SMS Prinz Adalbert

300px SMS Prinz Adalbert
Career (German Empire)	Kaiser
Name:	Prinz Adalbert
Namesake:	Prince Adalbert of Prussia
Builder:	Kaiserliche Werft, Kiel
Laid down:	April 1900
Launched:	22 June 1901
Commissioned:	12 January 1904
Fate:	Torpedoed and sunk 23 October 1915
General characteristics
Class and type:	Prinz Adalbert class
Displacement:	9,087t normal; 9,875t full load
Length:	415.33 ft (126.59 m)
Beam:	64.33 ft (19.61 m)
Draught:	25.5 ft (7.8 m)
Propulsion:	16,200 hp, three shafts
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h)
Complement:	586
Armament:	Four 8.2 in (21 cm) (2 × 2) ten 5.9 in (15 cm) (10 × 1) twelve3.45 in (8.8 cm) (12 × 1) four 17.7 in (45 cm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	6 in (15 cm) in belt 8 in (20 cm) in turret faces 2 in (5.1 cm) - 3 in (7.6 cm) in deck

Seiner Majestät Schiff Prinz Adalbert was a German armored cruiser built in the early 1900s for the Imperial German Navy. Named after Kaiser Wilhelm II third son Prince Adalbert of Prussia. She was the lead ship of her class. Prinz Adalbert was built at Kiel Navy Dockyard. She was laid down in April 1900, and completed in January 1904, at the cost of 16,371,000 Marks. Upon commissioning, Prinz Adalbert served as a gunnery training ship.

Service history

At the start of World War I, Prinz Adalbert was assigned to III Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet. In November 1914, she transferred to the Baltic Sea to conduct operations against the Russian Navy. On 24 January 1915, she ran aground near Steinort while on a mission to bombard the naval base at Libau. The ship was soon refloated.

On 2 July 1915, the British submarine E9 torpedoed and badly damaged Prinz Adalbert near Rozewie, but the ship was able to return to port.

On 23 October 1915, E8 torpedoed Prinz Adalbert 20 miles west of Libau. The magazine exploded and the ship sank immediately with the loss of 672 crew. There were only three survivors.

The wreck was found by Swedish divers in June 2007 at 56°33' N, 20°18" E.

External links

• World War 1 Naval Combat