered under the contract name " H " and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in 1901 and launched on 22 April 1902 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 12 May 1903 . 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 . " Arcona " 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 . Service history . After her commissioning , " Arcona " was assigned to the fleet reconnaissance forces . In 1905 , she was assigned to the Cruiser Division , alongside her sister and the cruisers and . " Arcona " was assigned to overseas duty in 1907 , which lasted for three years . In 1909 , " Arcona " cruised the Pacific coast on the United States , including a stop in Honolulu . While there , on 10 December , she assisted the British merchant ship " Celtic Chief " , which had run aground on a reef outside Honolulu . After the ship had been lightened by removing its cargo , " Arcona " pulled the merchantman free from the reef . " Arcona " returned to Germany in 1910 and resumed service with the fleet . She was modernized in the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven in 1911 – 1912 . Two of the ship ' s 10 . 5 cm guns were removed , and two deck - mounted torpedo tubes were installed , along with provisions to carry 200 naval mine s . After returning to duty in 1913 , the ship was withdrawn from front - line service for use as a mine warfare test ship . The two guns removed in 1912 were reinstalled in 1914 . After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , " Arcona " was employed as a coastal defense vessel . Later in the war , " Arcona " was transferred to the Ems estuary , where she coordinated radio communications with the U - boat s attacking British merchant shipping . After the end of the war , Germany was charged with sweeping all naval mines in the North Sea by the Treaty of Versailles . " Arcona " was used as a depot ship for the minesweepers engaged in this duty , from 1919 to 1920 . She was thereafter commissioned into the newly reorganized " Reichsmarine " in 1921 and served until 1923 , when she was withdrawn from service . She was stricken on 15 January 1930 and used as a barracks ship initially in Wilhelmshaven , after 1936 , in Swinemünde by the newly renamed " Kriegsmarine " , and in Kiel after 1938 , where she remained until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 . In May 1940 , " Arcona " was converted into a floating anti - aircraft battery in Swinemünde , where she was stationed initially . Her armament now consisted of one 10 . 5 cm SK C / 32 gun , four 10 . 5 cm SK C / 33 guns , two 3 . 7 cm SK C / 30 guns , and four 2 cm guns . She was later moved to Wilhelmshaven , where she was assigned to Naval Anti - Aircraft Group 233 , and she was transferred to Brunsbüttel later in the war . In closing days of the war in Europe , her crew scuttled the ship to prevent her from being captured , on 3 May 1945 . Nevertheless , the Royal Navy took control of the naval installation at Brunsbüttel on 7 May , after the German surrender . " Arcona " was among the warships that were seized , including four U - boats and the badly damaged destroyer " Z31 " . Their German crews unloaded ammunition and removed weapons from the ships under British supervision . She was subsequently broken up for scrap in 1948 – 1949 .