Roon Class Armored Cruiser

Roon Class Armored Cruiser

The Roon class was a pair of armored cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy after the turn of the 20th century. The class comprised Roon and Yorck, which closely resembled the earlier Prinz Adalbert-class ships, but incorporated slight incremental improvements. The ships were easily distinguished from their predecessors by the addition of a fourth funnel. Like all of the armored cruisers built by Germany, they were intended to serve as station ships in Germany's overseas possessions. The ships did not compare well with their British rivals.

The two ships served with the High Seas Fleet in the reconnaissance squadrons after they joined the fleet in 1905–1906. At the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the ships served alongside the more powerful battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group. While returning to port after a raid of the English coast on 16 December 1914, Yorck struck German mines and sank with heavy loss of life. Roon was disarmed in 1916 and intended to be converted into a seaplane carrier, though this was never carried out. The ship was eventually broken up for scrap in 1921.