Profile drawing of Nürnberg
3902 tMaximum displacement
117,4 mOverall length
23,4 knMaximum speed
322Complement

The East Asia Squadron's final battle

Nürnberg turned the Stettin-class design into a distinct career shaped by the Imperial Navy's changing peacetime and wartime demands.

01

The turbine transition begins

Four related cruisers introduced evolving machinery arrangements while retaining the established 10.5 cm battery and worldwide utility.

02

Coronel followed by the Falklands

From the East Asia Squadron she fought at Coronel and was then overtaken and sunk during the Falklands battle.

03

Lost in 1914

Nürnberg was sunk during the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 08.12.1914.

The full story

History of Nürnberg

The small cruisers of the Stettin class were very similar to their predecessors, the Bremen class. There was only a slight increase in size and engine performance, but this did not lead to a higher top speed. The obvious difference to the older ships was a increased space between the second and third funnel. This ships show a different philosophy than its British counterparts - while German small cruiser had a large number of relatively small guns (10 - and later ship classes had even more), the British favored lesser, but bigger guns (15,2 cm instead of 10,5 cm ones).

The Nürnberg had a different fate than the other ships. After fleet operations until 1910 it was part of the East-Asian squadron and took part in the two battles the squadron was involved. On 01.11.1914 it precipitated in the Battle of Coronel, but was not able to engage because of the bad weather. In the Battle of the Falkland Island on 08.12.1914, the Nürnberg was hunted and sunk by the small cruiser Kent although this ship was 14 years older.

Operational history

Service timeline

The armored cruisers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and the small cruisers Nürnberg and Leipzig make a stop at Simpson Harbor in Rabaul.

At a glance

Technical profile

Dimensions, armament, protection and performance.

Dimensions

Size (Max)
3902 t
Length (Total)
117,4 m
Length (Waterline)
116,8 m
Beam
13,3 m
Draft
5,14 m
Crew
322

Armament

10,5 cm
10
5,2 cm
18
45 cm Torpedo tubes
2

Armor

Deck
50 mm (max)

Machinery

Shafts
2
Engines
2
Type
3cyl triple expansion

Performance

Total Performance
13154 shp
Speed
23,4 kn
Range
4170 miles as 12 kn

The archive

Models

Ship models in 1/1250 scale.

Nürnberg
Navis 50 Nürnberg

Construction record

Nürnberg

Laid down
Kaiserliche Werft Kiel, 1906
Launched
29.08.1906
Commissioned
10.04.1908
Fate
sunk during the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 08.12.1914