SMS Nürnberg, named after the Bavarian city of Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

, was a Königsberg class

Königsberg class light cruiser (1905)

The Königsberg class was a group of four light cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy. The class was composed of the lead ship, Königsberg, Stettin, Stuttgart, and Nürnberg...

 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...

 of 3,450 tons laid down in 1905 and launched in 1907. Nürnberg's was similar in both size and appearance to the famous , differing mainly in its uneven funnel spacing. She was armed with ten 4.1 inches (104.1 mm) guns, eight five pounders, four machine guns and two submerged torpedo

Torpedo

The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...

 tubes. Her top speed was 25 knots (49 km/h).

Nürnberg was assigned to 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...

’s East Asia Station at Tsingtao as part of Admiral Count Maximilian von Spee

Maximilian von Spee

Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...

’s East Asia fleet. During the Mexican revolution

Mexican Revolution

The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...

 she was positioned off the west coast of Mexico. After being relieved by Leipzig

SMS Leipzig

SMS Leipzig was a Bremen class light cruiser, of the German Imperial Navy. It was named after the German city of Leipzig.The ship was stationed off the west coast of Mexico at the outbreak of war in 1914...

, Nürnberg returned to her home base at Tsingtao. With the outbreak of World War I, von Spee planned a return of his squadron to Germany, sailing through the Pacific, rounding Cape Horn, and then forcing his way north through the Atlantic. The fleet rendezvoused at Pagan Island in the Marianas for coaling. Cut off from essential information, Admiral von Spee sent Nürnberg to Honolulu for news. The cruiser’s crew obtained the latest newspapers, wire dispatches and official information from the German consul in the United States Territory of Hawaii. Nürnberg then rejoined the fleet at Christmas Island.

In September 1914 the cruiser attacked the British Imperial cable station, on the All Red Line

All Red Line

The All Red Line was an informal name for the system of electrical telegraphs that linked much of the British Empire.It was inaugurated on 31 October 1902. It had this name because on many political maps, British Empire territory was coloured red ....

, at Fanning Island. A landing party also went ashore to cut the communications cable.

Arriving late to the Battle of Coronel

Battle of Coronel

The First World War naval Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. German Kaiserliche Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher...

, Nürnberg found the drifting HMS Monmouth

HMS Monmouth (1901)

The sixth HMS Monmouth of the British Royal Navy was the lead ship of a class of armoured cruisers of 9,800 tons displacement. She was sunk at the Battle of Coronel in 1914....

 and finished her off with 75 shells at close range.

Nürnberg was sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands

Battle of the Falkland Islands

The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...

 on 8 December 1914. While Admiral von Spee's

Maximilian von Spee

Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...

 armored cruisers SMS Scharnhorst

SMS Scharnhorst

SMS Scharnhorst was an armored cruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. She was the lead ship of her class, which also included her sister . Scharnhorst and her sister were enlarged versions of the preceding ; they were equipped with a greater...

 and SMS Gneisenau

SMS Gneisenau

SMS Gneisenau was an armored cruiser of the German navy, part of the two-ship . She was named after August von Gneisenau, a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars. The ship was laid down in 1904 at the AG Weser dockyard in Bremen, launched in June 1906, and completed in March 1908, at a cost of...

 were engaging with the British battlecruiser

Battlecruiser

Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...

s HMS Invincible

HMS Invincible (1907)

HMS Invincible was a battlecruiser of the British Royal Navy, the lead ship of her class of three, and the first battlecruiser to be built by any country in the world. She participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight in a minor role as she was the oldest and slowest of the British battlecruisers...

 and HMS Inflexible

HMS Inflexible (1907)

HMS Inflexible was an of the British Royal Navy. She was built before World War I and had an active career during the war. She tried to hunt down the German battlecruiser and the light cruiser in the Mediterranean Sea when war broke out and she and her sister ship sank the German armoured...

, the three light cruisers of the German East Asia Squadron were ordered to seek to escape. Nürnberg was pursued by the larger and more powerful HMS Kent

HMS Kent (1901)

HMS Kent was a Monmouth-class armoured cruiser of 9,800 tons displacement, of the British Royal Navy. She was launched on 6 March 1901, with her heaviest guns being 6 inch quick-firers...

, under the command of A. E. F. Bedford. Although Nürnberg was nominally faster, her engines were badly worn, which enabled Kent to catch up with her. Nürnberg, whose guns had longer range although not as heavy as Kents, opened fire on Kent and scored several hits, but was unable to disable the British armored cruiser. After Nürnberg was in range, Kent eventually sank her, although suffering considerable damage.