Prinz Adalbert Class Armored Cruiser

Prinz Adalbert Class Armored Cruiser

The Prinz Adalbert class was a type of armored cruiser built for the Imperial German Navy in the early 1900s. Two ships of the class were built, Prinz Adalbert, and Friedrich Carl. Friedrich Carl was commissioned first, on 12 December 1903 and Prinz Adalbert followed on 12 January 1904. They were an improvement upon the design of the previous unique armored cruiser, Prinz Heinrich. Their armor belts were the same thickness but were more extensive than that of their predecessor. The two ships were also armed with four main guns in twin gun turrets, as opposed to the two single gun turrets of Prinz Heinrich.

Both ships saw extensive service with the German Navy; Prinz Adalbert was used as a gunnery training ship for the entirety of her peacetime career, while Friedrich Carl served with the fleet until 1909, when she was withdrawn to act as a torpedo training vessel. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, both vessels were mobilized and assigned to the cruiser squadron in the Baltic. Friedrich Carl was sunk by Russian naval mines off Memel in November 1914, though most of her crew was safely evacuated. Prinz Adalbert was torpedoed twice by British submarines operating in the Baltic; the first, on 1 July 1915, caused serious damage that was ultimately repaired. The second, on 23 October 1915, caused a catastrophic explosion in the ship's ammunition magazines that destroyed the ship. Six-hundred and seventy-two men were killed, the greatest single loss of life for the German Navy in the Baltic during the war.