Gazelle - class cruiser The " Gazelle " class was a group of ten light cruiser s built for the Imperial German Navy at the turn of the 20th century . They were the first modern light cruiser design of the Imperial Navy , and set the basic pattern for all future light cruisers in Imperial service . The design of the " Gazelle " class attempted to merge the fleet scout with the colonial cruiser . They were armed with a main battery of ten guns and a pair of torpedo tube s , and were capable of a speed of . All ten ships served with the fleet when they were first commissioned , and several served on foreign stations in the decade before the outbreak of World War I . Most were used as coastal defense ships early in the war . was sunk at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914 , was torpedoed in the Baltic by a British submarine in November 1915 , and was sunk at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 . The rest survived the war to see service with the " Reichsmarine " , with the exception of , which was broken up in 1920 . Design . The " Gazelle " class was the first modern light cruiser design of the Imperial Navy . The design for the " Gazelle " class followed several intermediate types , including the and the unique vessels and . They were intended to fulfill the requirements for a fleet scout and an overseas cruiser . The design was somewhat smaller than contemporary light cruisers , but the ships were nevertheless sturdy and powerfully armed for the period . These characteristics evenly balanced the requirements for the two roles envisioned for the class . According to the historian Eric Osborne , " [ t ] he light cruisers of the " Gazelle " - class established a trend for future ships of this general design . . . [ they ] carried little or no armor , the chief asset being speed . " Indeed , all future light cruisers built by the Imperial Navy generally followed the same pattern , with few fundamental changes . General characteristics . The ships of the " Gazelle " class were long at the waterline and long overall . The first seven ships had a beam of and the last three were slightly wider , at . They had a draft of forward and aft . They were designed to displace at a normal loading , and at full combat load their displacement rose to . The ships ' hulls were constructed with transverse and longitudinal steel frames ; the outer hull wall consisted of wooden planks covered with a layer of Muntz metal to prevent fouling . The Muntz metal extended up to a meter above the waterline . The hull was divided into twelve watertight compartments and it had a double bottom that extended for 40 percent of the length of the keel . For the last three ships , their double bottom was lengthened to 46 percent of the hull . All ten ships were crank and rolled severely . They were also wet in a head sea . After their modernizations , they tended to suffer from lee helm . Nevertheless , the ships turned tightly and were very maneuverable . In a hard turn , their speed fell up to 65 percent . They had a transverse metacentric height of . The " Gazelle " class required a crew of 14 officers and 243 enlisted men , though for the last three ships , the number of enlisted men rose to 256 . They carried a number of boats , including one picket boat , one pinnace , two cutters , two yawls , and one dinghy . Machinery . Their propulsion system consisted of two triple - expansion engine s manufactured by the dockyards that built the ships . " Gazelle " s engines were designed to give , for a top speed of , while the rest of the ships ' engines were rated at for . The engines were powered by eight coal - fired water - tube boilers of various manufacture , divided into two boiler rooms . The first three ships carried of coal , which gave them a range of at . The next four vessels carried slightly more , at , which allowed them to cruise to the approximately same range , , at the higher speed of . The last three ships carried of coal , which substantially increased their cruising radius , to at 12 knots . The ships were equipped with three electricity generators that provided a total of 110 kilowatts at 110 volts . Armament and armor . The ships were 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 , 000 rounds of ammunition , for 100 shells per gun , though the allotment for the last three ships increased to 1 , 500 rounds , or 150 per gun . They were also equipped with torpedo tube s . " Gazelle " had three tubes with eight torpedo es ; one was submerged in the hull in the bow and two were mounted in deck launchers on the broadside . The rest of the class only had two 45 cm tubes with five torpedoes , and these were submerged in the ships ' hulls , on the broadside . The ships were protected by an armored deck that was thick , with thick sloping armor on the side . The armor consisted of two layers of steel with a single layer of Krupp steel . The " Gazelle " - class cruisers were also equipped with cork cofferdam s to increase buoyancy . The conning tower had thick sides , with a 20 mm thick roof . The guns were protected by thick shields . Construction . The ten ships of the " Gazelle " class were built between 1897 and 1904 , at various German dockyards , including private firms and government shipyards . Service history . The " Gazelle " - class cruisers served in various capacities after their commissioning . Most of them served with the fleet reconnaissance force , though several served on foreign stations as well . " Gazelle " served abroad in 1902 – 1904 , " Thetis " in 1902 – 1906 , " Niobe " in 1906 – 1909 , and " Arcona " in 1907 – 1910 . " Nymphe " was also used as a training ship for naval cadets in addition to her fleet scout role , and " Undine " served as a gunnery training ship . Due to their age , the " Gazelles " had been placed in reserve by 1914 , but after the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , they were mobilized for active service . Most were initially used as coastal defense vessels in the Baltic , but " Frauenlob " and " Ariadne " remained in service with the fleet . They both saw action at the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914 ; " Frauenlob " engaged and badly damaged the British cruiser , while " Ariadne " was sunk by several battlecruiser s . " Frauenlob " soldiered on in the fleet reconnaissance forces until the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916 , when she was torpedoed and sunk by in a ferocious night battle , with the loss of almost her entire crew . In the Baltic , " Undine " was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine on 7 November 1915 . The seven surviving ships were withdrawn from front - line service in 1916 and disarmed , with the exception of " Medusa " , which retained six of her guns , and " Thetis " , which was rearmed with nine 10 . 5 cm U - boat guns for use as a gunnery training ship . The remaining seven cruisers survived the war and went on to serve in the new " Reichsmarine " , except for " Gazelle " , which was broken up for scrap in 1920 . The ships remained in service throughout the 1920s , but were all withdrawn by the early 1930s . " Niobe " was sold to Yugoslavia in 1925 and renamed " Dalmacija " , while " Nymphe " and " Thetis " were scrapped in the early 1930s . " Arcona " , " Medusa " , and " Amazone " were used as barracks hulks for the rest of the 1930s . After the outbreak of World War II , " Medusa " and " Arcona " were converted into floating anti - aircraft batteries and defended German ports from 1940 to the end of the war , when they were scuttled by their crews on 3 May 1945 . " Amazone " meanwhile remained in service as a barracks ship through the end of the war . " Dalmacija " was captured by the Italians after the Invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 , renamed " Cattaro " , and pressed into service with the Italian Navy . She was then captured by the Germans after the Italian surrender in September 1943 , and returned to her original name , " Niobe " . The ship ran aground in the Adriatic in December 1943 and was destroyed by a pair of British Motor Torpedo Boat s . " Niobe " , " Medusa " , and " Arcona " were broken up for scrap in the late 1940s , but " Amazone " lingered on as a barracks ship until 1954 , when she too was sold for scrapping .