After the Bremen class came the Königsbergs Tao of which became famous Raider; Königsberg & Nürnberg whilst Stettin & Stuttgart served with the High Seas Fleet.

Authorised as part of the afore mentioned 1898 Naval law for the expansion of the Cruiser force the Königsberg class marked an improvement over the Bremens by being slightly bigger, with extra boilers to increase their top speed it fitted with the same armament (10x 15cm guns

They had/were;
3390 tons displacement
115.3m long
13.2 m wide
5.29m draft
23 knot top speed
With 14 water tight compartments

Though measurements varied between the vessels.

Königsberg was put into construction in 1904 whilst Stuttgart, Stettin & Nürnberg we’re in the 1905 budget. Although good sea ships like their predecessors they could go crank by 20 degrees in rough weather (Nürnberg suffered the same as Leipzig off the Horn in December ‘14)

They could carry up to 880 tons of coal aboard & Königsberg could cruise 5750 nmi at 12 knots (the others varied).
Stettin, Stuttgart & Nürnberg also had 8 5.2 cm SK L/55 naval gun fitted giving them more of a punch than their predecessors

The Königsberg is perhaps the most famous of the four. Her career started as part of the Scouting force but also took part in escorts for the Kaiser’s yacht, Hohenzollern, as well as training sxcercises in the Baltic. In 1910 she collided with the Dresden

She underwent modernisation work and despite a brief period as a training vessel was put into reserve until early 1914.

Steps were taken to modernise the defensive vessels in the colonies with the old Busdard class being brought home for scrapping. Königsberg was dispatched to Dar-es-Salaam to relieve the Geier.

At the outbreak of war Königsberg sailed north to the Red Sea & sank the SS City of Winchester. The British stopped all traffic in the area for a time which caused s tea shortage in London!

Having taken refuge in the Rufiji river Kapitän Loof sailed out & sunk HMS Pegasus in Zanzibar harbour but was forced to take refugee again for engine repairs.

What followed was a lengthy siege between the Royal Navy who couldn’t get to her & Königsberg who could not escape

Long story short the British brought down monitors Severn & Mersey & with aircraft spotters were able to damage the cruiser heavily enough that Loof was forced to scuttle her. Her guns were removed & given to von Lettow-Vorbeck’s army in the colony.

Nürnberg: in 1910 after 2 years with the Hochseeflotte Nürnberg was dispatching to Tsingtao to join the Ostasiengeschwader.

Just before the First World War started Nürnberg was stationed off the Mexican coast to represent German interests during their civil war

Having been relieved by Leipzig she sailed to Honolulu then on to meet with vizadmiral von Spee’s armoured cruisers. The fleet crossed the Pacific with Nürnberg brieflybdispatched to attack Fanning island cable junction.

Nürnberg was part of the fleet when it fought at the battle of Coronel and fired the coup de gras into the Monmouth. She would later be lost at the Battle of the Falklands. https://twitter.com/jerijerod14/status/1336288215062474756

Stettin served as part of the Hochseeflotte & prewar went with the Bremen & Moltke to the Hampton Road regatta.

During WW1 she, along with Hamburg, led a sortie of U-boats out to try and draw out the Royal Navy but failed.

Stettin took part during the Battle of Helgoland & along with Frauenlob & Hela made up the support line.

Once called to action she fired on destroyers causing them to flee. She found the Ariadne & was fired upon but the hazel weather meant that no real damage was done.

She took part in the raid on Scarborough, Whitley & Hartlepool leading the read destroyer screen. Stettin would also take part in Hopman’s campaign in the Baltic against Libau.

At Jutland Stettin was the flagship of Ludwig Von Reuter’s Scouting Force IV. Though notbheavily engages at first she did fire on HMS Falmouth through poor visibility. She got caught in a fierce fire fight with the Southampton but suffered damage leading to a loss of steam.

Stettin almost rammed the sinking Frauenlob in the confusing melee & along with München fired on the destroyers G11, V1, and V3. By the end of the battle she had suffered 8 dead & 28 wounded

Stettim was decommissioned in 1917 & used as a training vessel for U-boat men and post war given to Britain who sold her for scrap.

Stuttgart spent the first part of WW1 patroling Helgoland Bight.

Like Stettin she took part in the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool & Whitley in the cruiser screen protecting Hipper’s battle cruises. She, along with Hamburg, chased off the British destroyers shadowing the fleet

She likewise served with Hopman in the Baltic (I’m going to have to read up on this and do a thread at somepoint) and against Libau.

At Jutland she was part of von Reuter’s squadron. During the night action she engaged HMS Dublin stroking her 8 times. She was not damaged in the fighting.

Post Jutland she was put forward as a possible candidate for conversion to a sea plane tender which could keep up with the fleet. Works vegan in Feb 18 with her forward & aft guns removed (but not her broadsides). 2 hangers were also added

She was similarly given to the UK as reparations and scrapped in 1920.