SMS Regensburg

Postcard depicting a sketch of Regensburg
History
German Empire
Name	Regenseburg
Namesake	City of Regensburg
Builder	AG Weser, Bremen
Laid down	14 November 1912
Launched	25 April 1914
Commissioned	3 January 1915
Stricken	10 March 1920
Fate	Ceded to France
France
Name	Strasbourg
Namesake	City of Strasbourg
Acquired	4 June 1920
Out of service	14 June 1936
Fate	Scuttled in Lorient, 1944
General characteristics
Class and type	Graudenz-class cruiser
Displacement	Normal: 4,912 t (4,834 long tons) Full load: 6,382 t (6,281 long tons)
Length	142.7 m (468 ft 2 in)
Beam	13.8 m (45 ft 3 in)
Draft	5.75 m (18 ft 10 in)
Installed power	12 × water-tube boilers 26,000 shp (19,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	27.5 kn (50.9 km/h)
Range	5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew	21 officers 364 enlisted men
Armament	As built: 12 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 guns 2 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes After refit: 7 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns 2 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns 4 × 50 cm torpedo tubes 120 mines
Armor	Belt: 60 mm (2.4 in) Deck: 60 mm Conning tower: 100 mm (3.9 in)

SMS Regensburg was a light cruiser of the Graudenz class built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy). She had one sister ship, SMS Graudenz. The ship was built by the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, laid down in 1912, launched in April 1914, and commissioned into active service in January 1915. She was named for the German town of Regensburg. The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph), though in 1917 she was rearmed with seven 15 cm SK L/45 guns.

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. 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 pens there.