SMS Nautilus

History
German Empire
Name:	SMS Nautilus
Builder:	AG Weser, Bremen
Cost:	2,879,000 German gold mark
Laid down:	1905
Launched:	28 August 1906
Commissioned:	19 March 1907
Struck:	21 March 1919
Fate:	Broken up 1928
General characteristics
Class and type:	Nautilus-class minelayer
Displacement:	2,345 metric tons (2,308 long tons; 2,585 short tons)
Length:	98.2 m (322 ft 2 in) o/a
Beam:	11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
Draught:	4.42 m (14 ft 6 in)
Propulsion:	2-shaft VTE, 4 Navy boilers, 6,638 indicated horsepower (4,950 kW)
Speed:	20.8 knots (38.5 km/h; 23.9 mph)
Range:	3,530 nautical miles (6,540 km; 4,060 mi) @ 9 kn
Complement:	10 officers, 191 men
Armament:	8 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 guns 205 mines

SMS Nautilus^{[Note 1]} was a German minelaying cruiser built before World War I. The ship was built by AG Weser, Bremen. The ship served during the war, and was scrapped in 1928.^[1]

Design

Nautilus was equipped with eight 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns.^{[Note 2]} The guns fired 22 lb shells at a muzzle velocity of 2133 feet per second. The guns could elevate to 25 degrees, for a maximum range of 10,500 yards.^[2] The ship also carried 200 mines.

Notes

1. "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German.
2. In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnelladekanone) denotes that the gun is quick loading, while the L/45 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/45 gun is 45 calibers, meaning that the gun is 45 times long as it is in diameter.

Footnotes

1. Gardiner and Gray (1984), p. 158
2. Gardiner and Gray (1984), p. 140

References

• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds. (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906-1922. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-907-3.