SMS Augsburg was a Kolberg-class light cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) during the First World War. She had three sister ships, SMS Kolberg, Mainz, and Cöln. The ship was built by the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel; her hull was laid down in 1908 and she was launched in July 1909. Augsburg was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet in October 1910. She was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns and had a top speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph).

After her commissioning, Augsburg spent her peacetime career first as a torpedo test ship and then as a gunnery training ship. After the outbreak of World War I, she was assigned to the Baltic Sea, where she spent the entire war. On 2 August 1914, she participated in an operation that saw the first shots of the war with Russia fired, and she later took part in the Battle of the Gulf of Riga in August 1915 and Operation Albion in October 1917, as well as numerous smaller engagements throughout the war. She struck a mine, once, in January 1915, though the ship was again operational in a few months. After the end of the war, Augsburg was ceded to Japan as a war prize, and was subsequently broken up for scrap in 1922.

The Kolberg class of light cruisers were a development of the preceding Dresden class. The primary objective during their design process was to increase speed over the earlier vessels; this required a longer hull to fit an expanded propulsion system. Their armament remained the same as the earlier ships, but they received a new, longer-barreled 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 gun instead of the shorter SK L/40 version of the gun. In addition, the new cruisers abandoned the pronounced ram bow that featured in all previous German light cruisers, and instead used a straight stem.

Augsburg was 130.50 meters (428 ft 2 in) long overall and had a beam of 14 m (45 ft 11 in) and a draft of 5.45 m (17 ft 11 in) forward. She displaced 4,362 metric tons (4,293 long tons) normally and up to 4,882 t (4,805 long tons) at full load. The ship had a forecastle deck that extended for the first third of the hull, which stepped down to main deck level for the central portion of the ship before stepping back up to a short sterncastle. She had a minimal superstructure that consisted of a small conning tower on the forecastle. The ship carried a pair of pole masts with platforms for searchlights, one directly aft of the conning tower, and the other closer to her stern. Augsburg had a crew of 18 officers and 349 enlisted men.

Her propulsion system consisted of two sets of Parsons steam turbines driving four 2.25-meter (7 ft 5 in) screw propellers. They were designed to give 19,000 metric horsepower (18,740 shp). Steam was provided by fifteen coal-fired Marine water-tube boilers, which were vented through three funnels placed amidships. These gave the ship a top speed of 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph). Augsburg carried 940 t (930 long tons; 1,040 short tons) of coal that gave her a range of approximately 3,500 nautical miles (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph).

The ship was armed with a main battery of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/45 guns in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle; eight were located on the broadside, four on either side; and two were side by side aft. These were replaced in 1916–1917 with six 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns. She also carried four 5.2 cm (2 in) SK L/55 anti-aircraft guns, though these were replaced with a pair of two 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns in 1918. She was also equipped with a pair of 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull. Two deck-mounted 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tube launchers were added in 1918. She could also carry 100 mines.

The ship was protected by an armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick, and which curved downward at the sides to provide a measure of protection against enemy fire. Her conning tower had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides, and the main battery guns were fitted with gun shields that were 50 mm (2 in) thick.

Augsburg was ordered as a replacement for the old unprotected cruiser SMS Sperber under the contract name Ersatz Sperber, and was laid down on 22 August 1908 at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel. She was launched on 10 July 1909, and at the ceremony, Georg von Wolfram, the mayor of her namesake city, gave a speech. Fitting-out work then commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 October 1910, initially under the command of Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Ernst-Oldwig von Natzmer. She then embarked on sea trials that lasted into 1911; while still on her initial testing on 17 January, she took part in salvage operations for the sunken U-boat U-3 in Heikendorfer Bay. After completing her trials, on 24 February, Augsburg was assigned to the Torpedo Inspectorate for use as a torpedo training ship, a role that had been planned while she was still under construction. In March, Fregattenkapitän (FK—Frigate Captain) Johannes von Karpf replaced Natzmer as the ship's commander. She thereafter joined the Training and Test Ships Unit for training exercises in the central Baltic Sea that lasted from 2 to 29 April. In July, Augsburg conducted torpedo target practice in Norwegian waters. Later that month, she was part of the naval review held during the visit of the Austro-Hungarian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. During the German fleet's annual autumn training exercises in August and September, Augsburg was temporarily assigned to II Scouting Group.