SMS Leopard (1912)

SMS Leopard
History
Name	1912: Yarrowdale 1917: Leopard
Namesake	1912: the valley of Yarrow Water
Owner	Mackill Steamship Co
Operator	1912: Robert Mackill & Co 1917: Imperial German Navy
Port of registry	1912: Glasgow
Builder	Wm Dobson & Co, Walker
Yard number	178
Launched	3 May 1912
Completed	June 1912
Commissioned	into German Navy: 9 January 1917
Identification	UK official number 133049 code letters HWBR
Captured	by SMS Möwe, 11 December 1916
Fate	sunk by gunfire, 16 March 1917
General characteristics
Type	cargo ship
Tonnage	4,652 GRT, 2,914 NRT
Displacement	9,800 tons
Length	390.2 ft (118.9 m)
Beam	52.0 ft (15.8 m)
Depth	26.6 ft (8.1 m)
Decks	2
Installed power	429 NHP
Propulsion	single screw triple expansion engine
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h)
Complement	as auxiliary cruiser: 319
Armament	1917: 2 × torpedo tubes 5 × 15 cm SK L/40 naval guns 4 × 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns

SMS Leopard was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1912 as Yarrowdale, captured in 1916 by the Imperial German Navy, converted into a commerce raider in Germany, and sunk with all hands by the Royal Navy in 1917.

Yarrowdale's British operator was Robert Mackill & Co of Glasgow, who gave this name to at least three different ships. This was the second of the three.

Leopard was the last commerce raider that Germany sent out in the First World War. After the Royal Navy sank her, Germany relied entirely on U-boats to sink Allied merchant ships.