SMS Albatross"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was a German minelaying

Minelayer

Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...

 cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

 built before World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. Albatross took part in a battle with Russian cruisers off the island of Gotland on 2 July 1915, where the ship was severely damaged, and forced to beach herself in neutral Swedish waters. The ship was salvaged after the war, in 1921.

Design

Albatross was equipped with eight 3.45 in (8.8 cm) SK L/45 guns.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. The guns fired 22lb 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. The ship also carried 200 mines

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface 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 vessel...

.

Service history

On 2 July 1915, Albatross, the light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

 Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

, and three destroyers were en route to lay mines in Russian waters when the ships were attacked by a superior Russian force—the armored cruisers Bayan

Russian cruiser Bayan

The cruiser Bayan was the lead ship in the of armored cruisers in the Imperial Russian Navy. It was built in Toulon, France by the Compagnie des Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée à la Seine...

 and Admiral Makarov and the light cruisers Bogatyr and Oleg. Augsburg escaped, while the three destroyers covered her retreat. Albatross was severely damaged and forced to beach on the Swedish island of Gotland

Gotland

Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...

. In July 1915, the ship was refloated by the Swedes, returned to Germany after the war in December 1918, and scrapped in 1921.