The SMS Dresden was a light cruiser type Dresden II-class of 5'531 tonnes for a length of 155m, 14m at the beam and a draught of 6m. She was powered by two turbines of 49'000hp which drove each a propeller bringing her to maximum speed of 28 knots. Her armament was very similar to the Cöln (but arranged slightly differently for bow and stern canons) and consisted of 120 mines, eight 150mm canons, two 85mm canons and four 600mm torpedo tubes. She needed a crew of 550 men and officers.

Built at the Howaldswerke shipyard in Kiel, she was launched on the 25th of April 1917 as SMS Dresden II replacing the scuttled at Juan Fernandez (Chilli) in 1914. She was only commissioned on the 28th of March 1918, the priority for Germany was then the launching of her U-boat and joined the Fleet as a unit of the Second Scouting Group. During her first mission she was torpedoed by an English submarine as she was laying mines at the entry of the river Ems but however managed to limp back to the harbour for massive reparations. The Dresden was ordered to internment and arrived in the bay of Scapa Flow. On the 21st of June 1919 at 13h30, SMS Dresden disappeared beneath the surface after receiving her last order to scuttle.

The wreck of SMS Dresden is well conserved since little salvage work was done on her. As for most of the ships, the most damaged part is in the vicinity of the boilers and engine room. The SMS Dresden is richer with marine life as she lies in shallower water, she is covered with sponges and anemones. The bow canons have been salvaged (as the Cöln) et the control tower appears protected by her 96mm of shield and her viewing slots. Just aft the superstructures are in good state and further down the salvaging job give access to inside of the ship. More aft still we can still see the stern anchors.

There are no particular difficulties, no fishing nets. The visibility can however fall du to the presence of sediments. Nitrox 36 would be the gas of choice for this dive, giving us over 30 minutes without leaving the NDL.