She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

Königsberg served as a training ship for naval cadets throughout the 1930s, and joined the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s.

After the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, she laid defensive minefields in the North Sea and then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway in April 1940.

While attacking Bergen, she was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery, and sunk by Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua fighter-bombers the following day in the harbor.

Steam for the turbines was provided by six Marine-type, double-ended, oil-fired water-tube boilers, which were vented through a pair of funnels.

She thereafter conducted a series of training cruises for naval cadets and made numerous goodwill visits throughout the Mediterranean Sea.

In 1934, a pair of 8.8 cm (3.5 in) anti-aircraft guns in individual mounts were installed on her aft superstructure just forward of her main battery turrets.

The following year, the single 8.8 cm guns were replaced with a new triaxially stabilized twin-mount; two other twin mounts were added on the rear superstructure.

During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s, the ship participated in non-intervention patrols, during which she forced Republicans to surrender a German freighter they had seized.

[5] After returning to Germany, Königsberg resumed her gunnery training duties, and also served as a testbed for radar prototypes.

[6] One day before the German invasion of Poland, on 31 August, Königsberg spotted the Polish destroyers Burza and Błyskawica in the Baltic.

Königsberg was assigned to Gruppe 3, and was tasked with transporting 600 troops from the Wehrmacht's 69th Infantry Division from Wilhelmshaven to Bergen, Norway.

[9] The Germans left Wilhelmshaven on 8 April, and had reached their target the following day, where Königsberg transferred part of the landing party to several smaller vessels.

Adrift, and unable to maneuver, Königsberg had to drop anchor, while she and Köln, Luftwaffe bombers, and the infantry neutralized the Norwegian guns.

One penetrated her thin deck armor, went through the ship, and exploded in the water, causing significant structural damage.

It took slightly less than three hours from the start of the attack for the ship to completely capsize and sink, which gave the crew enough time to evacuate many of the dead and wounded.

The hull was, however, sealed, and refloated, and remained at Laksevåg until February 1945, when it was towed to Herdlafjorden, and allowed to settle, with a heavy list, at Berlandsundet, to the east of Askøy.