SMS Regensburg - Service History

Service History

Regensburg completed her trials on 10 March 1915, and was then assigned to the II Scouting Group. Eleven days later, she bombarded Russian positions near Polangen and Papensee; the operation lasted until the 24th. Captain Hans Zenker proposed that Regensburg and the liner Cap Polonio—which was to be armed with 15 cm guns—should be sent out into the Atlantic to replace the commerce raiding cruisers that had been destroyed in the early months of the war. The fleet commander, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, argued the ships would eventually be sunk as well, and that any possible successes for the raiders would not equal the loss of a modern light cruiser or a large passenger liner. The suggested plan was therefore abandoned. On 17–18 May, Regensburg took part in a mine-laying operation in the area of the Dogger Bank. On 25 August, she went into the Baltic to bombard Russian positions again, this time on the island of Dagö, including the lighthouse in St. Andreasberg and the signal station on Cap Ristna. On 11–12 May, Regensburg participated in another mine-laying operation, this time off Texel. In September, she took part in anti-shipping sweeps in the Skagerrak and the Kattegat. In early 1916, she continued supporting mine-laying operations and reconnaissance sweeps into the North Sea. On 23–24 April, she participated in the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft, conducted by the battlecruisers of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group.