World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUpon commissioning in late 1929, light cruiser Karlsruhe served as a training ship. In the early 1930s, she embarked on a world cruise; during that cruise, weakness in her hull plating resulted in a pause in her voyage for structural repairs at San Diego, California, United States. She undertook further long voyages during the 1930s. In Jan and Feb 1937, under the command of Captain Leopold Siemens, she patrolled off of the Spanish and Portuguese coast during the Spanish Civil War as part of the international naval blockade. Between 21 May 1938 and 13 Nov 1939, she underwent a refit. On 13 Nov 1939, she was placed under the command of Captain Friedrich Rieve. In the morning of 9 Apr 1940, as a member of Task Force 4, she fired her guns at defensive positions at Kristiansand in southern Norway while carrying invasion troops. That evening, en route for Germany, she was discovered by the British submarine Truant shortly after departing Kristiansand. Truant fired a spread of torpedoes at her; one hit, disabling her powerplant. Her crew was picked up by torpedo boat Grief, which scuttled the crippled Karlsruhe with two torpedoes at 2250 hours.

Photographs

Karlsruhe Operational Timeline