List of battlecruisers of Germany The Kaiserliche Marine , the navy of the German Empire , built a series of battlecruiser s in the first half of the 20th century . The battlecruiser type was an outgrowth of older armored cruiser designs ; they were intended to scout for the main battle fleet and attack the reconnaissance forces of opposing fleets . Kaiser Wilhelm II maintained that the new battlecruisers be able to fight in the line of battle with battleship s to counter Germany ' s numerical inferiority . Six of the seven battlecruisers completed before or during World War I saw relatively heavy combat , primarily in the North Sea . All of the ships , with the exception of , which had been assigned to the German Mediterranean Division , were assigned to the I Scouting Group under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper . The unit conducted several raids of the English coast between 1914 and 1916 , which culminated in the Battle of Jutland during 31 May – 1 June 1916 , in which they were expected to draw parts of the British fleet onto the German battleship line . The German flagship was sunk at the battle , and the other ships were heavily damaged . For their own part , during the battle " Von der Tann " sank her counterpart , sank , and and " Lützow " together destroyed . The five remaining battlecruisers — " Von der Tann " , , " Seydlitz " , " Derfflinger " , and — were interned with the bulk of the German fleet at the British naval base at Scapa Flow following the end of the war . The ships were subsequently scuttled by their crews in 1919 to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Allied Powers . " Goeben " was transferred to the Ottoman Navy at the outbreak of hostilities , and operated against the Russian Black Sea Fleet for the majority of the war . She was heavily damaged by British naval mine s near the end of the war , but was repaired and went on to serve the Turkish Navy until the 1950s ; she was eventually broken up for scrap in the 1970s . The successor to the Kaiserliche Marine , the Kriegsmarine , considered building three s before the Second World War as part of the Plan Z buildup of the Navy . However , the outbreak of war in 1939 caused the plans to be shelved , and none of these ships were built . SMS " Von der Tann " . SMS " Von der Tann " was the first German battlecruiser , ordered in 1907 . She was designed in response to the British s , construction on which had begun the previous year . As the first of a new type , the design process for " Von der Tann " was highly controversial . Großadmiral Alfred von Tirpitz , the State Secretary for the Imperial German Navy , wanted the ship to follow the British pattern of large guns , relatively light armor , and high speed . Kaiser Wilhelm II , along with other senior navy officers instead argued that , owing to Germany ' s numerical inferiority , the new ships should have armor strong enough to permit their use in the battle line . " Von der Tann " was present for most of the German fleet operations during World War I , including several raids of the English coast . At the Battle of Jutland , " Von der Tann " was the last ship in the German battlecruiser squadron . She engaged and , after 15 minutes of firing , " Von der Tann " s 28 cm ( 11 in ) shells caused a magazine explosion , destroying " Indefatigable " . At the end of the war , " Von der Tann " was interned in Scapa Flow and eventually scuttled . She was raised in 1930 and broken up for scrap between 1931 – 34 . " Moltke " class . " Moltke " and " Goeben " , improvements over the preceding " Von der Tann " , were ordered in 1908 and 1909 , respectively . While their design was not as contentious as with the " Von der Tann " , there were still disagreements between Tirpitz and the General Navy Department over whether the main battery guns should be increased in number or caliber . Tirpitz favored the increase to ten guns , while the Navy Department preferred eight 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) guns . It was eventually decided that ten 28 cm guns would be mounted . In addition to the increased main battery , the two " Moltke " - class ships were slightly larger and better armored than " Von der Tann " . " Moltke " joined " Von der Tann " in the battlecruiser squadron upon her commissioning , and saw action against the British in the North Sea . The ship also saw significant duty in the Baltic Sea against the Russian navy ; in 1915 she was torpedoed during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga , and in 1917 , she returned to the Baltic as the flagship of the invasion force that conducted Operation Albion . " Moltke " was also interned in Scapa Flow at the end of the war and scuttled in 1919 . " Goeben " , on the other hand , was assigned to the Mediterranean , as the flagship of the Mediterranean Division . At the outbreak of war in 1914 , " Goeben " and the light cruiser evaded the British fleet and escaped to Istanbul , where they were transferred to the Ottoman Navy . The ship primarily operated in the Black Sea against the Russians . She attacked British forces outside the Dardanelles in 1918 and struck three mines . The ship continued in Turkish service until 1973 when she was sold for scrapping . SMS " Seydlitz " . " Seydlitz " was an incremental improvement over the " Moltke " class . The ship was slightly larger than the two previous ships , and had a taller forecastle . " Seydlitz " mounted the same ten 28 cm guns as in the " Moltke " class in the same arrangement . Upon commissioning into the fleet , " Seydlitz " became the flagship of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper . The ship took part in most of the major fleet operations during the war . At the Battle of Dogger Bank , " Seydlitz " was hit in her after turrets by two or three 34 . 4 cm ( 13 . 5 in ) shells from ; the shells burnt out the turret and nearly destroyed the ship . At Jutland , " Seydlitz " inflicted fatal damage on the British battlecruiser . The ship was heavily damaged through the remainder of the battle , and took in over 5 , 300 metric tons ( 5 , 200 long tons ) of water . Despite the immense damage , " Seydlitz " was able to make the trip back to Wilhelmshaven , where she was repaired . As with " Von der Tann " and " Moltke " , " Seydlitz " was interned and eventually scuttled in Scapa Flow . " Derfflinger " class . The three " Derfflinger " - class ships were the last battlecruisers completed for the German navy . The ships ' primary armament was radically modified , compared to the older ships . The number of guns was reduced to eight , but their diameter was increased to 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) . They were also placed in two superfiring pairs , fore and aft of the main superstructure . The first unit , the name ship , was completed shortly after the outbreak of World War I . " Lützow " followed in August 1915 , and " Hindenburg " joined the fleet in May 1917 . " Derfflinger " was involved in most of the fleet actions during the war . At Jutland she fired on " Queen Mary " and contributed to her destruction , along with " Seydlitz " . " Derfflinger " and " Lützow " later concentrated their fire on and destroyed her . However , during the battle , " Lützow " was severely damaged by at least 24 heavy - caliber shells and was unable to make it back to Germany . She was scuttled early the following morning . " Hindenburg " s career was much less eventful ; she was completed so late in the war that she saw no significant action against the British fleet . She and " Derfflinger " were interned and scuttled in Scapa Flow with the rest of the fleet . " Mackensen " class . Following the realization in February 1915 that the war would not be won quickly , the Navy department decided to replace the six armored cruisers that had been lost thus far . The ships were improved versions of the " Derfflinger " class ; the primary alterations being the adoption of the 35 cm ( 13 . 8 in ) gun for the main battery , along with a full - length forecastle deck . Four ships were ordered and laid down , but only two of them , " Mackensen " and " Graf Spee " , were launched . None of the ships were completed , as work had been diverted to U - boat construction . All four ships were broken up in Germany between 1921 and 1924 . " Ersatz Yorck " class . The three ships of the " Ersatz Yorck " class were originally ordered as " Mackensen " - class ships , but the design was modified in January 1917 to increase the armament to eight 38 cm ( 15 in ) guns . The " Ersatz Yorck " s were otherwise similar to the " Mackensen " s , with the exception of the funnels . The " Ersatz Yorck " - class ships were modified to trunk the two smoke uptakes of the previous design into one large funnel . Only the lead ship was laid down , and work did not proceed far ; only about 1 , 000 metric tons of steel had been assembled by the time work ceased . The other two ships were assigned to shipyards , but work never began . O class . The O - class battlecruisers were designed in 1937 to supplement the s then planned for the new German fleet . The three ships were armed with six 38 cm guns in three twin turrets , similar to the arrangement of the main battery of the s . They were intended for use as long - range commerce raiders , with the goal of forcing Great Britain to disperse its battleships as convoy escorts . The ships were never laid down due to the outbreak of World War II in September 1939 .