K?nigsberg, first of a class of three 6000-ton light cruisers, was built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany. She was commissioned in mid-April 1929 and was primarily engaged in training duties during the following decade. She spent the first several months of World War II being refitted to upgrade her combat systems and partially correct structural weaknesses that limited the usefulness of ships of her class.

Thus, K?nigsberg's first real combat operation was the invasion of Norway in April 1940. Her mission in this risky undertaking was the occupation of the west coast port city of Bergen. In company with her sister, K?ln, and several other warships, K?nigsberg was loaded with German Army troops and secretly left Germany for the long and potentially dangerous run up to the target area. The strike force approached Bergen during the early morning of 9 April, offloaded some of their troops to smaller craft and engaged the defending Norwegian shore batteries. K?nigsberg received serious damage in this engagement, which restricted her speed and prevented her from leaving the area with her companions. She was also the target of a British air raid on the 9th, but was not hit. On the following day, 10 April 1940, the cruiser was tied up to a Bergen quay when several British "Skua" dive bombers delivered a deadly attack, making five hits and one close near miss that set her afire, holed her hull and killed many crewmen. It soon became clear that she could not be saved. After her crew abandoned ship, K?nigsberg capsized to port and sank. Her hull was refloated in July 1942 and later turned upright. However, the hulk sank again in 1944 and, following the end of World War II, was broken up.