Graudenz - class cruiser The " Graudenz " class of light cruiser s was a class of two ships built for the German Imperial Navy . The class comprised and . The ships both were laid down in 1912 , launched in October 1913 and April 1914 and commissioned in August 1914 and January 1915 , respectively . They were armed with a main battery of twelve 10 . 5 cm guns , though over the course of their careers , they were rearmed with seven more powerful 15 cm guns . They displaced at full load and were rated at a top speed of Both ships saw extensive service during World War I , primarily in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet . They participated in several raids on the British coast , screening for the battlecruiser s of the I Scouting Group . " Regensburg " saw heavy combat at the Battle of Jutland , the largest naval battle of the war ; " Graudenz " had been damaged by a mine and was in dock for repairs at the time of the battle . Both were involved in the Wilhelmshaven mutiny at the end of the war . Following Germany ' s defeat , " Graudenz " was ceded to Italy and served as " Ancona " until 1937 , when she was sold for scrap . " Regensburg " was transferred to France , where she served as " Strasbourg " until 1936 , when she was converted into a barracks ship . She was ultimately scuttled in Lorient to protect the German U - boat pen s there . Design . General characteristics and machinery . The ships of the " Graudenz " class were long at the waterline and long overall . They had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft . They displaced at designed displacement and at full combat load . The ships ' hulls were constructed with longitudinal steel frames and contained seventeen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for forty - seven percent of the length of the keel . The two vessels each had a standard crew of twenty - one officers and 364 enlisted men . While serving as a second command flagship or a flotilla leader , they had an additional three officers and fourteen enlisted men for the commander ' s staff . They carried a number of smaller boats , including one picket boat , one barge , one cutter , two yawls , and two dinghies . The German Navy regarded the ships as good sea boats , with slight weather helm and gentle motion in a swell . The cruisers were maneuverable , but were slow going into a turn . Steering was controlled by a single large rudder . They lost speed only slightly in a head sea , but lost up to sixty percent in hard turns . They had a transverse metacentric height of . The ships ' propulsion system consisted of two sets of Marine - type steam turbines , each of which drove a three - bladed screw in diameter . Each turbine was divided into its own engine room . They were designed to give . These were powered by ten coal - fired Marine - type water - tube boilers and two oil - fired double - ended boilers , divided into four boiler rooms on the centerline . These gave the ship a top speed of . The ships carried of coal , and an additional of oil that gave them a range of approximately at . At , the range fell considerably , to . Each ship had two turbo generators and one diesel generator with a combined output of at 220 Volts . Armament and armor . The ships were armed with twelve 10 . 5 cm SK L / 45 guns in single pedestal mounts . Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle , eight were located amidships , four on either side , and two in a superfiring pair aft . The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees , which allowed them to engage targets out to . These were replaced with seven 15 cm SK L / 45 guns and two 8 . 8 cm SK L / 45 anti - aircraft guns in 1916 for " Graudenz " and 1917 for " Regensburg " . They were also equipped with a pair of torpedo tube s with five torpedo es submerged in the hull on the broadside . Two deck - mounted launchers were added for " Graudenz " when the gun armament was upgraded ; " Regensburg " had her submerged tubes removed and four deck mounted launchers installed . Both ships could also carry 120 mines . The ships were protected by a waterline armored belt that was thick amidships and thick on the bow . The stern was unarmored . The deck was covered with up to 60 mm thick armor plate forward , thick amidships , and thick aft . Sloped armor 40 mm thick connected the deck and belt armor . The conning tower had thick sides and a 20 mm thick roof . A rangefinder was added with thick steel plating . The main battery guns had thick gun shields . Service history . " Graudenz " . " Graudenz " saw extensive service during World War I , including serving as part of the reconnaissance screen for the battlecruiser s of the I Scouting Group during the raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby in December 1914 . The ship also took part in the Battle of Dogger Bank in January 1915 , and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915 . She had been damaged by a mine and was unable to participate in the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 . She was assigned to the planned final operation of the High Seas Fleet in October 1918 , weeks before the end of the war , but a major mutiny forced the cancellation of the plan . After the end of the war , the ship was ceded to Italy as a war prize and commissioned into the Italian Navy as " Ancona " ; she remained in service until 1937 when she was stricken and broken up for scrap . " Regensburg " . " Regensburg " served in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet during World War I . She saw significant action at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May – 1 June 1916 , where she served as the leader of the torpedo boat flotillas that screened for the I Scouting Group battlecruisers . Like " Graudenz " , " Regensburg " was to have participated in the final sortie of the German fleet at the end of the war , and was involved in the mutiny that forced the cancellation of the plan . After the end of the war , she was ceded to France in 1920 and renamed " Strasbourg " . In 1928 she took part in the Arctic rescue operations searching for the Airship Italia . Removed from service in 1936 , she was used as a barracks ship in Lorient until 1944 , when she was seized by the Germans and scuttled in the harbor to protect the U - boat pen s there .