SMS Niobe
Encyclopedia
SMS Niobe was a Gazelle-class
Gazelle class cruiser
The Gazelle class was a group of ten light cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy at the turn of the 20th century. Three were lost during the First World War; the remainder were removed from the front lines after the Battle of Jutland...
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...
that served with the Kaiserliche Marine
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
during First World War
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...
, and the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
during Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in a long career that also involved sailing with the Yugoslavian
Yugoslav Royal Navy
The Royal Yugoslav Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.This navy existed since the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, which was changed in 1929 to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia...
and Italian navies
Regia Marina
The Regia Marina dates from the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 after Italian unification...
. She was sunk in the harbour on the Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n island of Silba
Silba
Silba is an island in Croatia, northern Dalmatia, south-east of Lošinj, between the islands of Premuda and Olib. It has a Mediterranean climate with 2570 hours a year of sunshine...
in 1943.
History
She was one of the first class of German light cruisers, modeled after a series of AvisoAviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
s to which the class bore a resemblance. They set the basic pattern for future German light cruisers. Niobe was built by A.G. Weser, Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, commissioned in 1900 and served as a "fleet cruiser".
Her first commandant was Korvettenkapitän Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
, future commander of the German High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
. Niobe completed missions in Far East and Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
between 1906 and 1909. With the outbreak of the First World War she was classified as obsolete and relegated to coastal defence. She saw no action during the war, but three of her class, Ariadne
SMS Ariadne
SMS Ariadne was a light cruiser of the Gazelle class in the Imperial German Navy, with 2,700 tons displacement and 10 × 10.5 cm guns...
, Undine
SMS Undine
SMS Undine was an Imperial German light cruiser of the Gazelle Class, 105 meters long and was built in Kiel in 1902. Undine was used in the Naval warfare of World War I and was part of the German High Seas Fleet....
and Frauenlob
SMS Frauenlob
SMS Frauenlob was a Gazelle-class light cruiser in the German Imperial Navy. She was the second ship of that name, after a schooner launched in 1853.-History:Frauenlob was built at A.G. Weser in Bremen...
) were lost in the first years of the war, all the others were decommissioned. For this reason and because of her age SMS Niobe was one of the eight cruisers that were not confiscated from the German navy after the end of the war.
She was sold to Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
on 24 June 1925 and named Dalmacija (Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
). She was refitted in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
during 1925 and 1926, and after the first trials, was transferred to the Yugoslav Royal Navy
Yugoslav Royal Navy
The Royal Yugoslav Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.This navy existed since the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1918, which was changed in 1929 to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia...
on 7 August 1926. After 14 days the ship arrived in her homeport of Tivat
Tivat
Tivat is a coastal town in southwest Montenegro, located in the Bay of Kotor...
. One of the main reasons why the Yugoslavia navy acquired such an old ship lay in her copper-plated bottom intended for operations in tropical seas. This was important since Yugoslavia did not possess a port with adequate docking capabilities. The ship was used for schooling and training purposes, as a flagship and as an anti-aircraft cruiser. Initially she was not fitted with weapons and during a refitting in Tivat in 1928 new Škoda
Škoda Works
Škoda Works was the largest industrial enterprise in Austro-Hungary and later in Czechoslovakia, one of its successor states. It was also one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Europe in the 20th century...
guns were mounted. (six 83,5 mm/D55 Škoda type M.27 and four 47 mm/44). For AA purposes two 15 mm machine guns Česká Zbrojovka Uherský Brod
Ceská Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod
Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod is a Czech firearms manufacturer.-History:CZUB was established in 1936 as a branch of the Česká zbrojovka armament firm in the small Moravian town of Uherský Brod in Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic....
were installed.
In April 1941 after the Axis Invasion of Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
The Invasion of Yugoslavia , also known as the April War , was the Axis Powers' attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II...
the ship was captured by the Italians in Kotor
Kotor
Kotor is a coastal city in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of the municipality....
. The Italians renamed the ship Cattaro (Kotor). Given her age the ship was sent for artillery schooling purposes in Pula
Pula
Pula is the largest city in Istria County, Croatia, situated at the southern tip of the Istria peninsula, with a population of 62,080 .Like the rest of the region, it is known for its mild climate, smooth sea, and unspoiled nature. The city has a long tradition of winemaking, fishing,...
. The only change in armament was the mounting of 20 mm Bredas instead of the 15 mm automatic guns. On 31 July 1942 the cruiser was attacked by the British submarine south of Premantura
Premantura
Premantura is a town in Istria , Croatia....
but all of the torpedoes missed. During 1942-43 she shelled Yugoslav partisan positions along the coastline.
,_jugoslawische_schiffe.jpg)
Italian ship Ramb III
The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb III was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1938.Ramb III was the third of four sister ships all built to the same design. The other ships were the , the , and the . The four ships were built for the Royal Banana Monopoly Business...
participated in the first phase of Operation Herbstgewitter. This consisted of landing German troops on the islands of Krk
Krk
Krk is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
, Cres
Cres
Cres is an Adriatic island in Croatia. It is one of the northern island in the Kvarner Gulf and can be reached via ferry from the island Krk or from the Istrian peninsula ....
and Lošinj
Lošinj
Lošinj is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
in November 1943. During the action the islands were cleared of partisan forces and the Niobe with two S-boats managed to capture a British military mission on the island of Lošinj
Lošinj
Lošinj is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, in the Kvarner Gulf. It is almost due south of the city of Rijeka and part of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar county....
.
After that action on December 1943 the cruiser was ordered to head south to support the next phase of Operation Herbstgewitter, the landings on the island of Korčula
Korcula
Korčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
. On the night of 17 December 1943 Niobe left the naval base at Pula together with the Torpedoboot Ausland
Torpedoboot Ausland
The Torpedoboot Ausland were small destroyers or large torpedo boats captured by Nazi Germany and incorporated into the Kriegsmarine. They were assigned a number beginning with TA-TA 1 to TA 6:...
TA 20 (the former Italian Audace), TA 22 (the former Italian Giuseppe Missori) and TA 21 (the former Insidioso) torpedo boat
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
s, who joined the naval squadron in the vicinity of the island of Pašman
Pašman
Pašman is an island off the coast of the Adriatic Sea in Croatia, located to the south of Zadar, surrounded by the islands Ugljan, Iž, Dugi otok and Kornati...
. The mission was cancelled because of the partisan landings on Korčula, and the bad weather which impeded the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
air support. The naval squadron was ordered to head back to Pula. Since Niobe was the slowest of the vessels, only TA 20 was left to escort her. On 19 December fog and bad weather, as well as a mistake in navigation caused the ship to run aground on the island of Silba
Silba
Silba is an island in Croatia, northern Dalmatia, south-east of Lošinj, between the islands of Premuda and Olib. It has a Mediterranean climate with 2570 hours a year of sunshine...
. The tugboat
Tugboat
A tugboat is a boat that maneuvers vessels by pushing or towing them. Tugs move vessels that either should not move themselves, such as ships in a crowded harbor or a narrow canal,or those that cannot move by themselves, such as barges, disabled ships, or oil platforms. Tugboats are powerful for...
s Nettuno, Parenzo and Constante, and the ship Martha were sent from Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
and Fiume to assist the beached cruiser. On the night of 22 December two British Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
s (the MTB 298 and MTB 276), based in Vis
Vis (town)
Vis is a town on the Vis island of the same name in Croatia. It has a population of 1960 residents . It is the center of the Vis municipality and part of Split-Dalmatia County.-History:...
, attacked and hit the ship with two torpedoes, and also hit the Parenzo with one torpedo. The ship sank in shallow water, with the shipwreck being used for spare parts by partisan forces on the island. She began to be scrapped after the end of the war, a process completed by 1952.