When Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended the throne of Imperial German, the German
Navy was for coast defense. The new ruler was determined to change this
situation. He not only admired but was also envious of the Royal Navy. For
Germany to achieve "her place in the sun" in the colonies race in this
peak of European colonialism, she needed a large navy. At least that was what he
thought. One unforeseen consequence was to drive Great Britain from being a
friend into the arms of the traditional foe of both countries, France. As the
Imperial German Navy expanded under the guidance of Admiral Tirpitz, it was a
balanced program. Unlike the reborn USN, which expanded in battleships but
little else, Germany built battleships, cruisers, destroyers and submarines.
From the start German light cruisers were a cut below the fighting abilities of
contemporary British light cruisers. German cruisers were true scout cruisers
designed to work with the fleet, as Germany did not produce trade protection
cruisers with long range. As a general rule German cruisers were slightly
smaller and less well arm than their British counterparts and for the most part
had three funnels instead of four found in British designs. At the start of
World War One Germany did have some light cruisers stationed outside of German
waters, for the most part concentrated in the Eastern Asiatic Squadron under
Admiral Graf von Spee at Tsing Tao. Before von Spee left in his cruise for South
America, he did dispatch one of his light cruisers for raiding duties. This was
the light cruiser Emden, which won
fame both for her success, as well as for the chivalrous manner in which her
captain and crew waged war. Of course she was eventually brought to bay and sunk
by HMAS Sydney on November 9,
1914.
The German 1913 building program called for the construction of four light
cruisers to be laid down in 1914. It was subsequently decided to name all four
units after Grman light cruisers lost in the early moths of the war. These
became Konigsberg (II), Karlsruhe (II), Nurnberg (II) and Emden (II). The Emden was laid down at
Bremen in 1914, launched February 1, 1916 and completed on December 16, 1916.
She displaced 5,440-tons standard and 7,125-tons deep load on her 478 feet
(145.8m) length. She was heavily armed with eight 5.9-inch (150mm) guns but only
five could be fired on broadside. She also carried two 88mm AA guns, four
19.7-inch torpedo tubes (two above water and two below water and could carry 120
mines. She had only an armored deck and conning tower. The two turbines and 12
boilers developed 31,000 shp for a maximum speed of 27.5 knots. Emden carried iron crosses on each side of her stem to honor her illustrious name
sake. Through 1917 and 1918 Emden served with the scouting forces of the High Seas Fleet and was interned at Scapa
Flow after the war, where she became fleet flagship under Rear Admiral von
Reuter. She was part of the Great Scuttle and was beached in sinking condition.
Awarded to France, the damage caused by her scuttling at Scapa was too Great to
justify the expense of restoring her to active service, so the French used her
as an explosive trials ship until 1926, when she was scrapped at Caen.
Navis has released a new (neu) pattern Emden II (N41) in their ongoing improvement program for the entire line. The detail on
Neu pattern models is tremendous and that of Emden II is no exception. The Navis Emden II, as well
as the entire Navis/Neptun line, are available from Galerie Maritim,
which carries a huge inventory of new and pre-owned 1:1250 scale models.
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