SMS Karlsruhe (Wreck)

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Light Cruiser - Konigsberg II class

Commission: The Karlsruhe was completed in January 1916 at Wilhelmshaven.
History: The Karlsruhe saw a little action around the Baltic islands in 1917 and did some minelaying and guard duty in 1918. Sank at 15.50 on 21st June 1919.
Diving: The Karlsruhe is the shallowest of the High Seas Fleet. She lies in 26 metres with a minimum depth of 12 metres. The boat is quite badly broken in places, but is nonetheless a rattling good dive. She lies on her starboard side with her stern section relatively intact with capstans and mooring bollards still attached to a sloping quarterdeck. Her mid section has been extensively salvaged, but this means that parts of her structure are the more easily seen. Towards her bows there are two 6 inch guns that straddle the sea bed having collapsed from the main deck housing. Her bows are intact and quite imposing. Anchor chains from the capstans lead out over the deck through hawse pipes set in the damaged deck. An anchor chain runs out along the sea bed. She has an excellent control tower.

This is an excellent dive not least because the salvage damage has made some parts of the cruiser more obvious than in the more extant ones. The stern is quite impressive.