SMS Thetis SMS " Thetis " was the fourth member of the ten - ship , built by the Imperial German Navy . She was built by the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig , laid down in 1899 , launched in July 1900 , and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in September 1901 . Armed with a main battery of ten guns and two torpedo tube s , " Thetis " was capable of a top speed of . " Thetis " served in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet during her peacetime career . After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , she was deployed as a coastal defense ship in the Baltic , where she saw heavy service against the Russians . She supported the German drive on Libau in April – May 1915 , and was damaged by mines during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga . She was repeatedly attacked by Allied submarine s , though she was never hit . In 1917 , " Thetis " was withdrawn from front - line service for use as a gunnery training ship . She survived the war and continued on in service with the " Reichsmarine " through the 1920s . She was stricken from the naval register on 29 March 1929 and broken up for scrap the following year . Construction . " Thetis " was ordered under the contract name " C " and was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig in 1899 and launched on 3 July 1900 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 14 September 1901 . 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 - Germania . They were designed to give , for a top speed of . The engines were powered by ten coal - fired Marine - type water - tube boilers . " Thetis " carried of coal , which gave her a range of at . She had a crew of 14 officers and 243 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 , 000 rounds of ammunition , for 100 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 , " Thetis " was assigned to the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet , a role she served in until the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 . She was thereafter reduced to a coastal defense ship . As the Central Powers prepared to launch the Gorlice – Tarnów Offensive in early May 1915 , the extreme left flank of the German Army was ordered to launch a diversionary attack on 27 April . " Thetis " was assigned to the naval support for the attack ; on the first day of the attack , she and the cruiser shelled the port of Libau . Ten days later , the Army was poised to seize Libau , and so requested naval support for the attack . " Thetis " and several other cruisers and torpedo boats covered the assault on the city and patrolled to ensure no Russian naval forces attempted to intervene . On 14 May 1915 , " Thetis " had taken the U - boat under tow off Bogskär island in the Gulf of Finland . The Russian submarine " Drakon " attacked the two German vessels , launching three torpedo es at " Thetis " and a fourth at " U - 4 " , all of which missed . From the recently captured naval base at Libau , the Germans began to make offensive operations further into the Baltic . On 3 June , " Thetis " , four torpedo boat s , and a seaplane tender attempted to force the Irben Strait into the Gulf of Riga , where they intended to lay a minefield . Russian and British submarines intercepted the flotilla in the Strait , however . The Russian submarine " Okun " attempted to move into position to attack " Thetis " , but one of the torpedo boats spotted her periscope and forced it off . On 5 June , the British submarine arrived on the scene , while " Thetis " was resupplying from a collier . " E9 " launched a spread of torpedoes at the two ships ; the one fired at " Thetis " missed , but the collier was hit , as was the torpedo boat . The collier sank , but the torpedo boat survived and made it back to port . In August , " Thetis " was assigned to the fleet that was to break into the Gulf of Riga to support the German Army ' s attempt to capture the city . On 8 August , the Germans made their first attempt to force the Irben Strait , during which " Thetis " and the torpedo boat were damaged by mines . " Thetis " had to be towed back to Windau . The attack failed due to heavy Russian resistance , and the operation had to be postponed . In 1917 , " Thetis " was rearmed with nine newer 10 . 5 cm SK L / 45 guns in U - boat mountings ; in this configuration , " Thetis " was used as a gunnery training ship . She was one of six light cruisers Germany was permitted to retain by the Treaty of Versailles . She served in the newly reorganized " Reichsmarine " through the 1920s . In 1922 , the ship was assigned to the Reserve Squadron on the Baltic Station , along with the battleship s and and the cruiser . " Thetis " was stricken from the naval register on 27 March 1929 and sold to Blohm & Voss , along with the torpedo boats and for a total of 351 , 000 Reichsmarks . She was broken up for scrap the following year in Hamburg .