SMS Prinz Heinrich

SMS Prinz Heinrich was the oldest German armoured cruiser to see service during the First World War. She had been built under the Second Navy Law, to act as an overseas station ship, and was a faster but lighter version of SMS Fürst Bismarck, the first German armoured cruiser. Because she was intended for service in tropical seas, her hull was sheathed with wood (designed to be replaced easily on a regular basis). She was the first German cruiser to carry all of her secondary armament in the central citadel that was a feature of all German battleships and heavy cruisers of the pre-dreadnought era. 

In August 1914 the Prinz Heinrich was undergoing a refit. She was back with the fleet in time to take part in the raid on the Yorkshire coast of 15-16 December 1914. Prinz Heinrich, and the slightly more modern but very similar cruiser Roon acted as a screen for the battle squadrons that put to sea to support the battlecruisers undertaking the raid itself, and did not form part of the squadron that actually carried out the bombardment. The Prinz Heinrich remained with the fleet until 1916, when she was disarmed and used as a depot ship at Kiel. She was followed into service by the two very similar Prinz Adalbert class cruisers.

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