SMS Dresden

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SMS Dresden

The SMS Dresden was a German
German Empire

The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of William I, German Emperor as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became Weimar republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of William II, German Emperor ....
Imperial Navy
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....
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 Dresden class
Dresden class light cruiser

The Dresden class of light cruisers was a class of two ships built for the Kaiserliche Marine in the early part of the 20th century. The class was composed of SMS Dresden and SMS Emden ....
, commissioned in 1908.

She was the sister ship of the famous commerce raider
Commerce raiding

Commerce raiding is to destroy the logistics of an enemy on the open sea, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them....
SMS Emden. While the Emden still had traditional triple-expansion engines
Steam engine

File:Steam-powered fire engine.jpgA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines have a long history, going back at least 2000 years....
, the Dresden was the first German cruiser to be equipped with the new Parsons turbine
Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1884....
s.

Prior to 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 Dresden had been stationed in the Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
for a year.

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Encyclopedia

The SMS Dresden was a German
German Empire

The German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of William I, German Emperor as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became Weimar republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of William II, German Emperor ....
Imperial Navy
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....
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 Dresden class
Dresden class light cruiser

The Dresden class of light cruisers was a class of two ships built for the Kaiserliche Marine in the early part of the 20th century. The class was composed of SMS Dresden and SMS Emden ....
, commissioned in 1908.

She was the sister ship of the famous commerce raider
Commerce raiding

Commerce raiding is to destroy the logistics of an enemy on the open sea, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them....
SMS Emden. While the Emden still had traditional triple-expansion engines
Steam engine

File:Steam-powered fire engine.jpgA steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines have a long history, going back at least 2000 years....
, the Dresden was the first German cruiser to be equipped with the new Parsons turbine
Steam turbine

A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1884....
s.

Prior to 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 Dresden had been stationed in the Caribbean
Caribbean

The Caribbean is a region consisting of the Caribbean Sea, its islands , and the surrounding coasts. The region is located southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and Northern America, east of Central America, and to the north of South America....
for a year. During that time, she was instrumental in evacuating American nationals during the U.S. occupation of Veracruz, 1914. She also played a role in the departure of exiled Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
president Victoriano Huerta
Victoriano Huerta

Jos? Victoriano Huerta M?rquez was a Mexico military officer and president of Mexico....
, transporting him from Mexico to Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the Capital and largest city of Jamaica and is located on the southeastern coast of the island country. It faces a natural harbor protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit which connects Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island....
.

Service history
At the outbreak of the war in 1914, the Dresden was preparing for the return journey to Germany. However, orders were changed to prepare for commerce raiding. The Dresden then headed for the South Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions; with a total area of about 106.4 million square kilometres . It covers approximately one-fifth of the Earth's surface....
and rendezvoused with the German East Asia Squadron
German East Asia Squadron

The German East Asia Squadron was a Imperial Germany Kaiserliche Marine cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914....
under Vice Admiral Count Spee at Easter Island
Easter Island

Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. The island is a special territory of Chile....
. In company with Count Spee's other ships — the armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst
SMS Scharnhorst

SMS Scharnhorst was an 11,616 ton armored cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine, built at the Blohm & Voss Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. She was named after the Prussian reformer general Gerhard von Scharnhorst and commissioned on 24 October 1907....
and SMS Gneisenau
SMS Gneisenau

SMS Gneisenau was an armoured cruiser of the Germany navy. She was named after August von Gneisenau, a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars....
and the light cruisers SMS Leipzig
SMS Leipzig

SMS Leipzig was a Bremen class light cruiser, of the Germany German Imperial Navy. It was named after the German city of Leipzig.The ship was stationed off the west coast of Mexico at the outbreak of war in 1914....
and SMS Nürnberg
SMS Nürnberg

SMS N?rnberg, named after the Bavarian city of Nuremberg, was a K?nigsberg class light cruiser light cruiser of 3,450 tons laid down in 1905 and launched in 1907....
— the Dresden participated in the Battle of Coronel
Battle of Coronel

The World War I naval Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel, Chile. Imperial Germany Kaiserliche Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock....
. Together with SMS Leipzig she damaged and forced the escape of the British light cruiser HMS Glasgow
HMS Glasgow (1909)

HMS Glasgow, the sixth ship of that name, was launched on the Clyde at Govan in 1909 and was a Town class cruiser light cruiser.On the outbreak of the First World War, she was operating off the coast of South America, and on 16 August 1914 she captured the German merchant ship SS Catherina....
.

Battle of the Falkland Islands
Approximately one month later, Dresden was the only German cruiser to escape destruction at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battle of the Falkland Islands

The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a Royal Navy victory over the Kaiserliche Marine on 8 December 1914 during the World War I in the South Atlantic....
, her turbine engines proving faster than her expansion-engined squadron mates. The ship then headed south back around Cape Horn to the maze of channels and bays in southern Chile
Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long and narrow coastal strip wedged between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean....
. Until March 1915 she evaded 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....
searches while paralyzing British trade routes in the area.

The end

On 8 March 1915, the Dresden put into Cumberland Bay on the Chilean island of Más a Tierra (today known as Robinson Crusoe Island
Robinson Crusoe Island

Robinson Crusoe Island , formerly known as M?s a Tierra or Aguas Buenas, is the largest island of the Chilean Juan Fern?ndez Islands, situated 674 kilometres west of South America in the South Pacific Ocean....
) which was neutral territory. With 80 tons of coal remaining in her bunkers, out of ammunition for the main battery, lacking stores and supplies as well as parts for her worn-out engines, the ship ceased to be operational. Six days later, on 14 March, the British light cruisers HMS Glasgow
HMS Glasgow (1909)

HMS Glasgow, the sixth ship of that name, was launched on the Clyde at Govan in 1909 and was a Town class cruiser light cruiser.On the outbreak of the First World War, she was operating off the coast of South America, and on 16 August 1914 she captured the German merchant ship SS Catherina....
and HMS Kent
HMS Kent (1901)

HMS Kent was a Monmouth class cruiser armoured cruiser of 9,800 tons displacement, of the United Kingdom Royal Navy. Launched on 6 March 1901, with her heaviest guns being 6 inch quick-firers....
found the elusive German cruiser. After a few shots were fired, the Dresden ran up a white flag and sent Lieutenant Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris

Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German people admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance....
to negotiate with the British. However, this was merely a ruse to buy time so the Dresdens crew could abandon ship and scuttle her. At 11:15 a.m. the Dresden slipped under the waves with her war ensign proudly flying. Her crew of about 300 men was interned in Chile for the duration of the war, with about a third electing to remain and resettle in Chile at war's end. Lieutenant Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Canaris

Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German people admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance....
became famous during the Second World War
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
as head of the German Military Intelligence Service, the Abwehr
Abwehr

The Abwehr was a Germany intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allies of World War I demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only....
, and as member of the German Resistance
German Resistance

File:Gedenkkranz im Bendler-Block.jpg The German Resistance was the opposition by individuals and groups in Nazi Germany to the regime of Adolf Hitler between 1933 and 1945....
.

Epilogue
Today the wreck, which lies in about 60 metres (200 ft) of water, is gaining popularity with recreational Scuba
Scuba set

A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving....
divers, and is occasionally used by the Chilean Navy
Navy

A navy is the branch of a nation's military forces principally designated for naval warfare and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions....
for diver training. On 24 February 2006, Chilean and German divers found and recovered the Dresdens bell. The Republic of Chile presented the bell of SMS Dresden to the Museum of the German Armed Forces [Militärhistorisches Museum der Bundeswehr] at Dresden in November 2008, one hundred years after the commissioning of the cruiser.

CS Forester's novel Brown on Resolution
Brown on Resolution

Brown on Resolution is a nautical novel written by CS Forester. It is set during World War I. The hero of the novel, seaman Brown, is the sole able-bodied survivor of a sunken United Kingdom warship, picked up by one of the Germany warships of the German Asiatic Squadron after the German victory at the Battle of Coronel....
, and two subsequent movies, were inspired by the Dresdens escape and subsequent destruction. Forester's novel has a German warship escape the Battle of the Falkland Islands and make its way to an isolated Pacific Island, to effect repairs.

Gallery

See also

External links

and FORGOTTEN CRUISERWARRIOR By Robert F. Smith