SMS Moltke SMS " Moltke " was the lead ship of the s of the German Imperial Navy , named after the 19th - century German Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke . Commissioned on 30 September 1911 , the ship was the second battlecruiser commissioned into the Imperial Navy . " Moltke " , along with her sister ship , was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design , , with increased armor protection and two more main guns in an additional turret . Compared to her British rivals — the — " Moltke " and her sister were significantly larger and better armored . The ship participated in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the German Navy during the First World War , including the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea , and the Battle of the Gulf of Riga and Operation Albion in the Baltic . " Moltke " was damaged several times during the war : the ship was hit by heavy caliber gunfire at Jutland , and torpedoed twice by British submarines while on fleet advances . Following the end of the war in 1918 , " Moltke " , along with most of the High Seas Fleet , was interned at Scapa Flow pending a decision by the Allies as to the fate of the fleet . The ship met her end when she was scuttled , along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet in 1919 to prevent them from falling into British hands . The wreck of " Moltke " was raised in 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth from 1927 to 1929 . Development . In a conference in May 1907 , the Germany Navy Office decided to follow up the unique battlecruiser with an enlarged design . The sum of 44 million marks was allocated for the 1908 fiscal year , which created the possibility of increasing the main guns to 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) in diameter , instead of the 28 cm ( 11 in ) weapons on the preceding design . However , Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz , along with the Construction Department , argued that increasing the number of guns from 8 to 10 would be preferable instead of increasing the size of the previous battery . The General Navy Department held that for the new design to fight in the battle line , 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) guns were necessary . Ultimately , Tirpitz and the Construction Department won the debate , and " Moltke " was equipped with ten 28 cm ( 11 in ) guns . The guns were mounted in five twin gun turret s , three of which were on the centerline — one was forward and two were in a superfiring pair aft . The other two turrets were staggered wing turret s amidships . The Construction Department also mandated that armor protection was to be at least as good as that of " Von der Tann " . The ship was also to have a top speed of at least . During the design process , the ship ' s weight continued to grow due to the increase in the size of the citadel , armor thickness , the additions to the ammunition stores , and the rearrangement of the boiler system . The naval arms race between Germany and Britain put a great deal of stress on the Navy design staff , and prompted the decision to build two ships of the new design . They were assigned under the contract names of " Cruiser G " and " Cruiser H . " Blohm & Voss received both contracts in 1908 ; " Cruiser G " was assigned to the 1908 – 1909 building year , while " Cruiser H " was assigned to 1909 – 1910 . The contract for " Cruiser G " was awarded on 17 September 1908 , under building number 200 . The keel was laid on 7 December 1908 , and the ship was launched on 7 April 1910 . " Cruiser G " was commissioned on 30 September 1911 , as SMS " Moltke " . Service record . Pre - war . At the launching of the ship on 7 April 1910 , Helmuth von Moltke the Younger christened her after his uncle , Helmuth von Moltke the Elder , the Chief of Staff of the Prussian Army in the mid 19th century . On 11 September 1911 , a crew composed of dockyard workers transferred the ship from Hamburg to Kiel through the Skagerrak . On 30 September , the ship was commissioned , under the command of " Kapitän zur See " von Mann , and replaced in the Reconnaissance Unit . Sea trials continued until 1 April 1912 . " Moltke " was the only German capital ship to ever visit the United States . On 11 May 1912 she left Kiel , accompanied by the light cruiser s and , and arrived off Hampton Roads , Virginia , on 30 May 1912 . After touring the East Coast for two weeks , she returned to Kiel on 24 June . In July 1912 , " Moltke " escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II ' s yacht to Russia . Upon returning , " Moltke " s commander was replaced by " KzS " Magnus von Levetzow , and the ship became the Reconnaissance Force flagship until 23 June 1914 , when the commander ' s flag was transferred to the new battlecruiser . There was some consideration given to deploying " Moltke " to the Far East in order to replace the armored cruiser , but the plan was abandoned when it became apparent that needed replacement in the Mediterranean . " Moltke " was then scheduled to transfer to replace her sister ship , but this plan was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I . World War I . As was the case with almost all German capital ships during World War I , " Moltke " s action was somewhat limited . However , she did participate in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the High Seas Fleet . At the start of the war , the ship was assigned to the I Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet , under the command of Rear Admiral Franz Hipper . Battle of Heligoland Bight . Shortly after the outbreak of World War I , on 28 August 1914 , " Moltke " participated in the Battle of Heligoland Bight . During the morning , British cruisers from the Harwich Force attacked the German destroyers patrolling the Heligoland Bight . Six German light cruisers — , , , , , and — responded to the attack and inflicted serious damage to the British raiders . However , the arrival at approximately 13 : 37 of the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron , under the command of Vice Admiral David Beatty , quickly put the German ships at a disadvantage . Along with the rest of the I Scouting Group battlecruisers , " Moltke " was stationed in the Wilhelmshaven Roads on the morning of the battle . By 08 : 50 , Rear Admiral Hipper had requested permission from Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , the commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet , to send " Moltke " and " Von der Tann " to relieve the beleaguered German cruisers . " Moltke " was ready to sail by 12 : 10 , but the low tide prevented the ships from being able to pass over the sand bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary safely . At 14 : 10 , " Moltke " and " Von der Tann " were able to cross the Jade bar ; Hipper ordered the German cruisers to fall back to his ships , while Hipper himself was about an hour behind in the battlecruiser . At 14 : 25 , the remaining light cruisers — " Strassburg " , " Stettin " , " Frauenlob " , " Stralsund " , and " Ariadne " — rendezvoused with the battlecruisers . " Seydlitz " arrived on the scene by 15 : 10 , while " Ariadne " succumbed to battle damage and sank . Hipper ventured forth cautiously to search for the two missing light cruisers , and " Cöln " , which had already sunk . By 16 : 00 , the German flotilla turned around to return to the Jade Estuary , arriving at approximately 20 : 23 . Bombardment of Yarmouth . On 2 November 1914 , " Moltke " , Rear Admiral Hipper ' s flagship " Seydlitz " , " Von der Tann " , and " Blücher " , along with four light cruiser s , left the Jade Estuary and steamed towards the English coast . The flotilla arrived off Great Yarmouth at daybreak the following morning and bombarded the port , while the light cruiser " Stralsund " laid a minefield . The British submarine responded to the bombardment , but struck one of the mines laid by " Stralsund " and sank . Shortly thereafter , Hipper ordered his ships to turn back to German waters . However , while Hipper ' s ships were returning to German waters , a heavy fog covered the Heligoland Bight , so the ships were ordered to halt until visibility improved so they could safely navigate the defensive minefields . The armored cruiser left the Jade without permission , and while en route to Wilhelmshaven made a navigational error that led the ship into one of the German minefields . " Yorck " struck two mines and quickly sank ; the coastal defense ship was able to save 127 men of the crew . Bombardment of Scarborough , Hartlepool , and Whitby . It was decided by Admiral von Ingenohl that another raid on the English coast was to be carried out , in the hopes of luring a portion of the Grand Fleet into combat , where it could be destroyed . At 03 : 20 on 15 December , " Moltke " , " Seydlitz " , " Von der Tann " , , and , along with the light cruisers " Kolberg " , " Strassburg " , " Stralsund " , and " Graudenz " , and two squadrons of torpedo boats left the Jade . The ships sailed north past the island of Heligoland , until they reached the Horns Reef lighthouse , at which point the ships turned west towards Scarborough . Twelve hours after Hipper left the Jade , the High Seas Fleet , consisting of 14 dreadnought s and 8 pre - dreadnought s and a screening force of 2 armored cruisers , 7 light cruisers , and 54 torpedo boats , departed to provide distant cover . On 26 August 1914 , the German light cruiser had run aground in the Gulf of Finland ; the wreck was captured by the Russian navy , which found code books used by the German navy , along with navigational charts for the North Sea . These documents were then passed on to the Royal Navy . Room 40 began decrypting German signals , and on 14 December , intercepted messages relating to the plan to bombard Scarborough . However , the exact details of the plan were unknown , and it was assumed that the High Seas Fleet would remain safely in port , as in the previous bombardment . Vice Admiral Beatty ' s four battlecruisers , supported by the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron , along with the 2nd Battle Squadron ' s six dreadnoughts , were to ambush Hipper ' s battlecruisers . During the night of 15 December , the main body of the High Seas Fleet encountered British destroyers . Fearing the prospect of a nighttime torpedo attack , Admiral Ingenohl ordered the ships to retreat . Hipper was unaware of Ingenohl ' s reversal , and so he continued with the bombardment . Upon reaching the British coast , Hipper ' s battlecruisers split into two groups . " Seydlitz " , " Moltke " , and " Blücher " went north to shell Hartlepool , while " Von der Tann " and " Derfflinger " went south to shell Scarborough and Whitby . During the bombardment of Hartlepool , " Moltke " was struck by a 6 in ( 15 . 2 cm ) shell from a coastal battery , which caused minor damage between decks , but no casualties . " Blücher " was hit six times and " Seydlitz " three times by the coastal battery . By 09 : 45 on the 16th , the two groups had reassembled , and they began to retreat eastward . By this time , Beatty ' s battlecruisers were in position to block Hipper ' s chosen egress route , while other forces were en route to complete the encirclement . At 12 : 25 , the light cruisers of the II Scouting Group began to pass through the British forces searching for Hipper . One of the cruisers in the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron spotted " Stralsund " and signaled a report to Beatty . At 12 : 30 , Beatty turned his battlecruisers towards the German ships . Beatty presumed that the German cruisers were the advance screen for Hipper ' s ships , however those were some 50 km ( 31 mi ) ahead . The 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron , which had been screening for Beatty ' s ships , detached to pursue the German cruisers , but a misinterpreted signal from the British battlecruisers sent them back to their screening positions . This confusion allowed the German light cruisers to escape and alerted Hipper to the location of the British battlecruisers . The German battlecruisers wheeled to the northeast of the British forces and made good their escape . Both the British and the Germans were disappointed that they failed to effectively engage their opponents . Admiral Ingenohl ' s reputation suffered greatly as a result of his timidity . The captain of " Moltke " was furious ; he stated that Ingenohl had turned back " because he was afraid of eleven British destroyers which could have been eliminated . . . under the present leadership we will accomplish nothing . " The official German history criticized Ingenohl for failing to use his light forces to determine the size of the British fleet , stating : " he decided on a measure which not only seriously jeopardized his advance forces off the English coast but also deprived the German Fleet of a signal and certain victory . " Battle of Dogger Bank . In early January 1915 , it became known that British ships were conducting reconnaissance in the Dogger Bank area . Ingenohl was initially reluctant to destroy these forces , because the I Scouting Group was temporarily weakened while " Von der Tann " was in drydock for periodic maintenance . However , " Konteradmiral " Richard Eckermann , the Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet , insisted on the operation , and so Ingenohl relented and ordered Hipper to take his battlecruisers to the Dogger Bank . On 23 January , Hipper sortied , with his flag in " Seydlitz " , followed by " Moltke " , " Derfflinger " , and " Blücher " , along with the light cruisers " Graudenz " , " Rostock " , " Stralsund " , and " Kolberg " and 19 torpedo boats from V Flotilla and II and XVIII Half - Flotillas . " Graudenz " and " Stralsund " were assigned to the forward screen , while " Kolberg " and " Rostock " were assigned to the starboard and port , respectively . Each light cruiser had a half - flotilla of torpedo boats attached . Again , interception and decryption of German wireless signals played an important role . Although they were unaware of the exact plans , the cryptographers of Room 40 were able to deduce that Hipper would be conducting an operation in the Dogger Bank area . To counter it , Beatty ' s 1st Battlecruiser Squadron , Rear Admiral Archibald Moore ' s 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron and Commodore William Goodenough ' s 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron were to rendezvous with Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt ' s Harwich Force at 8 : 00 on 24 January , approximately north of the Dogger Bank . At 08 : 14 , " Kolberg " spotted the light cruiser and several destroyers from the Harwich Force . " Aurora " challenged " Kolberg " with a search light , at which point " Kolberg " attacked " Aurora " and scored two hits . " Aurora " returned fire and scored two hits on " Kolberg " in retaliation . Hipper immediately turned his battlecruisers towards the gunfire , when , almost simultaneously , " Stralsund " spotted a large amount of smoke to the northwest of her position . This was identified as a number of large British warships steaming towards Hipper ' s ships . Hipper turned south to flee , but was limited to , which was the maximum speed of the older armored cruiser " Blücher " . The pursuing British battlecruisers were steaming at , and quickly caught up to the German ships . At 09 : 52 , opened fire on " Blücher " from a range of approximately 20 , 000 yards ( 18 , 300 m ) ; shortly thereafter , and began firing as well . At 10 : 09 , the British guns made their first hit on " Blücher " . Two minutes later , the German ships began returning fire , primarily concentrating on " Lion " , from a range of 18 , 000 yards ( 15 , 460 m ) . At 10 : 28 , " Lion " was struck on the waterline , which tore a hole in the side of the ship and flooded a coal bunker . At 10 : 30 , , the fourth ship in Beatty ' s line , came within range of " Blücher " and opened fire . By 10 : 35 , the range had closed to 17 , 500 yards ( 16 , 000 m ) , at which point the entire German line was within the effective range of the British ships . Beatty ordered his battlecruisers to engage their German counterparts . However , confusion aboard " Tiger " led the captain to believe he was to fire on " Seydlitz " , which left " Moltke " able to fire without distraction . At 10 : 40 , one of " Lion " s shells struck " Seydlitz " causing nearly catastrophic damage that knocked out both of the rear turrets and killed 159 men . Disaster was averted when the executive officer ordered the flooding of both magazines to avoid a flash fire that would have destroyed the ship . By this time , the German battlecruisers had zeroed in on " Lion " and began scoring repeated hits . At 11 : 01 , an shell from " Seydlitz " struck " Lion " and knocked out two of her dynamos . At 11 : 18 , " Lion " was hit by two shells from " Derfflinger " , one of which struck the waterline and penetrated the belt , allowing seawater to enter the port feed tank . This shell eventually crippled " Lion " by forcing the ship to turn off its engines because of seawater contamination . By this time , " Blücher " was severely damaged after having been pounded by heavy shells . However , the chase ended when there were several reports of U - boats ahead of the British ships ; Beatty quickly ordered evasive maneuvers , which allowed the German ships to increase the distance from their pursuers . At this time , " Lion " s last operational dynamo failed , which dropped her speed to 15 knots . Beatty , in the stricken " Lion " , ordered the remaining battlecruisers to " Engage the enemy ' s rear , " but signal confusion caused the ships to solely target " Blücher " , allowing " Moltke " , " Seydlitz " , and " Derfflinger " to escape . By the time Beatty regained control over his ships , after having boarded " Princess Royal " , the German ships had too far a lead for the British to catch them ; at 13 : 50 , he broke off the chase . Battle of the Gulf of Riga . On 3 August 1915 , " Moltke " was transferred to the Baltic with I Reconnaissance Group ( AG ) to participate in the foray into the Riga Gulf . The intention was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the area , including the pre - dreadnought , and to use the minelayer to block the entrance to Moon Sound with naval mines . The German forces , under the command of Vice Admiral Hipper , included the four and four s , the battlecruisers " Moltke " , " Von der Tann " , and " Seydlitz " , and a number of smaller craft . On 8 August , the first attempt to clear the gulf was made ; the old battleships and kept " Slava " at bay while minesweepers cleared a path through the inner belt of mines . During this period , the rest of the German fleet remained in the Baltic and provided protection against other units of the Russian fleet . However , the approach of nightfall meant that " Deutschland " would be unable to mine the entrance to Moon Sound in time , and so the operation was broken off . On 16 August , a second attempt was made to enter the gulf . The dreadnoughts and , four light cruisers , and 31 torpedo boats breached the defenses to the gulf . " Nassau " and " Posen " engaged in an artillery duel with " Slava " , resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that prompted her withdrawal . After three days , the Russian minefields had been cleared , and the flotilla entered the gulf on 19 August , but reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted a German withdrawal from the gulf the following day . Throughout the operation , " Moltke " remained in the Baltic and provided cover for the assault into the Gulf of Riga . On the morning of the 19th , " Moltke " was torpedoed by the British E - class submarine . The torpedo was not spotted until it was approximately 200 yards ( 183 m ) away ; without time to maneuver , the ship was struck in the bow torpedo room . The explosion damaged several torpedoes in the ship , but they did not detonate themselves . Eight men were killed , and of water entered the ship . The ship was repaired at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg , between 23 August and 20 September . Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft . " Moltke " also took part in the bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft on 24 – 25 April . Hipper was away on sick leave , so the German ships were under the command of Konteradmiral Friedrich Bödicker . The German battlecruisers " Derfflinger " , , " Moltke " , " Seydlitz " and " Von der Tann " left the Jade Estuary at 10 : 55 on 24 April , and were supported by a screening force of six light cruisers and two torpedo boat flotillas . The heavy units of the High Seas Fleet sailed at 13 : 40 , with the objective to provide distant support for Bödicker ' s ships . The British Admiralty was made aware of the German sortie through the interception of German wireless signals , and deployed the Grand Fleet at 15 : 50 . By 14 : 00 , Bödicker ' s ships had reached a position off Norderney , at which point he turned his ships northward to avoid the Dutch observers on the island of Terschelling . At 15 : 38 , " Seydlitz " struck a naval mine , which tore a 50 - foot ( 15 m ) hole in her hull , just abaft of the starboard broadside torpedo tube , allowing 1 , 400 short tons ( 1 , 250 long tons ) of water to enter the ship . " Seydlitz " turned back , with the screen of light cruisers , at a speed of . The four remaining battlecruisers turned south immediately in the direction of Norderney to avoid further mine damage . By 16 : 00 , " Seydlitz " was clear of imminent danger , so the ship stopped to allow Bödicker to disembark . The torpedo boat brought Bödicker to " Lützow " . At 04 : 50 on 25 April , the German battlecruisers were approaching Lowestoft when the light cruisers and , which had been covering the southern flank , spotted the light cruisers and destroyers of Commodore Tyrwhitt ' s Harwich Force . Bödicker refused to be distracted by the British ships , and instead trained his ships ' guns on Lowestoft . The German battlecruisers destroyed two 6 in ( 15 cm ) shore batteries and inflicted other damage to the town . In the process , a single 6 in shell from one of the shore batteries struck " Moltke " , but the ship sustained no significant damage . At 05 : 20 , the German raiders turned north , towards Yarmouth , which they reached by 05 : 42 . The visibility was so poor that the German ships fired one salvo each , with the exception of " Derfflinger " , which fired fourteen rounds from her main battery . The German ships turned back south , and at 05 : 47 encountered for the second time the Harwich Force , which had by then been engaged by the six light cruisers of the screening force . Bödicker ' s ships opened fire from a range of 13 , 000 yards ( 12 , 000 m ) . Tyrwhitt immediately turned his ships around and fled south , but not before the cruiser sustained severe damage . Due to reports of British submarines and torpedo attacks , Bödicker broke off the chase and turned back east towards the High Seas Fleet . At this point , Scheer , who had been warned of the Grand Fleet ' s sortie from Scapa Flow , turned back towards Germany . Battle of Jutland . " Moltke " , and the rest of Hipper ' s battlecruisers in the I Scouting Group , lay anchored in the outer Jade Roads on the night of 30 May 1916 . The following morning , at 02 : 00 CET , the ships slowly steamed out towards the Skagerrak at a speed of . " Moltke " was the fourth ship in the line of five , ahead of " Von der Tann " , and to the rear of " Seydlitz " . The II Scouting Group , consisting of the light cruisers , Rear Admiral Bödicker ' s flagship , , , and " Elbing " , and 30 torpedo boats of the II , VI , and IX Flotillas , accompanied Hipper ' s battlecruisers . An hour and a half later , the High Seas Fleet under the command of Admiral Scheer left the Jade ; the force was composed of 16 dreadnoughts . The High Seas Fleet was accompanied by the IV Scouting Group , composed of the light cruisers , , , , and , and 31 torpedo boats of the I , III , V , and VII Flotillas , led by the light cruiser " Rostock " . The six pre - dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron had departed from the Elbe roads at 02 : 45 , and rendezvoused with the battle fleet at 5 : 00 . Shortly before 16 : 00 , Hipper ' s force encountered Vice Admiral Beatty ' s battlecruiser squadron . The German ships were the first to open fire , at a range of approximately 15 , 000 yards ( 14 , 000 m ) . When the British ships began returning fire , confusion amongst the British battlecruisers resulted in " Moltke " being engaged by both " New Zealand " and " Tiger " . The British rangefinders had misread the range to their German targets , and so the first salvos fired by the British ships fell a mile past the German battlecruisers . At 16 : 52 , " Moltke " hit " Tiger " with two main gun shells , but neither of these hits caused any significant damage . " Moltke " then fired a further four shells , two of which hit simultaneously on the midships and after turrets , knocking both out for a significant period of the battle . Approximately 15 minutes later , the British battlecruiser was suddenly destroyed by " Von der Tann " . Shortly thereafter , " Moltke " fired four torpedoes at " Queen Mary " at a range between . This caused the British line to fall into disarray , as the torpedoes were thought to have been fired by U - boats . At this point , Hipper ' s battlecruisers had come into range of the V Battle Squadron , composed of the new s , which mounted powerful guns . At 17 : 06 , opened fire on " Von der Tann " . She was joined a few minutes later by , " Malaya " , and ; the ships concentrated their fire on " Von der Tann " and " Moltke " . At 17 : 16 , one of the 15 in shells from the fast battleships struck " Moltke " , where it pierced a coal bunker , tore into a casemate deck , and ignited ammunition stored therein . The explosion burned the ammunition hoist down to the magazine . " Von der Tann " and " Moltke " changed their speed and direction , which threw off the aim of the V Battle Squadron and earned the battered ships a short respite . While " Moltke " and " Von der Tann " were drawing the fire of the V Battle Squadron battleships , " Seydlitz " and " Derfflinger " were able to concentrate their fire on the British battlecruisers ; between 17 : 25 and 17 : 30 , at least five shells from " Seydlitz " and " Derfflinger " struck " Queen Mary " , causing a catastrophic explosion that destroyed the ship . " Moltke " s commander , " Kapitän zur See " von Karpf , remarked that " The enemy ' s salvos lie well and close ; their salvos are fired in rapid succession , the fire discipline is excellent ! " By 19 : 30 , the High Seas Fleet , which was by that point pursuing the British battlecruisers , had not yet encountered the Grand Fleet . Scheer had been considering retiring his forces before darkness exposed his ships to torpedo boat attack . However , he had not yet made a decision when his leading battleships encountered the main body of the Grand Fleet . This development made it impossible for Scheer to retreat , for doing so would have sacrificed the slower pre - dreadnought battleships of the II Battle Squadron , while using his dreadnoughts and battlecruisers to cover their retreat would have subjected his strongest ships to overwhelming British fire . Instead , Scheer ordered his ships to turn 16 points to starboard , which would bring the pre - dreadnoughts to the relative safety of the disengaged side of the German battle line . " Moltke " and the other battlecruisers followed the move , which put them astern of " König " . Hipper ' s badly battered ships gained a temporary moment of respite , and uncertainty over the exact location and course of Scheer ' s ships led Admiral Jellicoe to turn his ships eastward , towards what he thought was the likely path of the German retreat . The German fleet was instead sailing west , but Scheer ordered a second 16 - point turn , which reversed course and pointed his ships at the center of the British fleet . The German fleet came under intense fire from the British line , and Scheer sent " Moltke " , " Von der Tann " , " Seydlitz " , and " Derfflinger " at high speed towards the British fleet , in an attempt to disrupt their formation and gain time for his main force to retreat . By 20 : 17 , the German battlecruisers had closed to within 7 , 700 yards ( 7 , 040 m ) of , at which point Scheer directed the ships to engage the lead ship of the British line . However , three minutes later , the German battlecruisers turned in retreat , covered by a torpedo boat attack . A pause in the battle at dusk allowed " Moltke " and the other German battlecruisers to cut away wreckage that interfered with the main guns , extinguish fires , repair the fire control and signal equipment , and ready the searchlights for nighttime action . During this period , the German fleet reorganized into a well - ordered formation in reverse order , when the German light forces encountered the British screen shortly after 21 : 00 . The renewed gunfire gained Beatty ' s attention , so he turned his battlecruisers westward . At 21 : 09 , he sighted the German battlecruisers , and drew to within before opening fire at 20 : 20 . The attack from the British battlecruisers completely surprised Hipper , who had been in the process of boarding " Moltke " from the torpedo boat . The German ships returned fire with every gun available , and at 21 : 32 hit both " Lion " and " Princess Royal " in the darkness . The maneuvering of the German battlecruisers forced the leading I Battle Squadron to turn westward to avoid collision . This brought the pre - dreadnoughts of the II Battle Squadron directly behind the battlecruisers , and prevented the British ships from pursuing the German battlecruisers when they turned southward . The British battlecruisers opened fire on the old battleships ; the German ships turned southwest to bring all of their guns to bear against the British ships . By 22 : 15 , Hipper was finally able to transfer to " Moltke " , and then ordered his ships to steam at towards the head of the German line . However , only " Moltke " and " Seydlitz " were in condition to comply ; " Derfflinger " and " Von der Tann " could make at most 18 knots , and so these ships lagged behind . " Moltke " and " Seydlitz " were in the process of steaming to the front of the line when the ships passed close to " Stettin " , which forced the ship to drastically slow down to avoid collision . This forced " Frauenlob " , " Stuttgart " , and " München " to turn to port , which led them into contact with the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron ; at a range of , the cruisers on both sides pummeled each other . Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter decided to attempt to lure the British cruisers towards " Moltke " and " Seydlitz " . However , nearly simultaneously , the heavily damaged British cruisers broke off the attack . As the light cruisers were disengaging , a torpedo fired by struck " Frauenlob " , and the ship exploded . The German formation fell into disarray , and in the confusion , " Seydlitz " lost sight of " Moltke " . " Seydlitz " was no longer able to keep up with " Moltke " s , and so detached herself to proceed to the Horns Reef lighthouse independently . By 23 : 30 on her own , " Moltke " encountered four British dreadnoughts , from the rear division of the 2nd Battle Squadron . " Moltke " s commander " Kapitän " von Karpf ordered the ship to swing away , hoping he had not been detected . The British ships in fact had seen " Moltke " , but had decided to not open fire in order to not reveal their location to the entire German fleet . At 23 : 55 , and again at 00 : 20 , " Kapitän " von Karpf tried to find a path through the British fleet , but both times was unable to do so . It was not until 01 : 00 , after having steamed far ahead of the Grand Fleet , that " Moltke " was able to made good her escape . Close to the end of the battle , at 03 : 55 , Hipper transmitted a report to Admiral Scheer informing him of the tremendous damage his ships had suffered . By that time , " Derfflinger " and " Von der Tann " each had only two guns in operation , " Moltke " was flooded with 1 , 000 tons of water , and " Seydlitz " was severely damaged . Hipper reported : " I Scouting Group was therefore no longer of any value for a serious engagement , and was consequently directed to return to harbour by the Commander - in - Chief , while he himself determined to await developments off Horns Reef with the battlefleet . " During the course of the battle , " Moltke " had hit " Tiger " 13 times , and was hit herself 4 times , all by shells . The starboard No . 5 15 cm gun was struck by one of the 15 in shells and put out of action for the remainder of the battle . The ship suffered 16 dead and 20 wounded , the majority of which were due to the hit on the 15 cm gun . Flooding and counter - flooding efforts caused 1 , 000 tons of water to enter the ship . Later operations . During the fleet advance on 18 – 19 August , the I Scouting Group was to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty ' s battlecruisers . As " Moltke " was one of only two remaining German battlecruisers still in fighting condition in the Group ( " Von der Tann " being the other ) , three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Group for the operation : , , and the newly commissioned . Admiral Scheer and the rest of the High Seas Fleet , with 15 dreadnoughts of its own , would trail behind and provide cover . The British were aware of the German plans and sortied the Grand Fleet to meet them . By 14 : 35 , Scheer had been warned of the Grand Fleet ' s approach and , unwilling to engage the whole of the Grand Fleet just 11 weeks after the decidedly close call at Jutland , turned his forces around and retreated to German ports . In September 1917 , " KzS " von Karpf left " Moltke " ; " KzS " Gygas assumed command of the ship . Between September and October 1917 , the ship took part in Operation Albion supporting the German invasion of the Russian islands of Ösel , Dagö , and Moon ( in present - day Estonia ) . Following the successful operation in the Baltic , " Moltke " was detached to support the II Reconnaissance Group ( II AG ) , but did not actively participate in the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight . Late 1917 saw the High Seas Fleet beginning to conduct anti - convoy raids in the North Sea between Britain and Norway . In October and December 1917 , two British convoys to Norway were intercepted and destroyed by German cruisers and destroyers , prompting Beatty , now the Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet , to detach several battleships and battlecruisers to protect convoys . This presented to Admiral Scheer the opportunity for which he had been waiting the entire war : the chance to isolate and eliminate a portion of the Grand Fleet . At 05 : 00 on 23 April 1918 , the High Seas Fleet left harbor with the intention of intercepting one of the heavily escorted convoys . Wireless radio traffic was kept to a minimum to prevent the British from learning of the operation . At 05 : 10 on 24 April , " Moltke " suffered machinery failure : the starboard propeller had fallen off the shaft , and before the turbine could be stopped , a gear wheel was destroyed . The destroyed wheel flung pieces of steel into an auxiliary condenser , which flooded the engine room and stopped the operation of the center and starboard engines . Saltwater entered the boilers , reducing the ship ' s speed to a mere four knots ; by 08 : 45 , the captain of " Moltke " reported to Scheer that his ship was " out of control " , and that the ship would need to be towed . At 09 : 38 , the cruiser " Strassburg " attempted to take the ship under tow , but was unable to do so . At 10 : 13 , the dreadnought was detached from the battle fleet to tow " Moltke " back to port . At 14 : 10 , the convoy had still not yet been located , and so Scheer turned the High Seas Fleet back towards German waters . By 17 : 10 , " Moltke " s engines had been repaired , and the ship was able to steam at a speed of 17 knots . At 19 : 37 , the British submarine spotted the ship and fired a torpedo into " Moltke " . The ship took in 1 , 800 tons of water , but was able to reach harbor under her own power . Repairs were carried out in Wilhelmshaven in the Imperial Dockyard , between 30 April and 9 September 1918 . Following repairs , " Moltke " took part in training operations in the Baltic from 19 September to 3 October . Starting on 1 November , the ship served as the I Scouting Group flagship for Rear Admiral von Reuter , after the battlecruiser had gone into dry dock for repairs . Fate . " Moltke " was to have taken part in what would have amounted to the " death ride " of the High Seas Fleet shortly before the end of World War I . The bulk of the High Seas Fleet was to have sortied from their base in Wilhelmshaven to engage the British Grand Fleet ; Scheer — by now the " Großadmiral " of the fleet — intended to inflict as much damage as possible on the British navy , in order to retain a better bargaining position for Germany , whatever the cost to the fleet . However , while the fleet was consolidating in Wilhelmshaven , war - weary sailors began deserting en masse . As " Von der Tann " and " Derfflinger " passed through the locks that separated Wilhelmshaven ' s inner harbour and roadstead , some 300 men from both ships climbed over the side and disappeared ashore . On 24 October 1918 , the order was given to sail from Wilhelmshaven . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on several battleships mutinied ; three ships from the III Squadron refused to weigh anchor , and acts of sabotage were committed on board the battleships and . The order to sail was rescinded in the face of this open revolt . In early November 1918 , the German Revolution began ; it led to the Armistice that ended the war and it toppled the monarchy . " Moltke " was surrendered with the rest of the High Seas Fleet on 24 November 1918 and interned at Scapa Flow , under the command of " Kapitän - Leutnant " Wollante . Believing that the Treaty of Versailles had been signed and his fleet was about to be seized by the British , Rear Admiral von Reuter ordered the scuttling of the High Seas Fleet on 21 June 1919 , while the British Grand Fleet was away on exercises . The ship sank in two hours and fifteen minutes . " Moltke " was raised in 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth in 1929 . Notes . Footnotes Citations