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Emden |
Type: |
Cruiser |
Class: |
Emden (Single ship Class) |
Builder: |
Reichsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven, Germany |
Hull Number: |
N/A |
Ordered: |
N/A |
Commissioned: |
October 15, 1925 |
Keel Laid: |
December 8, 1921 |
Decommissioned: |
April 26, 1945 |
Launched: |
January 7, 1925 |
Stricken: |
N/A |
Fate: |
Destroyed with charges May 3, 1945, wreck scrapped in 1947. (Damaged by RAF aircraft at Kiel Apr. 14, 1945 and grounded to avoid sinking on Heikendorfer Bight.) |
Dimensions, Machinery and Performance |
Length: |
508' 6" |
Engines: |
2 Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines |
Beam: |
47" |
Boilers: |
10 Schulz-Thornycroft Marine type (oil fired) |
Draft: |
19" |
Shafts: |
2 |
Displacement: |
5,600 std / 6,990 full |
SHP: |
46,500 |
Speed: |
29 knots |
||
Crew: |
630 |
Range: |
5,300 NM @ 18 knots |
Armament As Built |
|||
Number Carried
|
Type
|
Arrangement |
Maximum Range / Ceiling |
8 |
15cm/45 (5.9") SK L/45 |
single turrets |
19,250 @ 30° (10.9 miles) |
3 |
8.8cm/45 (3.5") SK L/45 |
single mounts |
12,900 yards @ 45° (7.3 miles) |
4 |
50cm (19.7") torpedo tubes |
2 twin launchers |
up to 9,190 yards (5.2 miles) up to 35 knots 362 lb. charge |
Combat Victories |
|||||
Date
|
Name |
Type |
Tons |
Nationality |
Notes |
Sept. 27, 1941 |
M-83 |
Motor Torpedo Boat |
USSR |
Assisted |
Commanders
|
||
From
|
To
|
Name
|
Oct. 15, 1925 |
Sept. 1928 |
Kapitän zur See Kurt Foerster |
Sept. 1928 |
Oct. 1930 |
Kapitän zur See Lothar von Arnauld de la Perièr |
Oct. 1930 |
Mar. 1932 |
Kapitän zur See Witthoeft-Emden |
Mar. 1932 |
Apr. 1933 |
Fregattenkapitän Werner Grassmann |
Sept. 1934 |
Sept. 1935 |
Fregattenkapitän Karl Dönitz |
Sept. 1935 |
Aug. 1936 |
Kapitän zur See Johannes Bachmann |
Aug. 1936 |
July 1937 |
Kapitän zur See Walter Lohmann |
July 1937 |
June 1938 |
Kapitän zur See Leopold Bürkner |
June 1938 |
May 1939 |
Kapitän zur See Paul Wever |
May 1939 |
Aug. 26, 1940 |
Kapitän zur See Werner Lange |
Aug. 26, 1940 |
July 1942 |
Kapitän zur See Hans Mirow |
July 1942 |
Sept. 1943 |
Kapitän zur See Friedrich Schmitt |
Sept. 1943 |
Feb. 1944 |
Kapitän zur See Hans Hengist |
Feb. 1944 |
Jan. 1945 |
Kapitän zur See Hans-Eberhard Meisner |
Jan. 1945 |
Mar. 1945 |
Kapitän zur See Wolfgang Kähler |
Mar. 1945 |
Apr. 1945 |
Fregattenkapitän Wickmann |
Notes |
|
1925-1938: |
Training and 11 goodwill cruises. |
Mar. 1933- Sept. 1934: |
Period of decommissioning for refit at Wilhelmshaven. |
Sept. 4, 1939: |
Attacked by RAF at Wilhelmshaven, shot down a Bristol Blenheim bomber which crashed the bow of the ship killing several crewmen. |
April 1940: |
Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. Transported troops from
Swinemünde to Oslo, Norway. |
Mid 1940: |
Transferred to
Gothenburg and used for training. |
Sept. 1941: |
Bombarded
Russian shore batteries at Cape Ristna on Ösel. |
Sept. 27, 1941: |
Assisted Leipzig in sinking the Soviet torpedo boat M-83. |
Nov. 1941- June 1942: |
Used for training. |
June-Nov. 1942: |
Refit at Wilhelmshaven. |
Late 1944: |
Mine laying operations in the Skagerak. |
Early 1945: |
Damaged by Russian air attack at Königsberg. Towed to Kiel for repairs which last until April 1945. |
April 14, 1945: |
Damaged by RAF aircraft at Kiel, Germany and grounded on the Heikendorfer Bight to avoid sinking. Ship damaged beyond repair and destroyed with explosive charges May 3, 1945. |
Notes: |
Emden was the first German ship to loose a crewman aboard ship during World War 2 when an RAF aircraft that had been damaged crashed into the ship on the Jade Estuary. Several crewmen were killed. |
While on a tour in the Far East one of Emden's crew failed to return from a stroll in the jungle, it is thought that he was killed and eaten by a lion. |
Class Overview |
Builder's Data |
|
Page published June 11, 2007 |