text: kolberg - class cruiser the kolberg class was a group of four light cruisers built for the german imperial navy and used during the first world war . the class comprised four vessels : sms kolberg , the lead ship , mainz , cöln , and augsburg . the ships were built between 1908 and 1910 , and two , kolberg and augsburg , were modernized in 1916 – 1917 . the ships were armed with a main battery of twelve 10 . 5 cm sk l / 45 guns and had a design speed of 25 . 5 knots ( 47 . 2 km / h ; 29 . 3 mph ) . the first three ships were assigned to the reconnaissance forces of the high seas fleet ; augsburg was instead used as a torpedo and gunnery training ship . at the outbreak of war in august 1914 , augsburg was deployed to the baltic , while kolberg , mainz , and cöln remained in the north sea . the three ships were assigned to patrol duty in the heligoland bight ; on 28 august 1914 , they were attacked during the battle of heligoland bight . mainz and cöln were both sunk in the battle . kolberg saw action at the battle of dogger bank in january 1915 , and joined augsburg for the battle of the gulf of riga in august 1915 . both ships also saw service during operation albion in october 1917 . both ships survived the war ; kolberg was ceded to france , where she was renamed colmar and served in the french navy until 1927 . augsburg was surrendered to japan and was then sold for scrap . design general characteristics the ships of the kolberg class were 130 meters ( 430 ft ) long at the waterline and 130 . 5 m ( 428 ft ) long overall . they had a beam of 14 m ( 46 ft ) and a draft of 5 . 45 to 5 . 73 m ( 17 . 9 to 18 . 8 ft ) forward and 5 . 27 to 5 . 56 m ( 17 . 3 to 18 . 2 ft ) aft . they displaced 4 , 362 metric tons ( 4 , 293 long tons ; 4 , 808 short tons ) at designed displacement . kolberg displaced 4 , 915 t ( 4 , 837 long tons ; 5 , 418 short tons ) at full combat load ; mainz displaced 4 , 889 t ( 4 , 812 long tons ; 5 , 389 short tons ) , cöln displaced 4 , 864 t ( 4 , 787 long tons ; 5 , 362 short tons ) , and augsburg displaced 4 , 882 t ( 4 , 805 long tons ; 5 , 381 short tons ) . the ships were steel - built ; their hulls were constructed with longitudinal and transverse steel frames . the hulls contained thirteen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for fifty percent of the length of the keel . the ships were good sea boats , although they suffered from severe rolling and were fairly stiff . they were not very maneuverable and had a large turning radius . steering was controlled by a single rudder . their transverse metacentric height was m ( 2 ft 9 in ) . the ships had a standard crew of 18 officers and 349 enlisted men and carried a number of smaller vessels , including one picket boat , one barge , one cutter , two yawls , and two dinghies . machinery all four ships had slightly different propulsion systems in order to test engines from competing companies . kolberg was equipped with two sets of melms & pfenniger steam turbines driving four three - bladed propellers 2 . 25 m ( 7 ft 5 in ) in diameter . mainz was powered by two aeg - curtiss turbines driving a pair of three - bladed screws 3 . 45 m ( 11 . 3 ft ) in diameter . cöln initially had zoelly turbines , though before sea trials , these were replaced with two sets of germania turbines with four three - bladed screws ; two were 2 . 55 m ( 8 ft 4 in ) in diameter , and two were 1 . 78 m ( 5 ft 10 in ) wide . augsburg was equipped with two sets of parsons turbines with four 3 - bladed screws 2 . 25 m in diameter . all four ships were equipped with fifteen marine type water - tube boilers , divided into four boiler rooms on the centerline . in 1916 , kolberg and augsburg were equipped with supplementary oil - firing to increase the burn rate of the coal - fired boilers ; mainz and cöln had been sunk by that time . the ships ' engines were designed to give 19 , 000 shaft horsepower ( 14 , 000 kw ) , with the exception of mainz 's engines , which were rated at 20 , 200 shp ( 15 , 100 kw ) . these were powered by fifteen coal - fired marine water - tube boilers , which were trunked into three evenly spaced funnels . these gave the ships a top speed of 25 . 5 knots ( 47 . 2 km / h ; 29 . 3 mph ) ; mainz 's more powerful engines gave her a half - knot speed advantage . all four ships exceeded these figures on speed trials , however , and all four cruisers reached speeds in excess of 26 knots ( 48 km / h ; 30 mph ) . kolberg carried 970 t ( 950 long tons ; 1 , 070 short tons ) of coal , and after 1916 , 115 t ( 113 long tons ; 127 short tons ) of oil . this gave her a maximum range of approximately 3 , 250 nautical miles ( 6 , 020 km ; 3 , 740 mi ) at 14 knots ( 26 km / h ; 16 mph ) . mainz carried 1 , 010 t ( 990 long tons ; 1 , 110 short tons ) of coal , which allowed her to steam for 3 , 630 nmi ( 6 , 720 km ; 4 , 180 mi ) at the cruising speed . cöln carried 960 t ( 940 long tons ; 1 , 060 short tons ) of coal for a cruising radius of 3 , 500 nmi ( 6 , 500 km ; 4 , 000 mi ) . augsburg carried 940 t ( 930 long tons ; 1 , 040 short tons ) , and had the same radius of action as cöln . armament and armor the ships were armed with twelve 10 . 5 cm sk l / 45 guns in single pedestal mounts . two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle , eight were located amidships , four on either side , and two were side by side aft . for kolberg and augsburg , the 10 . 5 cm guns were replaced in 1916 – 1917 with six 15 cm sk l / 45 guns . they also carried four 5 . 2 cm sk l / 55 anti - aircraft guns , though these were replaced on the surviving ships with a pair of two 8 . 8 cm sk l / 45 anti - aircraft guns in 1918 . they were also equipped with a pair of 45 cm ( 17 . 7 in ) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull . two deck - mounted 50 cm ( 20 in ) torpedo tube launchers were added to kolberg and augsburg in 1918 . all four ships could also carry 100 mines . the ships were protected with a combination of normal steel and krupp cemented steel ; the armor consisted of a layer of krupp steel backed with two layers of steel . from stern to stem , the deck was covered with 20 mm ( 0 . 79 in ) thick armor aft , 40 mm ( 1 . 6 in ) thick armor plate over the machinery spaces , 20 mm thick armor forward of the machinery spaces , and 80 mm ( 3 . 1 in ) on the bow . the coamings for the ships ' funnels were 100 mm ( 3 . 9 in ) thick . the conning tower had 100 mm thick sides and a 20 mm thick roof . the main battery guns were equipped with shields that were 50 mm ( 2 . 0 in ) thick . construction kolberg was ordered under the contract name ersatz greif and was laid down in early 1908 at the schichau - werke shipyard in danzig under construction number 814 . she was launched on 14 november 1908 , after which fitting - out work commenced . she was commissioned into the high seas fleet on 21 june 1910 . for the modifications in 1916 – 1917 , kolberg went into drydock at the kaiserliche werft in kiel . mainz was ordered as ersatz jagd and was laid down in 1907 at the ag vulcan shipyard in stettin . built under construction number 288 , she was launched on 23 january 1909 , and was commissioned into the fleet on 1 october 1909 . cöln was ordered under the contract name ersatz schwalbe and was laid down in 1908 at the germaniawerft shipyard in kiel . her construction number was 191 . she was launched on 5 june 1909 , and after fitting - out was completed , she was commissioned into the fleet on 16 june 1911 . augsburg was ordered as ersatz sperber from the kaiserliche werft shipyard in kiel . her keel was laid in 1908 under building number 34 . she was launched on 10 july 1909 and was commissioned into the fleet on 1 october 1910 . she returned to the kaiserliche werft shipyard in kiel for her modernization in 1916 – 1917 . service history after their commissioning , kolberg , mainz , and cöln were assigned to the ii scouting group , part of the reconnaissance forces of the high seas fleet . augsburg was instead used as a training ship for torpedo crews and gunnery . cöln was assigned as the flagship of rear admiral leberecht maass . at the outbreak of world war i in august 1914 , the ii scouting group was deployed to a patrol line based on the island of heligoland . augsburg meanwhile was mobilized for active service and sent into the baltic . there , she participated in an operation that saw the first shots of the war fired against the russians , on 2 august . on the morning of 28 august , the british harwich force , supported by the battlecruisers of vice admiral david beatty 's 1st battlecruiser squadron , broke into the heligoland bight and attacked the ii scouting group patrols . in the confused action , mainz and cöln were sunk , by light cruisers and battlecruisers , respectively . the majority of crewmen from mainz were picked up by the british ships , but cöln was lost with only one survivor . kolberg was stationed in port during the attack , and steamed out to support the beleaguered german forces , but the british had departed by the time she reached the scene . kolberg continued to serve with the reconnaissance forces in the north sea , including seeing action at the raid on scarborough , hartlepool and whitby in december 1914 , where she laid a minefield off the british coast , and the battle of dogger bank in january 1915 . at dogger bank , she fired the first shots — and scored the first hits — of the engagement , at the cruiser hms aurora . augsburg was meanwhile heavily engaged in the baltic ; in june 1915 , she participated in a minelaying operation in the gulf of finland that saw the loss of the minelayer sms albatross . kolberg then joined her sister in the baltic during the battle of the gulf of riga in august 1915 . during the operation , kolberg and the battlecruiser von der tann bombarded russian positions on utö , while augsburg steamed into the gulf with the battleship posen , where they sank a russian gunboat and damaged another . by 19 august , the danger of british and russian submarines in the gulf prompted the germans to withdraw . augsburg participated in another , unsuccessful attempt to force the gulf in late 1916 . both ships were present for operation albion , another large - scale assault on the gulf of riga , in october 1917 . the ships were involved in a variety of operations , including minesweeping , and screening for the battleships könig and kronprinz while they destroyed russian opposition in the gulf . men from kolberg also landed on one of the islands to destroy a russian gun battery . both ships survived the war . as part of the treaty of versailles , which ended the war , the ships were awarded to the victorious powers as war prizes . kolberg was allocated to france , where she was commissioned into the french navy as colmar . augsburg was transferred to japanese control ; having no use for her , they sold the ship for scrapping . colmar saw one tour on colonial duty in asia in 1924 , where she participated in a multinational operation to protect foreign nationals from chinese unrest in shanghai . she was subsequently stricken in 1927 and broken up for scrap in brest , france .