SMS Yorck

Yorck in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal
History
German Empire
Name	Yorck
Namesake	Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg
Builder	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Laid down	25 April 1903
Launched	14 May 1904
Commissioned	21 November 1905
Decommissioned	21 May 1913
Commissioned	12 August 1914
Fate	Sunk accidentally by German mines, 4 November 1914
General characteristics
Class and type	Roon-class armored cruiser
Displacement	Normal: 9,533 t (9,382 long tons) Full load: 10,266 t (10,104 long tons)
Length	127.80 m (419 ft 3 in)
Beam	20.20 m (66 ft 3 in)
Draft	7.76 m (25.5 ft)
Installed power	17,272 metric horsepower (12,704 kW) 16 × water-tube boilers
Propulsion	3 × screw propellers 3 × triple-expansion steam engines
Speed	20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph)
Range	5,080 nmi (9,410 km; 5,850 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew	35 officers 598 enlisted men
Armament	4 × 21 cm (8.3 in) SK L/40 10 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/40 14 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/35 4 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Belt: 80–100 mm (3.1–3.9 in) Turrets: 150 mm (5.9 in) Deck: 40–60 mm (1.6–2.4 in)

SMS Yorck ("His Majesty's Ship Yorck") was the second and final ship of the Roon class of armored cruisers built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) as part of a major naval expansion program aimed at strengthening the fleet. Yorck was named for Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg, a Prussian field marshal. She was laid down in 1903 at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, launched in May 1904, and commissioned in November 1905. The ship was armed with a main battery of four 21 cm (8.3 in) guns and had a top speed of 20.4 knots (37.8 km/h; 23.5 mph). Like many of the late armored cruisers, Yorck was quickly rendered obsolescent by the advent of the battlecruiser; as a result, her peacetime career was limited.

Yorck spent the first seven years of her career in I Scouting Group, the reconnaissance force for the High Seas Fleet, initially as the group flagship. She undertook training exercises and made several cruises in the Atlantic Ocean. Yorck was involved in several accidents, including an accidental explosion aboard the ship in 1911 and a collision with a torpedo boat in 1913. In May 1913, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve until the outbreak of World War I in July 1914. She was then mobilized and assigned to III Scouting Group. On 3 November, she formed part of the screen for the High Seas Fleet as it sailed to support a German raid on Yarmouth; on the return of the fleet to Wilhelmshaven, the ships encountered heavy fog and anchored in the Schillig Roads to await better visibility. Believing the fog to have cleared sufficiently, the ship's commander ordered Yorck to get underway in the early hours of 4 November. She entered a German minefield in the haze, struck two mines, and sank with heavy loss of life. The wreck was dismantled progressively between the 1920s and 1980s to reduce the navigational hazard it posed.