Derfflinger-class battlecruiser
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The class was a
class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...
of three
battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...
s (german: Schlachtkreuzer, links=no) of the
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
. The ships were ordered for the 1912–13 Naval Building Program of the German Imperial Navy as a reply to the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
's two new s that had been launched a few years earlier. The preceding and the incrementally improved represented the end of the evolution of Germany's first generation of battlecruisers. The class had considerable improvements, including a larger primary armament, all of which was mounted on the centerline. The ships were also larger than the preceding classes. The class used a similar propulsion system, and as a result of the increased displacement were slightly slower. The class comprised three ships: , , and . All three of the ships saw active service with the
High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
during World War I. was commissioned shortly after the outbreak of war, and was present at most of the naval actions in the North Sea, including the battles of
Dogger Bank Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...
and
Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
. was commissioned in August 1915, and participated only in the
raid on Yarmouth The Raid on Yarmouth, on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. German shells only landed on the beach causing little damage to the town, after German ships laying m ...
before being sunk at Jutland. was commissioned into the fleet in May 1917, and saw no major action. and were interned at
Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
following the armistice in November 1918. Rear Admiral
Ludwig von Reuter Hans Hermann Ludwig von Reuter (9 February 1869 – 18 December 1943) was a German admiral who commanded the High Seas Fleet when it was interned at Scapa Flow in the north of Scotland at the end of World War I. On 21 June 1919 he ordered ...
, who was in command of the interned High Seas Fleet, ordered the ships to be scuttled in an attempt to prevent their possible seizure by the Royal Navy.


Design

The -class battlecruisers were a result of the fourth and final Naval Law, which was passed in 1912. Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...
used public outcry over the British involvement in the
Agadir Crisis The Agadir Crisis, Agadir Incident, or Second Moroccan Crisis was a brief crisis sparked by the deployment of a substantial force of French troops in the interior of Morocco in April 1911 and the deployment of the German gunboat to Agadir, a ...
of 1911 to pressure the Reichstag into appropriating additional funds to the Navy. The Fourth Naval Law secured funding for three new
dreadnought The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...
s, two
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s, and an extra 15,000 officers and men in the Navy for 1912. The three dreadnoughts secured in the bill became , , and . Design work on the first two ships began in October 1910 and continued until June 1911; was built to a slightly modified design, which was created between May and October 1912. When design work began, the navy department was asked to submit new requirements to fix deficiencies found in the preceding battlecruiser classes, which primarily covered propulsion systems and the main armament. Previous battlecruisers used a four shaft arrangement for their engines; reducing the number to three would allow the new ships to equip a
diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
on the central shaft. This would substantially increase the cruising range, and would ease the transfer of fuel and reduce the number of crew needed to operate the ships' machinery. The navy department also argued for an increase in the main battery guns, from 28-centimeter (11 in) guns to 30.5 cm (12 in) weapons. This was because the latest British battleships had thicker main belt armor, up to . Since the German battlecruisers were intended to fight in the
line of battle The line of battle is a tactic in naval warfare in which a fleet of ships forms a line end to end. The first example of its use as a tactic is disputed—it has been variously claimed for dates ranging from 1502 to 1652. Line-of-battle tacti ...
, their armament needed to be sufficiently powerful to penetrate the armor of their British opponents. Weight increases were managed by reducing the number of guns, from 10 to 8—the increase in gun caliber added only 36 tons to the ships' displacement. Tirpitz argued against the increase in gun caliber, for he thought the 28 cm gun was powerful enough. A new construction technique was employed to save weight. Previous battlecruisers were built with a combination of transverse and longitudinal steel frames; the -class ships dispensed with the transverse frames and used only the longitudinal ones. This enabled the ship to retain structural strength and a lower weight. As with all preceding capital ships, the outer hull spaces between the hull wall and the
torpedo bulkhead A torpedo bulkhead is a type of naval armour common on the more heavily armored warships, especially battleships and battlecruisers of the early 20th century. It is designed to keep the ship afloat even if the hull is struck underneath the belt ar ...
were used for coal storage. On 1 September 1910, the design board chose the 30.5 cm, to be mounted in four twin turrets on the centerline of the ship. The armor layout was kept the same as in . In the meantime, pressure from the British public and media had forced the
British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative supremacy ...
to step up ship building. Kaiser
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
requested that the build time for the new battlecruisers be reduced to two years each, as opposed to three years. This proved unfeasible, because neither the armor or armament firms could supply the necessary materials according to an expedited schedule.


General characteristics

and were long at the waterline and
long overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
. was slightly longer, at at the waterline and overall. All three ships had a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of , and a draft of between forward and aft. The first two ships were designed to displace with a standard load, and up to at combat weight. displaced slightly more, at standard and fully laden. The ships' hulls were constructed from longitudinal steel frames, over which the outer hull plates were
rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...
ed. s hull contained 16
watertight compartment A compartment is a portion of the space within a ship defined vertically between decks and horizontally between bulkheads. It is analogous to a room within a building, and may provide watertight subdivision of the ship's hull important in retain ...
s, though and had an additional seventeenth compartment. All three ships had a
double bottom A double hull is a ship Hull (watercraft), hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull ...
that ran for 65% of the length of the hull. This was a decrease from preceding German battlecruisers, which had a double bottom for at least 75% of the hull. The ships were regarded as excellent sea boats by the German navy. The -class ships were described as having had gentle motion, though they were "wet" at the
casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, th ...
deck. The ships lost up to 65% speed with the twin rudders hard over, and heeled up to 11 degrees. This was greater than any of the preceding battlecruiser designs, and as a result, anti-roll tanks were fitted to . The three ships had a
metacentric height The metacentric height (GM) is a measurement of the initial static stability of a floating body. It is calculated as the distance between the centre of gravity of a ship and its metacentre. A larger metacentric height implies greater initial stab ...
of . The standard crew for one of the vessels was 44 officers and 1,068 men; when serving as the flagship for the
I Scouting Group The I Scouting Group (german: I. Aufklärungsgruppe) was a special reconnaissance unit within the German Kaiserliche Marine. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper during World War I. The I Scouting Group was one of the most ...
, the ships carried an additional 14 officers and 62 men. The s carried smaller craft, including one picket boat, three barges, two launches, two
yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...
s, and two
dinghies A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...
.


Machinery

By the time construction work on began, it was determined that the diesel engine was not ready for use. Instead, the plan to use a three-shaft system was abandoned and the ships reverted to the standard four-shaft arrangement. Each of the three ships was equipped with two sets of marine-type
turbines A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful Work (physics), work. The work produced by a turbine can be used ...
; each set drove a pair of 3-bladed
screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...
that were in diameter on and and in diameter on . Each set consisted of a high- and low-pressure turbine—the high-pressure machines drove the outer shafts while the low-pressure turbines turned the inner pair. Steam was supplied to the turbines from 14 coal-fired marine-type double boilers and eight oil-fired marine-type double-ended boilers. Each ship was equipped with a pair of turbo-electric generators and a pair of diesel-electric generators that provided a total of 1,660 kilowatts at 220 
volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...
s. Each ship was equipped with two
rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
s. The engines for first two ships were designed to provide , at 280 
revolutions per minute Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
. This would have given the two ships a top speed of . During trials, s engines achieved , but a top speed of . s engines reached and a top speed of . s power plant was rated at at 290 rpm, for a top speed of . On trials she reached and . could carry of coal and of oil; at a cruising speed of , she had a range of . carried of coal and 1,000 tons of oil, though she had no advantage in range over her
sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
. also stored 3,700 tons of coal, as well as of oil; her range at 14 knots was rated at .


Armament

The -class ships were armed with eight 30.5 cm (12 in) SK L/50 guns in four twin gun turrets, two forward of the main
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
in a
superfiring Superfiring armament is a naval military building technique in which two (or more) turrets are located in a line, one behind the other, with the second turret located above ("super") the one in front so that the second turret can fire over the ...
pair and two to the rear of the ship, in a similar arrangement. The guns were housed in Drh.L C/1912 mounts on the first two ships, and in Drh.L C/1913 mounts on . The turrets were trained with electric motors, while the guns were elevated hydraulically, up to 13.5 degrees. The guns fired 405.5-kilogram (894 lb) armor-piercing shells at a
muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately to i ...
of 855 meters per second (2,805 ft/s). At 13.5 degrees, the shells could hit targets out to . The turrets were modified in 1916 to increase the elevation maximum to 16 degrees. This correspondingly increased the range to . The ships carried 720 shells, or 90 per gun; each gun was supplied with 65 armor-piercing (AP) shells and 25 semi-AP shells for use against targets with less armor protection. The 30.5 cm gun had a
rate of fire Rate of fire is the frequency at which a specific weapon can fire or launch its projectiles. This can be influenced by several factors, including operator training level, mechanical limitations, ammunition availability, and weapon condition. In m ...
of between 2–3 shells per minute, and was expected to fire 200 shells before replacement was necessary. The guns were also capable of firing 405.9 kg (894.8 lb)
high explosive An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An exp ...
shells. The shells were loaded with two RP C/12
propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the e ...
charges: a main charge in a brass cartridge that weighed 91 kg (201 lb) and a fore charge in a silk bag that weighed 34.5 kg (76 lb). The propellant magazines were located underneath the shell rooms for the two forward turrets as well as the rear superfiring turret; the arrangement was reversed for the rearmost turret. The ships were designed to carry fourteen SK L/45 guns, mounted in casemates along the superstructure. Because had to be fitted with anti-roll tanks, two of the casemated guns had to be removed, to allow enough room in the hull. and were equipped with the designed number of guns. Each gun was supplied with 160 rounds, and had a maximum range of , though this was later extended to . The guns had a sustained rate of fire of five to seven rounds per minute. The shells were 45.3 kg (99.8 lb), and were loaded with a 13.7 kg (31.2 lb) RPC/12 propellant charge in a brass cartridge. The guns fired at a muzzle velocity of 835 meters per second (2,740 ft/s). The guns were expected to fire around 1,400 shells before they needed to be replaced. The three ships carried a variety of SK L/45 guns in several configurations. The -class ships were initially equipped with eight of these weapons, all in single mounts; four were placed in the forward superstructure and four in the aft superstructure. The ships also carried four 8.8 cm Flak L/45 anti-aircraft guns, which were emplaced around the forward funnel, with the exception of , which carried the Flak guns around the rear funnel. After 1916, the four 8.8 cm guns in the forward superstructure were removed. The Flak guns were emplaced in MPL C/13 mountings, which allowed depression to −10 degrees and elevation to 70 degrees. These guns fired 9 kg (19.8 lb) shells, and had an effective ceiling of at 70 degrees. The ships were also armed with submerged
torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s in their hulls. was equipped with four 50 cm tubes; the later ships were armed with more powerful 60 cm weapons. The tubes were arranged with one in the bow, one in the stern, and two on the
broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...
. s 50 cm torpedoes were the G7 type, 7.02 m (276 in) long and armed with a 195 kg (430 lb)
Hexanite Hexanite was a castable German military explosive developed early in the 20th century before the First World War for the Kaiserliche Marine, intended to augment supplies of trinitrotoluene (TNT), which were then in short supply. Hexanite is slight ...
warhead. The torpedo had a range of 4,000 m (4,370 yd) when set at a speed of 37 knots, and up to 9,300 m (10,170 yd) at 27 knots. The 60 cm torpedoes were the H8 type, which were 8 m long and carried a 210 kg (463 lb) Hexanite warhead. The torpedoes had a range of 6,000 m (6,550 yd) when set at a speed of 36 knots; at a reduced speed of 30 knots, the range increased significantly to 14,000 m (15,310 yd).


Armor

The -class ships were protected with Krupp cemented steel armor, as was the standard for German warships of the period. They had an
armor belt Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated onto or within the outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and aircraft carriers. The belt armor is designed to prevent projectiles from penetrating to t ...
that was thick in the central
citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In ...
of the ship, where the most important parts of the ship were. This included the ammunition magazines and the machinery spaces. The belt was reduced in less critical areas, to forward and aft. The belt tapered down to at the bow, though the
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
was not protected by armor at all. A thick torpedo bulkhead ran the length of the hull, several meters behind the main belt. The main armored deck ranged in thickness from 30 mm thick in less important areas, to in the sections that covered the more critical areas of the ship. The forward
conning tower A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer in charge can conn the vessel, controlling movements of the ship by giving orders to those responsible for the ship's engine, rudder, lines, and gro ...
was protected with heavy armor: the sides were 300 mm thick and the roof was thick. The rear conning tower was less well armored; its sides were only thick and the roof was covered with of armor plate. The main battery gun turrets were also heavily armored: the turret sides were thick and the roofs were thick. On , the thickness of the turret roofs was increased to . The 15 cm guns had 150 mm-worth of armor plating in the casemates; the guns themselves had thick shields to protect their crews from shell splinters.


Construction

Of the three ships in its class, only was ordered as an addition to the fleet, under the provisional name "K". The other two ships were to intended to replace obsolete vessels; was ordered as for the elderly
protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
and the contract for was issued under the provisional name , to replace the protected cruiser . was constructed at
Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...
in Hamburg under construction number 213. She was the least expensive of the three ships, at a cost of 56 million
gold marks The German mark (german: Goldmark ; sign: ℳ) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the ...
. The ship was ready to be launched on 14 June 1913, but during the ceremony, one of the wooden sledges upon which the hull rested became jammed. It took until 12 July for her to enter the water. She was commissioned into the
High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
on 1 September 1914, shortly after the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. was built at the Schichau dockyard in Danzig under construction number 885, at the cost of 58 million gold marks. The ship was launched on 29 November 1913, and after lengthy trials, commissioned on 8 August 1915. , the final member of the class, was built at the Imperial Dockyard in
Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
, under construction number 34. The ship was built at a cost of 59 million gold marks, the most expensive of the three vessels. She was launched on 1 August 1915 and commissioned on 10 May 1917.


Ships of the class


Service history


SMS

Named after
Georg von Derfflinger Georg von Derfflinger (20 March 1606 – 14 February 1695) was a field marshal in the army of Brandenburg-Prussia during and after the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Early years Born 1606 at Neuhofen an der Krems in Austria, into a family o ...
, a German field marshal during the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
, was commissioned on 1 September 1914. A dockyard crew transferred the ship from
Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...
to
Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...
, via the
Skagen Skagen () is Denmark's northernmost town, on the east coast of the Skagen Odde peninsula in the far north of Jutland, part of Frederikshavn Municipality in Nordjylland, north of Frederikshavn and northeast of Aalborg. The Port of Skagen is ...
. The ship was assigned to the I Scouting Group at the end of October. Damage to the ship's turbines sustained during
trials In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...
prevented the ship from seeing active service until 16 November. On 15 December, the ship took part in the
raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties an ...
. She was also present during the battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915. The ship was hit once by a 13.5-inch shell from one of the British battlecruisers; in response, she heavily damaged . Repair work was completed by 16 February, but s starboard turbine was accidentally damaged on 28 June, and the ship was again in the dockyard until August. On 24 April 1916, took part in the bombardment of Yarmouth. On 31 May, was heavily engaged during the
Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...
, as the second ship in the German battlecruiser line. She sustained 21 major hits during the battle, but dealt considerable damage to the British battlecruiser force as well. At 16:26, sank after a magazine explosion that tore the ship apart; she had been targeted with a hail of heavy-caliber gunfire from and . Two hours later, at 18:30, suffered a similar fate, though was assisted by her sister . During the engagement, had both of her rear turrets knocked out by British gunfire. Her crew suffered 157 men killed and 26 wounded, which was the highest casualty figure for any German ship not sunk. The resilience of the vessel earned her the nickname "Iron Dog" from her British adversaries. Repair work lasted until 15 October, during which the ship had her pole mast removed and replaced with a tripod mast. The ship conducted training operations until November, at which point she returned to active duty with the fleet. Following the German capitulation in November 1918, was interned with a significant portion of the High Seas Fleet in
Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and ...
. On 21 June 1919, with the guard ships of the Royal Navy out on maneuvers, Rear Admiral
Ludwig von Reuter Hans Hermann Ludwig von Reuter (9 February 1869 – 18 December 1943) was a German admiral who commanded the High Seas Fleet when it was interned at Scapa Flow in the north of Scotland at the end of World War I. On 21 June 1919 he ordered ...
ordered that the fleet be scuttled. The resulting scuttling of the German fleet saw some 66 vessels of various types sunk. Among those was , which sank at 14:45. The ship was raised in 1939 to be broken up for scrap metal, but the outbreak of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
intervened. The ship, which remained
capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fro ...
d, was anchored off the island of
Risa Risa may refer to: * Risa (given name), a feminine given name * Risa (Star Trek), a fictional planet * Radioiodinated serum albumin * Recording Industry of South Africa * Ribosomal Intergenic Spacer analysis See also * * * Rise (disambiguation) ...
until 1946, at which point she was sent to
Faslane Port His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde (HMNB Clyde; also HMS ''Neptune''), primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth). It ...
, where she was broken up. The ship's bell was delivered to the German Federal Navy on 30 August 1965.


SMS

was named after
Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm Freiherr von Lützow (18 May 17826 December 1834) was a Prussian general notable for his organization and command of the '' Lützow Freikorps'' of volunteers during the Napoleonic Wars. Early life Lützow was born in Berlin ...
, a Prussian lieutenant-general who fought during the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. The ship was commissioned on 8 August 1915, and then underwent trials. On 25 October, while still running sea trials, s port low pressure turbine was severely damaged. She was sent to Kiel for repairs, which lasted until late January 1916. The ship went on additional trials that lasted until 19 February. was by then fully operational, and assigned to I Scouting Group on 20 March 1916. She took part in two fleet advances, on 25 March and 21–22 April, without any major incidents. The following day, on 23 April, , along with her sister and the battlecruisers , , and , bombarded Yarmouth. While en route to the target, Vice Admiral
Franz von Hipper Franz Ritter von Hipper (13 September 1863 – 25 May 1932) was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units an ...
's flagship was heavily damaged by mines. As a result, was transferred to the role of squadron flagship. During the operation, the German battlecruisers encountered British light forces, and a running battle ensued. engaged the light cruiser and hit her several times. At the Battle of Jutland, she was the first ship in the German line, and Hipper's flagship, and drew fire from the British battlecruisers which included hits below her waterline. Shortly after the start of the battlecruiser action, hit her opponent ''Lion'' several times; one hit knocked out ''Lion''s "Q" turret, and the resulting magazine fire nearly destroyed the ship. Shortly after 19:00, the armored cruisers and inadvertently ran into the German line; opened fire immediately, followed by several German dreadnoughts. In a hail of shells, ''Defence''s ammunition magazines detonated and the ship was sunk. At around the same time, the fresh battlecruisers of the
3rd Battlecruiser Squadron The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was a short-lived Royal Navy squadron of battlecruisers that saw service as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War. Creation The 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was created in 1915, with the return to home ...
engaged their German opposites. Between 19:26 and 19:34, sustained four 12-inch shell hits in her bow from the British battlecruisers; these eventually proved to be fatal. Despite this, at 19:30, the combined fire of and her sister destroyed the battlecruiser ''Invincible''. By 20:15, had been hit five more times, including hits on her two forward turrets. By 22:15, had shipped nearly 2,400 tons of water, and the ship was dangerously down by the bows. After midnight, attempts were made to steer the ship in reverse. This failed when the bow became submerged enough to bring the stern out of the water; by 02:20, the screws and both rudders were coming out of the water and the ship was no longer able to steer. The order to abandon ship was given, and at 02:47, was sunk by the torpedo boat . The ship was lost because the flooding in the bow could not be controlled; the forward pump system failed and the central system could not keep up with the rising water. The crew was picked up by four torpedo boats that had been escorting the crippled battlecruiser; during the battle the ship suffered 116 men killed.


SMS

was the last battlecruiser completed for the Imperial German Navy, and as such had a very short career. She was commissioned 10 May 1917, and was fully operational by 20 October 1917, too late to see any major action in World War I. On 17 November and , along with the light cruisers of II Scouting Group, were acting as distant support for German minesweepers off the German coast when they were attacked by British battlecruisers. The raid was brief; by the time and arrived on the scene, the British ships had broken off the attack and withdrawn. Six days later, replaced as flagship of I Scouting Group. On 23 April 1918, the ship took part in an abortive fleet advance into the North Sea that attempted to intercept an Allied convoy. sustained mechanical damage while en route, and as a result, Vice Admiral Hipper decided to cancel the operation. On 11 August, Hipper was promoted to Admiral and given command of the entire High Seas Fleet. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter replaced Hipper as the commander of I Scouting Group; he raised his flag on the following day. was interned at Scapa Flow, along with her sister and the rest of the German battlecruisers. She was scuttled on 21 June 1919, and sank at 17:00. Several unsuccessful attempts to raise her were made; on 23 July 1930 the ship was finally raised. From 1930 to 1932 she was scrapped at
Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...
. Her bell was presented to the German Federal Navy on 28 May 1959.


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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Derfflinger-class battlecruiser Battlecruiser classes World War I battlecruisers of Germany