Overview
SMS Breslau was a member of the Magdeburg class.
Midilli is associated with Ottoman Empire and Ottoman Navy. It belonged to Magdeburg class, so the class page provides the shared design history while this page concentrates on the individual ship.
Construction and identity
The available construction record identifies Midilli as built by AG Vulcan, Stettin, laid down on 1910, launched on 1911-05-16, and completed on 1912-05-10.
The ship's documented identity includes alternate or later names Breslau, Midilli, and SMS Breslau and service with Ottoman Navy.
Service history
Transferred to Ottoman service in August 1914 as Midilli and sunk by mines off Imbros in 1918.
The ship's configuration should be interpreted through the documented class and the dates attached to this individual vessel; equipment should not be assumed to have remained unchanged throughout service.
Class context: Magdeburg class
The Magdeburg class was an important Imperial German light-cruiser design that introduced a waterline armor belt to German small cruisers.
As a member of Magdeburg class, Midilli shared the class's documented design framework and intended roles of Scouting, Fleet screening, and Minelaying. Individual refits, transfers, and wartime changes belong to this ship only when separately documented.
Later service and disposition
sunk by mines off Imbros. The associated date is 1918-01-20. The recorded location is Aegean Sea.
Midilli matters as an individual career within Magdeburg class, allowing class-wide design history to be separated from this ship's own construction, identities, service, and fate.
Class relationship
This ship is recorded as a member of Magdeburg class. Shared design history belongs on the class page; this page concentrates on the individual hull where evidence is available.
Sources and further reading
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1906–1921Conway Maritime Press
- Magdeburg-class cruiser ↗Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-18
- German Warships 1815–1945, Volume OneNaval Institute Press
- Cruiser Breslau (Midilli) Service in the Ottoman Empire ↗Çanakkale Araştırmaları Türk Yıllığı · accessed 2026-09-18