Emden

History: Emden was a light cruiser built by the Reichsmarine in the early 1920s. She was the only ship of her class and was the first large warship built in Germany after the end of World War I. She was built at the Reichsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; her keel was laid in December 1921 and her completed hull was launched in January 1925. Emden was commissioned into the German fleet in October 1925. Her design was heavily informed by the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles and the dictates of the Allied disarmament commission. She was armed with a main battery of surplus 15 cm (5.9 in) guns left over from World War I, mounted in single gun turrets, as mandated by the Allied powers. She had a top speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).

Emden spent the majority of her career as a training ship; in the inter-war period, she conducted several world cruises to train naval cadets. At the outbreak of war, she laid minefields off the German coast and was damaged by a British bomber that crashed into her. She participated in the invasion of Norway in April 1940, and then resumed training duties in the Baltic Sea. These lasted with minor interruptions until September 1944, when she was deployed to Norway to serve as the flagship of the minelaying forces there. In January 1945, she carried the disinterred remains of Paul von Hindenburg from East Prussia to Pillau, to prevent his remains from falling into the hands of the advancing Soviet Army. While undergoing repairs in Kiel, Emden was badly damaged by British bombers and later run aground outside the harbor and was blown up. The wreck was ultimately broken up in 1949.

Class: The Emden was a single-ship class.

Nationality: Germany is a Western European country with a landscape of forests, rivers, mountain ranges and North Sea beaches. It has over 2 millennia of history. Berlin, its capital, is home to art and nightlife scenes, the Brandenburg Gate and many sites relating to WWII. Munich is known for its Oktoberfest and beer halls, including the 16th-century Hofbräuhaus. Frankfurt, with its skyscrapers, houses the European Central Bank.