WW1 German Trench Art Tobacco Tin

This is a really interesting piece of Trench art from World War 1.

On the front of the tin is a German bayonet lying across a branch. To the right of the bayonet is the word Cöln. 

Cöln was  Kolberg-Class Light Cruiser

Cöln was assigned to patrols off the island of Heligoland At the outbreak of World War I in early August 1914, as the flagship of Rear Admiral  Leberecht Maass. At the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914, the German patrol forces were attacked by superior British forces, including five battlecruisers and several light cruisers. Cöln was initially stationed in support of the forces on the patrol line. She attempted to reinforce the beleaguered German forces and encountered Vice Admiral Beatty's battlecruisers. She was hit several times by the battlecruisers' large-caliber guns but managed to escape in the haze. She inadvertently turned back toward them, however, and was quickly disabled when the battle resumed. The crew abandoned Cöln, but German vessels did not search the area for three days, and only one man survived.

This is a really nice piece and has been constructed to a high standard