SMS S90
SMS "S90" was a torpedo-boat of the Imperial German Navy. She was built by Schichau at Elbing as the lead ship of her class, completing in 1899. At the start of the First World War, "S90" was based at the German colony at Tsingtao, China. At the Siege of Tsingtao in October 1914 she sank the and then was deliberately run aground on 17 October 1914. Design and construction. From the mid 1880s, the Imperial German Navy built up a large force of torpedo boats, while building a few larger "Division Boats" to lead the torpedo boat  flotillas. From 1898, work began on a new class of larger torpedo boats, the . These ships, known as "Große torpedoboote" or "Hochesee torpedoboote" (large torpedo boats or high-seas torpedo boats) were large enough to carry the extra crew needed to act as flotilla leaders, eliminating the need to build separate Division boats, but, although they were of similar size to contemporary foreign torpedo-boat destroyers, they were still principally intended for torpedo attack, and only carried a light gun armament. An initial group of 12 of the new large torpedo boats ("S90"–"S101") were built by the Schichau-Werke shipyard  at Elbing in East Prussia, Germany's principal builder of torpedo boats from 1898 to 1901, and this was followed by successive orders for similar ships, of gradually evolving design until 1907. "S90", the lead ship of the class, was laid down in 1898 as yard number 644, was launched on 26 July 1899 and completed on 24 October 1899. "S90" was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of . The ship displaced design and deep load. While most contemporary torpedo boats and destroyers had turtleback forecastles, the "S90"-class instead had a short raised forecastle , giving improved seakeeping. Three coal-fired water-tube boilers fed steam at a pressure of to two sets of three-cylinder triple expansion steam engines. The ship's machinery was rated at giving a design speed of . 93 tons of coal were carried, giving an endurance of at or at . She reached a speed of during sea trials in November 1899, fully equipped and carrying 65 tons of coal. Armament consisted of three 5.0cm (1.9in) SK L/40 guns, with two mounted side-by-side forward and one aft. Three single 45 cm torpedo tubes were fitted, with one  in the gap between the ship's forecastle and the bridge, and two aft. Two spare torpedoes could be carried. The ship had a crew of 50 officers and other ranks. Service. At the outbreak of the First World War, "S90" was one of two torpedo boats attached to the German East Asiatic Squadron, with the main base at Tsingtao in China. The elderly "S90", however, was only suitable for local patrols, while the ex-Chinese destroyer was no longer operational. It had been planned to replace these two ships by and . On 22 August 1914, the British destroyer , part  of a British squadron patrolling off Tsingtao, spotted "S90" and tried to stop the German torpedo boat from returning to port. "Kennet" fired 136 rounds and one torpedo at "S90", but "S90" was undamaged and reached Tsingtao safely, while "S90"s return fire damaged "Kennet", disabling one of "Kennet"s guns and killing five of the British ships crew. Japan declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914, and soon began operations to besiege Tsingtao. On 17 October 1914, "S90" sortied from Tsingtao and torpedoed the before scuttling herself by intentionally running herself aground. Her crew were interned by neutral China in  Nanking. They attempted escape on 30 October 1914, but were recaptured.