Magdeburg-class cruiser

The Magdeburg class was a group of four light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy: Magdeburg, the lead ship, Breslau, Strassburg and Stralsund. All four were laid down in 1910 and completed by the end of 1912. They carried a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm guns, which Breslau, Strassburg and Stralsund later exchanged for more powerful 15 cm guns, displaced 4,570 tonnes at full load and were rated at 27.5 knots, a figure all four exceeded on trials. Breslau was ordered as Ersatz Falke and laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, where Vulcan also built her two pairs of turbines; Magdeburg and Stralsund came from AG Weser in Bremen and Strassburg from the Imperial yard at Wilhelmshaven. Breslau was assigned to the Mediterranean Division with the battlecruiser Goeben in 1912 and stayed in the Mediterranean until the outbreak of war.