Name: Dresden
Namesake: Dresden
Builder: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down: 1907
Commissioned: November 1908
Fate: Scuttled off Robinson Crusoe Island, 14 March 1915
General characteristics
Displacement: 3,364 tons normal
Length: 118 m (390 ft)
Beam: 13.4 m (44 ft)
Draught: 5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion: Two 15,000 shaft horsepower (12 MW) Parsons turbines driving two propellers
Speed: 25 knots (46.3 km/h)
Range: 3,700 miles (6,000 km)
Complement: 361
Armament: Ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) rapid fire guns (10 x 1), and two torpedo-tubes
Armor: Deck 13 mm (0.51 in), Belt 51 mm (2.0 in), Conning tower 102 mm (4.0 in)
The SMS Dresden was a German Imperial Navy light cruiser of the Dresden class, commissioned in 1908.
She was the sister ship of the famous commerce raider SMS Emden. While the Emden still had traditional triple-expansion engines, the Dresden was the first German cruiser to be equipped with the new Parsons turbines.
Prior to World War I the Dresden had been stationed in the Caribbean for a year. During that time, she was instrumental in evacuating American nationals during the U.S. occupation of Veracruz, 1914. She also played a role in the departure of exiled Mexican president Victoriano Huerta, transporting him from Mexico to Kingston, Jamaica.
At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the Dresden was preparing for the return journey to Germany. However, orders were changed to prepare for commerce raiding. The Dresden then headed for the South Atlantic and rendezvoused with the German East Asia Squadron under Vice Admiral Count Spee at Easter Island. In company with Count Spee's other ships — the armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau and the light cruisers SMS Leipzig and SMS Nürnberg — the Dresden participated in the Battle of Coronel. Together with SMS Leipzig she damaged and forced the escape of the British light cruiser HMS Glasgow.
Approximately one month later, Dresden was the only German cruiser to escape destruction at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, her turbine engines proving faster than her expansion-engined squadron mates. The ship then headed south back around Cape Horn to the maze of channels and bays in southern Chile. Until March 1915 she evaded Royal Navy searches while paralyzing British trade routes in the area.
On 8 March 1915, the Dresden put into Cumberland Bay on the Chilean island of Más a Tierra (today known as Robinson Crusoe Island) which was neutral territory. With 80 tons of coal remaining in her bunkers, out of ammunition for the main battery, lacking stores and supplies as well as parts for her worn-out engines, the ship ceased to be operational. Six days later, on 14 March, the British light cruisers HMS Glasgow and HMS Kent found the elusive German cruiser. After a few shots were fired, the Dresden ran up a white flag and sent Lieutenant Wilhelm Canaris to negotiate with the British. However, this was merely a ruse to buy time so the Dresden's crew could abandon ship and scuttle her. At 11:15 a.m. the Dresden slipped under the waves with her war ensign proudly flying. Her crew of about 300 men was interned in Chile for the duration of the war, with about a third electing to remain and resettle in Chile at war's end. Lieutenant Wilhelm Canaris became famous during the Second World War as head of the German Military Intelligence Service, the Abwehr, and as member of the German Resistance.
[edit] Epilogue
Today the wreck, which lies in about 60 metres (200 ft) of water, is gaining popularity with recreational Scuba divers, and is occasionally used by the Chilean Navy for diver training. On 24 February 2006, Chilean and German divers found and recovered the Dresden's bell. The Republic of Chile presented the bell of SMS Dresden to the Museum of the German Armed Forces [Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr] at Dresden in November 2008, one hundred years after the commissioning of the cruiser.
Source Wikipedia.
Falk Is SG1006.