Light Cruiser Köln

Köln

Country	Germany
Ship Class	K-class Light Cruiser
Builder	Kriegsmarinewerft
Yard Number	116
Slip/Drydock Number	II
Ordered	8 Apr 1925
Laid Down	7 Aug 1926
Launched	23 May 1928
Commissioned	1 Jan 1930
Sunk	30 Mar 1945
Displacement	8,350 tons full
Length	571 feet
Beam	50 feet
Draft	20 feet
Machinery	2 steam turbines, 6 boilers, 2 MAN diesel engines, 2 shafts
Power Output	69,800 shaft horsepower
Speed	32 knots
Range	7,300nm at 17 knots
Crew	850
Armament	3x3x15cm SK C/25 guns, 6x88mm AA guns, 8x3.7cm SK C/30 AA guns, 18x20mm AA guns, 12x533mm torpedoes, 120 mines
Armor	100mm command tower, 40mm deck, 20mm turrets, 50-70mm belt
Decommission	21 Feb 1943
Recommission	1 Apr 1944
Aircraft	Two Arado 196 floatplanes

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseNamed after the German city of Cologne, light cruiser Köln performed training cruises during the early- and mid-1930s. In 1937, she patrolled the Spanish coast during the Spanish Civil War under the command of Captain Otto Backenkohler as part of the international naval blockade. During the German invasion of Norway in Apr 1940, under the command of Captain Theodor Burchardi, she served with Task Force 3. For the most part between 1940 and 1941, she mined various coastal regions and hunted for Allied convoys. In late Feb 1943, she was damaged during a submarine attack, and was placed under repair between Mar 1943 and 1 Apr 1944. Upon completion of repairs, she served as a training vessel under Lieutenant Commander, later Captain, Hellmuth Strobel. On 12 Dec 1944, she was heavily damaged during a bombing raid, destroying her powerplant. She received temporary repairs in place, and sailed to Wilhelmshaven, Germany for permanent repairs, arriving in Feb 1945; during the transfer to Wilhelmshaven, Lieutenant Commander KK Frotz-Henning Brandes took command in Jan 1945. She was further damaged by bombing raids. During the night of 30 Mar 1945, US bombers struck, caused her to sink on even keel. Since her turrets remained above water, she served as a stationary gun platform until the end of the war, firing at advancing Allied troops. She was scrapped in 1946.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.

Last Major Revision: Oct 2009

Photographs

German light cruiser Köln underway in confined waters, circa 1930, photo 1 of 2; note off-centerline positioning of turrets

German light cruiser Köln underway in confined waters, circa 1930, photo 2 of 2

Light cruiser Köln underway, circa early 1930s; this photo was presented as a gift to Mrs. Ruth M. Bence at the time of the ship

View of the stern of light cruiser Köln, with men manning her rails, 1935

See all 13 photographs of Light Cruiser Köln

Köln Operational Timeline

1 Jan 1930	Köln was commissioned into service.
15 Jan 1930	Cruiser Köln was commissioned into service with Fregattenkapitän Ludwig von Schröder at the helm.
15 Oct 1930	Cruiser Köln completed trials and training in the Baltic Sea and North sea.
28 Oct 1930	Cruiser Köln began to perform gunnery drills in the North Atlantic.
31 May 1931	Cruiser Köln conducted training operation in the Baltic Sea.
1 Jun 1931	During this month cruiser Köln traveled to Norway and conducted operations in the North Sea, Jutland, and the Baltic Sea.
7 Jan 1932	Cruiser Köln began to perform gunnery drills and training operations in the North Atlantic.
29 Jan 1932	Cruiser Köln completed gunnery drills and training operations.
1 Sep 1932	Fregattenkapitän Otto Schniewind took command of cruiser Köln.
8 Dec 1932	Cruiser Köln departed German for her first international voyage that would last one year; she would visit the Mediterranean Sea, Alexandria (Egypt), Suez Channel, India, Indonesia, Australia, Pacific, Japan, Qingdao (China), Indonesia, Ceylon, Suez Channel, Greece, Italy, and Spain.
2 Aug 1933	Köln arrived in Shanghai, China.
14 Aug 1933	Köln departed Shanghai, China.
12 Dec 1933	Cruiser Köln returned from her first international voyage.
9 Jun 1934	Cruiser Köln began gunnery drills with pocket battleship Deutschland.
28 Jun 1934	Cruiser Köln completed gunnery drills with pocket battleship Deutschland.
1 Nov 1934	Cruiser Köln began two months of repairs at Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
1 Oct 1935	Fregattenkapitän Otto Backenköhler took command of cruiser Köln.
1 May 1936	Cruiser Köln began two months of operations off Portugal.
7 Jun 1936	Cruiser Köln began operations off Spain.
24 Jun 1936	Albatros departed Spanish waters to escort light cruisers Köln and Leipzig on their return journey to Germany; Möwe replaced Albatros as the flagship of 2nd Torpedo Boat Half-Flotilla.
29 Jun 1936	Cruiser Köln completed operations off Spain.
30 Jul 1936	Cruiser Köln began operations off Spain.
10 Aug 1936	Cruiser Köln completed operations off Spain.
1 Oct 1937	Kapitän zur See Theodor Burchardi took command of cruiser Köln.
1 Jan 1938	Cruiser Köln began two months of repairs at Kiel, Germany.
31 Oct 1938	Cruiser Köln began five months of repairs and refitting at Kiel, Germany.
13 Apr 1939	Cruiser Köln began training in the North Atlantic.
16 May 1939	Cruiser Köln completed training in the North Atlantic.
8 Oct 1939	Cruiser Köln began in a raid in the North Sea.
12 Dec 1939	Cruiser Köln and other warships screened minelayers during a mining mission.
13 Dec 1939	Cruiser Köln returned from screening mission for minelayers.
15 Jan 1940	Kapitän zur See Ernst Kretzenberg took command of cruiser Köln.
9 Apr 1940	Cruiser Köln participated in the invasion of Norway.
11 Apr 1940	Cruiser Köln returned from Norway, arriving at Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
1 May 1941	Kapitän zur See Friedrich Hüffmeier took command of cruiser Köln.
1 Sep 1941	Cruiser Köln began supporting the invasion of Dagö and Ösel islands and disabled Soviet coastal batteries at Cape Ristna.
1 Feb 1942	Cruiser Köln began four months of repairs and refits in Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
1 Mar 1942	Korvettenkapitän Hellmuth Strobel took command of cruiser Köln.
1 May 1942	Kapitän zur See Martin Balzer took command of cruiser Köln.
9 Jul 1942	Cruiser Köln departed for Oslo, Norway, laying mines en route.
12 Jul 1942	Cruiser Köln arrived at Oslo, Norway.
13 Jul 1942	Cruiser Köln departed Oslo, Norway for northern Norway.
14 Jul 1942	Cruiser Köln began a minelaying operation in the North Sea.
15 Jul 1942	Cruiser Köln completed a minelaying operation in the North Sea.
6 Aug 1942	Cruiser Köln arrived at Narvik, Norway.
10 Sep 1942	Cruiser Köln, with Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipper, moved to the Alta Fjord to attack Allied Convoy PQ18, but the attack was aborted due to a British submarine attack.
13 Dec 1942	Kapitän zur See Hans Meyer took command of cruiser Köln.
1 Feb 1943	Cruiser Köln departed a German port for the Baltic Sea.
1 Mar 1943	Cruiser Köln was taken out of service and would remain so for one year.
1 Mar 1944	Cruiser Köln was towed from Kiel to Königsberg, Germany.
1 Apr 1944	Cruiser Köln was recommissioned for training of cadet engineers with Fregattenkapitän Hellmuth Strobel in command.
10 Apr 1944	Cruiser Köln began a three-month refit.
1 Jul 1944	Cruiser Köln began a three-month training operation.
1 Sep 1944	Cruiser Köln conducted minelaying operations off southern Norway during this month.
1 Oct 1944	Cruiser Köln conducted convoy operation between Norway and Denmark over the following two months.
13 Dec 1944	Cruiser Köln's power stations and starboard engine were destroyed by Allied aerial attacks.
31 Dec 1944	Cruiser Köln was damaged by Allied aerial attacks.
1 Jan 1945	Fregattenkapitän Frotz-Henning Brandes took command of cruiser Köln.
28 Jan 1945	Cruiser Köln departed for Wilhelmshaven, Germany for repairs.
14 Feb 1945	Cruiser Köln arrived at Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
3 Mar 1945	Cruiser Köln was damaged by British aircraft at Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
30 Mar 1945	US Eighth Air Force B-24 Liberator bombers attacked Wilhelmshaven, Germany, sinking the already-damaged cruiser Köln on even keel. Her turrets remained above water and operational.
28 Apr 1945	Sunken cruiser Köln's turrets fired against enemy troops advancing at Wilhelmshaven, Germany (near Neuenburg and Bockhorn).

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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Karl Rupp says:
28 Jun 2010 06:11:32 AM

Cleaning up my fathers posetions I came accress a Zippo like lighter with the Koeln engraved on it. my father was in the German Navy during WWII. However, he was on a minesweeper and a prisoner of war in England.thought you might be interested about the Lighter.

2. Peter Heft says:
18 Nov 2019 04:10:25 PM

My Father was in Shanghai when the Cruiser Koeln visited Shanghai. It arrived on 2 August 1933 having come from Qingdao. It departed on 14 August 1933 heading for Makassar Indonesia. He wrote an article about the visit which was published in his home town newspaper.

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Köln