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SMS ''Leopard'' was an auxiliary cruiser of the Imperial German Navy intended for use as a commerce raider. She was intercepted attempting to break out into the Atlantic and was sunk with all hands in a fierce gun battle with British warships. ==Early career== ''Leopard'' was built as the British freighter ''Yarrowdale'' by W Dobson&co Newcastle in 1912. She was operated by R MacKill&Co of Glasgow. On 11 December 1916 ''Yarrowdale'' was captured by the German commerce raider ''Möwe'' in the Atlantic. ''Mowe's'' captain, KK Graf zu Dohna Schlodien was impressed by ''Yarrowdale's'' potential as a raider, and on 12 December dispatched her back to Germany with a prize crew, after loading her with the 400 prisoners he held on ''Moewe''. After successfully running the British blockade ''Yarrowdale'' reached Germany and was taken in hand for conversion as an auxiliary cruiser.〔Halpern p371〕 The conversion work was carried out at Kaiserliche Werft shipyard at Kiel. The ship was fitted with five 150mm and four 88 mm guns and two torpedo tubes. On 9 January 1917 she was commissioned as the auxiliary cruiser ''Leopard'', under the command of KK Hans v Laffert. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SMS Leopard (auxiliary cruiser)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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