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SMS Breslau was a Magdeburg-class
Magdeburg class light cruiser

The Magdeburg class of light cruisers was a group of four ships built for the German Empire Kaiserliche Marine before World War I. The ships were all laid down in 1910, and completed by the end of 1912....
 light cruiser
Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way as an armoured cruiser: a protective belt and deck....
 of the German Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine

The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine....
, launched on 16 May 1911 and commissioned in 1912. The ship was transferred to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 in August 1914, to entice the Ottomans to join the Central Powers in World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. The ship was renamed Midilli, and served alongside the other German ship transferred to the Ottoman Empire, the battlecruiser SMS Goeben
SMS Goeben

SMS Goeben was a SMS Moltke -class battlecruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine , launched in 1911 and named after the Franco-Prussian War general August von Goeben....
.






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SMS Breslau was a Magdeburg-class
Magdeburg class light cruiser

The Magdeburg class of light cruisers was a group of four ships built for the German Empire Kaiserliche Marine before World War I. The ships were all laid down in 1910, and completed by the end of 1912....
 light cruiser
Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armoured cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armour in the same way as an armoured cruiser: a protective belt and deck....
 of the German Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine

The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine....
, launched on 16 May 1911 and commissioned in 1912. The ship was transferred to the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299?1923. It was Treaty of Lausanne by the Republic of Turkey, which was officially proclaimed on October 29, 1923....
 in August 1914, to entice the Ottomans to join the Central Powers in World War I
World War I

World War I, or the First World War , was a global military conflict which involved the Great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War I and the Central Powers....
. The ship was renamed Midilli, and served alongside the other German ship transferred to the Ottoman Empire, the battlecruiser SMS Goeben
SMS Goeben

SMS Goeben was a SMS Moltke -class battlecruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine , launched in 1911 and named after the Franco-Prussian War general August von Goeben....
. Breslau was mined and sunk in January 1918, with the loss of the majority of her crew.

Service history


In 1912 Breslau was attached to the German Mittelmeerdivision (Mediterranean Division) along with the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large warships in the first half of the 20th century that were first introduced by the Royal Navy. The battlecruiser was developed as the successor to the armoured cruisers, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleships....
 Goeben under the command of Admiral
Admiral

Admiral is the military rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above Vice Admiral and below Admiral of the Fleet/Fleet Admiral....
 Wilhelm Souchon
Wilhelm Souchon

Wilhelm Anton Souchon was a Germany admiral in World War I who commanded the Kaiserliche Marine's Mediterranean squadron in the early days of the war....
. At the outbreak of the First World War, Breslau and Goeben were to interdict French transports transferring troops from Algeria
Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
 to France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 however, due to concentrations of French and British warships, Breslau only succeeded in conducting a nuisance bombardment of the embarkation port of Bône
Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
 on 4 August 1914.

The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau

The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau was a naval action that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the First World War when elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet attempted to intercept the Germany Mittelmeerdivision comprising the battlecruiser SMS Goeben and the light cruiser SMS Breslau....
 by the British Mediterranean Fleet lasted until 10 August when the two ships passed through the Dardanelles
Dardanelles

.The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara....
 en route to Constantinople
Constantinople

Constantinople was the empire capital of the Roman Empire , the Byzantine Empire , the Latin Empire , and the Ottoman Empire . Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christendom empire, successor to ancient ancient Greece...
 where they were officially transferred to the Turkish Navy, Breslau being renamed Midilli - the Turkish name for the Aegean
Aegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkans and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey respectively....
 island of Lesbos
Lesbos Island

Lesbos is a Greece List of islands of Greece located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of 1632 Square kilometre with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island and the largest of the numerous Greek islands scattered in the Aegean....
 - though retaining her German crew.

For most of the war Breslau operated in concert with Goeben in the Black Sea
Black Sea

The Black Sea is an inland sea sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolia and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean Sea and Aegean Seas and various straits....
. On 19 January 1918 Breslau and Goeben returned through the Dardanelles to the Aegean where they engaged the Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 flotilla that was stationed there to intercept them. The German ships out-gunned their opposition, sinking two monitors, M28 and HMS Raglan
HMS Raglan

HMS Raglan was a World War I Royal Navy Abercrombie class monitor Monitor ....
, but disaster struck when they ran into a minefield
Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of or contact with an enemy ship....
. Breslau struck a mine and sank immediately, with the loss of 330 men; Goeben was damaged but managed to escape.

The future Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz

Karl D?nitz was a Germany naval Commander who served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I and commanded the German Navy during the second half of World War II....
 served on this ship as an ensign
Ensign (rank)

Ensign is a junior rank of Officer #Commissioned officers in the militaries of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign, the rank itself acquired the name....
.

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