Brummer-class minelaying cruiser
When World War I started, the German Navy needed fast ships, capable of quickly lying mine fields. At the same time, AG Vulcan had a set of turbines under construction for the Russian battlecruiser Navarin. These turbines were split up and two cruisers designed around them.
Laid down in 1915 and quickly completed, both ships joined the German Navy in 1916. Their design differed from other German cruisers, with heavily slanted funnels, a pronounced bow and one high forward mast. It was a design heavily based on the British Arethusa-class cruiser to confuse the enemy. Construction was done under heavy secrecy, so much that the bow shape was hidden behind faked panels.
The ship's main artillery were four 150mm single guns, less than usual on a German cruiser, but because artillery was all centerline, the available guns per broadside remained the same. Additional armament were two 88mm flak cannons and of course 400 mines.
The ships were named Brummer (Anglice Growler) and Bremse (Gadfly), taking their names from a class of armoured gunboats of 1884.
For comparison, here is the Arethusa-class cruiser they were based on:
By 1917, a second high mast had been added, although that mast still could be folded down.
Aside from multiple sorties for escort and minelaying, their only big offensive action during the war was in October of 1917, intercepting a Scandiavian convoy under British escort off Lerwick. For that departure, both ships had been painted black.
Following the end of the war, both ships were interned at Scapa Flow and subsequently scuttled by their crew. Bremse could towed to shallow waters before sinking, so she was salvaged over the following years. Brummer was never raised and remains a wreck to this day.
