Oct. 6 1914 - German cruiser Karlsruhe sank 8 British merchant ships in the Atlantic during October, and would sink a total of 15 British ships by Nov. 4 when it was destroyed off Trinidad by an internal explosion of cordite. At the outbreak of war Karlsruhe (Captain Kohler) was based in the Caribbean. Against her was Rear Admiral Cradock's squadron with four cruisers, each more powerful than Karlsruhe but covering an area from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Pernambuco, Brazil HMS Berwick was part of Cradock's squadron hunting the Karlsruhe. They had a huge area to cover in the days before radar and air patrols and with many merchant ships not having radios. They still managed to engage the German cruiser and nearly bumped into her on other occasions. Unfortunately Karlsruhe was too fast for the British ships and managed to escape. This led Cradock to transfer his flag to Good Hope when she arrived, although her crew was green she was faster then his previous ship. http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/karlsruhe.html
Here are some pictures of the first German cruiser Karlsruhe to serve during the First World War. As Annie mentioned she sank after an explosion during 1914. For the record there was a second Karlsruhe that served from 1916. They can easily be told apart as the earlier ship had four funnels whereas the later ship had only three...
It made the Australian newspapers !! Kind of hard to read though !! http://ndpbeta.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1062027
