The SMS Karlsruhe was a light cruiser type Konigsberg II-class of 5'354 tonnes for a length of 151m, 14m at the beam and a draught of 6m. She was powered by two turbines developing 45'000hp which drove a propeller each, bringing her to maximum speed of 29 knots. Her armament consisted of 120 mines, eight 150mm canons, two 85mm canons and four 600mm torpedo tubes. She needed a crew of 575 men and 25 officers.

Built at the Kaiserliches Werft shipyard at Wilhelmshaven, the SMS Karlsruhe was launched on the 31st of January 1906. She was commissioned the 15th of November 1906 and joined the Fleet as a unit of the Second Scouting Group. The Karlsruhe was only the third large ship of the German Fleet to be fitted with geared turbines to her great advantage compared with the British counterpart of Town class. From the beginning of her operations, the Karlsruhe proved to be an extremely efficient unit and on the 16th of August 1917 while cruising with the Frankfurt, she surprised a fleet of British destroyers but before any damage was inflected to either side, they left, being outnumbered and outgunned by the German ships. Soon after she was affected to the Baltic Fleet and took part in the battle of Moltke. On the 21st of June 1919 at 15h50, SMS Karlsruhe disappeared beneath the surface after receiving her last order to scuttle.

The wreck of SMS Karlsruhe lies in clearer water than the rest of the German Fleet due to a slight tidal currants. Unfortunately she is also the wreck that has been the most salvaged and she is often used as the check dive for new visitors to the bay. The bow is still in one piece. The mooring chains are still hooked on the capstans (as the Brummer). Just aft is the collapsed deck, one of her canons is lying on the sea bed just beside the control tower. More aft the superstructures are completely destroyed and moving further aft large openings allow penetration into what was once the engine room and the boilers, in the vicinity their is also a 150mm and a 60mm canon. The central part is so destroyed that she is actually not recognisable as a ship and for does not present any interest.

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