SMS Dresden ("His Majesty's Ship Dresden") was the lead ship of her class, built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in 1906, was launched in October 1907, and completed in November 1908. She had one sister ship, Emden. Like the preceding Königsberg-class cruisers, Dresden was armed with ten guns and two torpedo tubes.