SMS Ariadne SMS " Ariadne " was the fifth member of the ten - ship of light cruiser s , built by the Imperial German Navy . She was built by the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig , laid down in 1899 , launched in August 1900 , and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in May 1901 . Armed with a main battery of ten guns and two torpedo tube s , " Ariadne " was capable of a top speed of . " Ariadne " served with the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet for the majority of her career . After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , she was used to patrol the Heligoland Bight . On 28 August , the British Royal Navy attacked the patrol line , and in the ensuing Battle of Heligoland Bight , " Ariadne " was attacked and sunk by a pair of battlecruiser s . Some 200 of her crew were killed in the battle , with only 59 survivors pulled from the sea . Construction . " Ariadne " was ordered under the contract name " D " and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in 1899 and launched on 10 August 1900 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 18 May 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 . They were designed to give , for a top speed of . The engines were powered by ten coal - fired Marine - type water - tube boilers . " Ariadne " 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 , " Ariadne " was assigned to the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet . In 1905 , she was assigned to the Cruiser Division , alongside her sisters and and the armored cruiser . She served with the fleet in German waters for the entirety of her peacetime career . After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 , " Ariadne " was detached from the fleet for use as a patrol vessel in the Heligoland Bight . On 23 August , several British commanders submitted a plan to attack the patrol line with the light cruisers and destroyer s of the Harwich Force , commanded by Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt . These ships would be supported by submarines and Vice Admiral David Beatty ' s battlecruiser s and associated light forces . The plan was approved and set for 28 August . The British forces began to leave port on the evening of 26 August , beginning with the submarines assigned to the operation . Most of the surface forces went to sea early on the following morning ; the 7th Cruiser Squadron , which had been added to provide further support to the Harwich Force , left port later in the day . On the morning of 28 August , " Ariadne " had been rotated out of the front patrol line and laid at anchor in the entrance of the Weser River in support of the cruisers and torpedo boat s on patrol . After receiving reports of the British attack on the morning of the 28th , " Ariadne " and several other cruisers got up steam and rushed to support the German patrols . She met at around 13 : 40 , but less than twenty minutes thereafter , Beatty ' s battlecruisers , chasing , arrived and began firing on " Ariadne " as well . She turned to starboard and attempted to flee . She was hit several times by the British guns , and one hit the forward boiler room . The coal bunker caught fire and five boilers were disabled ; her speed fell to . Two battlecruisers closed in , until they were firing their guns at a distance of , point - blank range for guns of that caliber . " Ariadne " returned fire as best she could , but to no effect . With fires raging forward and aft , " Ariadne " had her forward magazine flooded so the fires would not reach the propellant charges . At 14 : 15 , the British ceased fire and allowed " Ariadne " to limp away . The surviving crew that was able to escape the ship assembled on the forecastle and prepared to abandon the ship . The cruiser arrived shortly before 15 : 00 and began to pick up survivors , and joined the rescue effort shortly thereafter . At 16 : 25 , " Ariadne " capsized , though she remained afloat for some time before she finally sank . In all , nine officers , including her commander , and fifty enlisted men were rescued . The rescue effort was hampered by frequent explosions of ammunition stored on " Ariadne " s deck , which prevented boats from getting too close to the wrecked cruiser .