SMS Emden ("His Majesty's Ship Emden") was a German light cruiser belonging to the Königsberg class, built during the First World War. Emden served in the German Imperial Navy until the end of the war, at which point she was ceded to France. The ship was named after the previous Emden, which had been destroyed at the Battle of Cocos earlier in the war. She mounted an Iron Cross on her stem-head in honor of the earlier Emden. The new cruiser was laid down in 1914 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, launched in February 1916, and commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in December 1916. Armed with eight 15 cm SK L/45 guns, the ship had a top speed of 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).