 Both ships participated in the non @-@ intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and 1937 . After the outbreak of World War II , they were used in a variety of roles , including as minelayers and escort vessels . On 13 December 1939 , both ships were torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Salmon . They were thereafter used in secondary roles , primarily as training ships , for most of the rest of the war . Leipzig provided some gunfire support to German Army troops fighting on the Eastern Front . 
