SMS Seydlitz SMS " Seydlitz " was a battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy , built in Hamburg . She was ordered in 1910 and commissioned in May 1913 , the fourth battlecruiser built for the High Seas Fleet . She was named after Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz , a Prussian general during the reign of King Frederick the Great and the Seven Years ' War . " Seydlitz " represented the culmination of the first generation of German battlecruisers , which had started with the in 1906 , and continued with the pair of s ordered in 1907 and 1908 . " Seydlitz " featured several incremental improvements over the preceding designs , including a redesigned propulsion system and an improved armor layout . The ship was also significantly larger than her predecessors — she was approximately 3 , 000 metric tons heavier than the " Moltke " - class ships . " Seydlitz " participated in many of the large fleet actions during the First World War , including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea . The ship suffered severe damage during both of these engagements ; during the Battle of Dogger Bank , a 13 . 5 in ( 34 . 3 cm ) shell from the British battlecruiser struck " Seydlitz " s rearmost turret and nearly caused a magazine explosion that could have destroyed the ship . At the Battle of Jutland she was hit 21 times by heavy caliber shells , one of which penetrated the working chamber of the aft superfiring turret . Although the resulting fire destroyed the turret , the safety measures put in place after the battle of Dogger Bank prevented a worse catastrophe . The ship was also hit by a torpedo during the battle , causing her to take in over 5 , 300 metric tons of water , and her freeboard was reduced to 2 . 5 m . She had to be lightened significantly to permit her crossing of the Jade Bar . The ship inflicted severe damage on her British opponents as well ; early in the battle , salvos from both " Seydlitz " and destroyed the battlecruiser in a matter of seconds . " Seydlitz " also saw some limited action in the Baltic Sea , when she provided screening for the German flotilla that attempted to clear the Gulf of Riga in 1915 . As with the rest of the German battlecruisers that survived the war , the ship was interned in Scapa Flow in 1918 . The ship , along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet , was scuttled in June 1919 , to prevent its seizure by the British Royal Navy . She was raised on 2 November 1928 , and scrapped by 1930 in Rosyth . Development . Despite the success of the previous German battlecruisers designs — those of and the — there was still significant debate as to how new ships of the type were to be designed . In 1909 , the " Reichsmarineamt " ( Navy Department ) requested Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz , the State Secretary , provide them with the improvements that would be necessary for the next battlecruiser design . Tirpitz continued to push for the use of battlecruisers solely as fleet scouts and to destroy enemy cruisers , along the lines of the battlecruisers employed by the British Royal Navy . The Kaiser , Wilhelm II , and the majority of the Navy Department argued that due to Germany ' s numerical inferiority compared to the Royal Navy , the ships would also have to fight in the line of battle . Ultimately , the Kaiser and the Navy Department won the debate , and the battlecruiser for the 1909 – 1910 building year would continue in the pattern of the previous " Von der Tann " and " Moltke " - class designs . Financial constraints meant that there would have to be a trade - off between speed , battle capabilities , and displacement . The initial design specifications mandated that speed was to have been at least as high as with the " Moltke " class , and that the ship was to have been armed with either eight guns or ten guns . The design staff considered triple turrets , but these were discarded when it was decided that the standard 280 mm twin turret was sufficient . In August 1909 , the " Reichstag " stated that it would tolerate no increases in cost over the " Moltke " - class battlecruisers , and so for a time , the Navy Department considered shelving the new design and instead to build a third " Moltke " - class ship . Admiral Tirpitz was able to negotiate a discount on armor plate from both Krupp and Dillingen ; Tirpitz also pressured the ship ' s builder , Blohm & Voss , for a discount . These cost reductions freed up sufficient funds to make some material improvements to the design . On 27 January 1910 , the Kaiser approved the design for the new ship , ordered under the provisional name " Cruiser J " . Design . General characteristics . " Seydlitz " was long at the waterline , and overall . The ship had a beam of , which was increased to with anti - torpedo nets equipped . She had a draft of forward and aft . " Seydlitz " displaced 24 , 988 metric tons as designed , and carrying a full load , the ship displaced 28 , 550 metric tons . " Seydlitz " had a double bottom for 76 percent of the length of the hull . The ship carried a number of smaller boats , including one picket boat , three barges , two launches , two yawls , and two dinghies . " Seydlitz " was described as having been a good sea boat with gentle motion . The ship lost up to 60 percent of her speed at a hard rudder , and would heel over to 9 degrees . The ship had a standard complement of 43 officers and 1025 men , and while she served as the I Scouting Group flagship , she was manned by an additional 13 officers and 62 men . Propulsion . " Seydlitz " s steam plant consisted of 27 Schulz - Thornycroft small - tube boilers with 52 fire boxes — 2 fire boxes per boiler — divided into three engine rooms . These powered two sets of Parsons direct - drive turbines . Each set consisted of a high - pressure outboard turbine which exhausted into a low - pressure inboard turbine . Each turbine drove a 3 - bladed screw that was in diameter . Steering was controlled by tandem rudders . The engines were designed to produce and a top speed of . Using forced draft on trials , the engines provided up to and a top speed of . The ship carried up to of coal . With full fuel stores , " Seydlitz " could steam at a cruising speed of for . Electrical power was provided by six turbo generators that produced 1 , 800 kW at 220 V . Armament . " Seydlitz " mounted a nearly identical main battery to that of the preceding " Moltke " - class ships — ten SK L / 50 guns in five twin turrets . The guns were arranged similarly as well , with one turret fore , two staggered wing turrets , and two super - firing turrets aft . They were placed in newer Drh . L C / 1910 mountings , which enabled depression of the guns down to −8 degrees and elevation to 13 . 5 degrees — the same range of motion of the earlier Drh . L C / 1908 turrets . At 13 . 5 degrees , the guns could be fired to . In 1916 , as with , " Seydlitz " had her main turrets modified to allow for elevation up to 16 degrees , for a maximum range of . The fore and aft guns were able to train approximately 150 degrees in both directions from the centerline . The two staggered wing turrets were able to train only 80 degrees in both directions from the perpendicular . The main battery was supplied with 87 armored piercing rounds per gun , for a total of 870 shells . In addition to the shell , each gun chambered a fore propellant charge in a silk bag and a main charge in a brass case . The guns fired the shells at a muzzle velocity of per second . " Seydlitz " carried a similar secondary battery to the preceding " Moltke " - class design . The ship mounted twelve SK L / 45 quick - firing guns in single casemate s along the center of the ship . These guns could hit targets out to a distance of , and after the 1916 refit , the range was extended to . The 15 cm guns had a total of 1 , 920 shells , with 160 rounds for each gun . The ship was also armed with twelve SK L / 45 quick - firing guns , which were mounted in casemates as well . Two of these guns were removed in 1916 and replaced with high - angle 8 . 8 cm Flak L / 45 guns . As was customary for all German capital ships of the time , " Seydlitz " was equipped with four submerged torpedo tubes . The ship mounted one tube in the bow , one in the stern , and two on the sides of the vessel . The weapons were in diameter , and a total of 11 torpedoes were stored . Armor . As was standard for German warships of the period , " Seydlitz " used Krupp cemented and nickel steel for its armor plating . The ship had an armored belt that was thick at its strongest area in the citadel , and tapered down to in the bow and stern . The main belt was reinforced by a torpedo bulkhead that was thick . The forward conning tower had of armor on the sides , and a thick roof . The turrets were protected by on the sides and armor ranging in thickness from on the turret roofs . The casemates had lighter armor protection , with on the sides and roofs . The deck armor ranged in thickness , depending on the area being protected . In the more vital areas , the deck armor was thick , while less important areas of the ship were covered by only . A belt of sloping armor was placed under the main deck armor . The turret barbette s were protected by plating thick . The portions of the barbettes that were behind the main belt were thinner to save weight , which was a practice employed on most German and British ships of the period . Service history . " Seydlitz " was launched on 30 March 1912 , and was christened by " General der Kavallerie " von Kleist . On 22 May 1913 the ship was commissioned into the German fleet , manned by the crew of the old armored cruiser , which had been recently transferred to the reserve fleet . After trials , " Seydlitz " joined the rest of the High Seas Fleet for maneuvers off Helgoland . Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper , the commander of the I Scouting Group , raised his flag in the ship on 23 June 1914 . The ship served as Hipper ' s flagship until 26 October 1917 . World War I . Battle of Heligoland Bight . Shortly after the outbreak of World War I , a brief engagement between German light cruisers and a raiding force of British cruisers and battlecruisers took place on 28 August 1914 . 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 . 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 , " Seydlitz " 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 his ships to relieve the beleaguered German cruisers . The battlecruisers and were 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 light cruisers to fall back to his ships , while Hipper himself was about an hour behind in " Seydlitz " . 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 , 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 , " Seydlitz " , followed by " Moltke " , " Von der Tann " , and the armored cruiser , 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 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 . 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 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 . Admiral von Ingenohl decided that another raid on the English coast should 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 , " Seydlitz " , " Moltke " , " Von der Tann " , the new battlecruiser , 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 . 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 , " Seydlitz " was hit three times and " Blücher " was hit six times by the coastal battery . " Seydlitz " suffered only minimal damage , and no casualties . 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 , but the battlecruisers were some 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 the " 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 attempt to destroy these forces , because the I Scouting Group was temporarily weakened while " Von der Tann " was in drydock for periodic maintenance . " 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 " Seydlitz " in the lead , 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 ; 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 . 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 , 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 . Confusion aboard " Tiger " led the captain to believe he was to fire on " Seydlitz " , which left " Moltke " able to fire without distraction . " Seydlitz " was struck in her forecastle at 10 : 25 , by a 13 . 5 in shell from " Lion " , but this hit did minor damage . At 10 : 40 , " Lion " hit " Seydlitz " with a single 13 . 5 in ( 343 mm ) shell , which holed the deck and penetrated the rear barbette . The shell itself failed to enter the barbette , but the explosion flashed into the working chamber and detonated the propellant charges inside . The explosion killed 159 men , and destroyed both of the rear turrets . The fire was prevented from spreading to the shell magazines , which could have destroyed the ship , by the quick action of the executive officer , who ordered both magazines be flooded . The " Pumpenmeister " Wilhelm Heidkamp was severely injured when he turned the red - hot valves to flood the magazines . At 11 : 01 , " Seydlitz " struck back at " Lion " , and with a single 28 cm shell , knocked out two of " Lion " s engines . Shortly thereafter , a pair of 30 . 5 cm shells fired by " Derfflinger " struck " Lion " , one at the waterline . The penetration allowed water to enter the port feed tank — this hit eventually crippled " Lion " , the sea water contamination forced the ship ' s crew to shut down the port engine . At 11 : 25 , " Seydlitz " was struck on her armored belt amidships by a third and final shell , which did little damage . By this time , " Blücher " was severely damaged after having been pounded by heavy shells . 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 to their pursuers . At this time , " Lion " s last operational dynamo failed , which dropped her speed to . 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 . " Seydlitz " was repaired at the " Kaiserliche Werft " in Wilhelmshaven from 25 January to 31 March 1915 , after which she rejoined the fleet . Battle of the Gulf of Riga . On 3 August 1915 , " Seydlitz " , " Moltke " , and " Von der Tann " were transferred to the Baltic with I Reconnaissance Group ( AG ) to participate in a planned 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 " Seydlitz " , " Moltke " , and " Von der Tann " , and a number of smaller craft . Throughout the operation , " Seydlitz " and the other two battlecruisers remained in the Baltic and provided cover for the assault into the Gulf of Riga . Following the operation , " Seydlitz " and the other heavy units of the High Seas Fleet returned to the North Sea . On 11 – 12 September , " Seydlitz " and the rest of the I Scouting Group covered a minefield laying operation off Terschelling . On 24 November , the ship ran aground in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal , but was quickly refloated . On 4 December , while exiting the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal , " Seydlitz " became entangled in one of the net barriers . Divers had to remove the tangled nets from the starboard screws . Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft . On 24 – 25 April 1916 , the I Scouting Group undertook another operation to bombard the English coast , this time , the towns of Yarmouth and Lowestoft . Hipper was on sick leave , so the German ships were under the command of Konteradmiral Friedrich Bödicker , who flew his flag in " Seydlitz " . 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 6 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 15 m ( 50 - foot ) hole in her hull , just abaft of the starboard broadside torpedo tube . 11 men were killed and of water entered the ship . The ship ' s draft increased at the bow of 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 " , and the operation continued as planned . After Bödicker departed the ship , " Seydlitz " , escorted by a pair of torpedo boats , withdrew southward to the Jade . She was out of service for over a month for repair work due to the mine damage . Battle of Jutland . Almost immediately after the Lowestoft raid , Admiral Reinhard Scheer began planning another foray into the North Sea . He had initially intended to launch the operation in mid - May , but the mine damage to " Seydlitz " had proved difficult to repair — Scheer was unwilling to embark on a major raid without his battlecruiser forces at full strength . On May 22 , the Wilhelmshaven dockyard reported the ship to be fit for duty , but tests carried out that night showed that the broadside torpedo flat that had been damaged by the mine was still not watertight , and there were still leaks in the fore and aft transverse bulkheads . Further repairs were necessary , and so the operation was postponed another week , by which time the Wilhelmshaven dockyard assured Scheer that the ship would be ready . At noon on 28 May , the repairs to " Seydlitz " were finally completed , and the ship returned to the I Scouting Group . On the night of 30 May 1916 , " Seydlitz " and the other four battlecruisers of the I Scouting Group lay in anchor in the Jade roadstead . The following morning , at 02 : 00 CET , the ships slowly steamed out towards the Skagerrak at a speed of . By this time , Hipper had transferred his flag from " Seydlitz " to the newer battlecruiser " Lützow " . " Seydlitz " took her place in the center of the line , to the rear of " Derfflinger " and ahead of " Moltke " . The II Scouting Group , consisting of the light cruisers , Rear Admiral Bödicker ' s flagship , , , and , 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 . 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 . As the two lines of battlecruisers deployed to engage each other , " Seydlitz " began to duel with her opposite in the British line , . By 16 : 54 , the range between the ships decreased to , which enabled " Seydlitz " s secondary battery to enter the fray . She was close enough to the ships of the British 9th and 10th Destroyer Flotillas that her secondary guns could effectively engage them . The other four German battlecruisers employed their secondary battery against the British battlecruisers . Between 16 : 55 and 16 : 57 , " Seydlitz " was struck by two heavy caliber shells from " Queen Mary " . The first shell penetrated the side of the ship five feet above the main battery deck , and caused a number of small fires . The second shell penetrated the barbette of the aft superfiring turret . Four propellant charges were ignited in the working chamber ; the resulting fire flashed up into the turret and down to the magazine . The anti - flash precautions that had been put in place after the explosion at Dogger Bank prevented any further propellant explosions . Regardless , the turret was destroyed and most of the gun crew had been killed in the blaze . By 17 : 25 , the British battlecruisers were taking a severe battering from their German opponents . had been destroyed by a salvo from " Von der Tann " approximately 20 minutes before , and Beatty sought to turn his ships away by 2 points in order to regroup , while the s of the 5th Battle Squadron arrived on the scene and provided covering fire . As the British battlecruisers began to turn away , " Seydlitz " and " Derfflinger " were able to concentrate their fire on " Queen Mary " . Witnesses reported at least 5 shells from two salvos hit the ship , which caused an intense explosion that ripped the " Queen Mary " in half . Shortly after the destruction of " Queen Mary " , both British and German destroyers attempted to make torpedo attacks on the opposing lines . One British torpedo struck " Seydlitz " at 17 : 57 . The torpedo hit the ship directly below the fore turret , slightly aft of where she had been mined the month before . The explosion tore a hole 40 feet long by 13 feet wide ( 12 m × 4 . 0 m ) , and caused a slight list . Despite the damage , the ship was still able to maintain her top speed , and kept position in the line . The leading ships of the German battle fleet had by 18 : 00 come within effective range of the British ships , and had begun trading shots with the British battlecruisers and " Queen Elizabeth " - class battleships . Between 18 : 09 and 18 : 19 , " Seydlitz " was hit by a shell from either or . This shell struck the face of the port wing turret and disabled the guns . A second 380 mm shell penetrated the already disabled aft superfiring turret and detonated the cordite charges that had not already burned . The ship also had two of her 150 mm guns disabled from British gunfire , and the rear turret lost its right - hand gun . As the evening wore on , visibility steadily decreased for the German ships . " Seydlitz " s commander , " Kapitän zur See " von Egidy , later remarked : At around 19 : 00 , Beatty ' s forces were nearing the main body of the Grand Fleet , and to delay the discovery of the Grand Fleet ' s location by the German fleet , he turned his ships towards the German line , in order to force them to turn as well . This reduced the distance between the British and German battlecruisers from . Visibility continued to favor the British , and the German battlecruisers paid the price . Over the next several minutes , " Seydlitz " was hit six times , primarily on the forward section of the ship . A fire started under the ship ' s forecastle . The smothering fire from Beatty ' s ships forced Hipper to temporarily withdraw his battlecruisers to the southwest . As the ships withdrew , " Seydlitz " began taking on more water , and the list to starboard worsened . The ship was thoroughly flooded above the middle deck in the fore compartments , and had nearly lost all buoyancy . 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 . 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 . " Seydlitz " 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 " Seydlitz " , " Von der Tann " , " Moltke " , 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 of , at which point Scheer directed the ships to engage the lead ship of the British line . " Seydlitz " managed to hit " Colossus " once , but caused only minor damage to the ship ' s superstructure . Three minutes later , the German battlecruisers turned in retreat , covered by a torpedo boat attack . A pause in the battle at dusk allowed " Seydlitz " 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 . In the ensuing melee , " Seydlitz " was hit several times ; one shell struck the rear gun turret and other hit the ship ' s bridge . The entire bridge crew was killed and several men in the conning tower were wounded . 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 . Only " Seydlitz " and " Moltke " were in condition to comply ; " Derfflinger " and " Von der Tann " could make at most , and so these ships lagged behind . " Seydlitz " and " Moltke " 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 " . 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 " . The ship was no longer able to keep up with " Moltke " s 22 knots , and so detached herself to proceed to the Horns Reef lighthouse independently . At 00 : 45 , " Seydlitz " was attempting to thread her way through the British fleet , but was sighted by the dreadnought and noted as a " ship or Destroyer " . " Agincourt " s captain did not want to risk giving away his ship ' s position , and so allowed her to pass . By 01 : 12 , " Seydlitz " had managed to slip through the British fleet , and she was able to head for the safety of Horns Reef . At approximately 03 : 40 , she scraped over Horns Reef . Both of the ship ' s gyro - compasses had failed , so the light cruiser was sent to guide the ship home . By 15 : 30 on 1 June , " Seydlitz " was in critical condition ; the bow was nearly completely submerged , and the only buoyancy that remained in the forward section of the ship was the broadside torpedo room . Preparations were being made to evacuate the wounded crew when a pair of pump steamers arrived on the scene . The ships were able to stabilize " Seydlitz " s flooding , and the ship managed to limp back to port . She reached the outer Jade river on the morning of 2 June , and on 3 June the ship entered Entrance III of the Wilhelmshaven Lock . At most , " Seydlitz " had been flooded by of water . 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 harbor by the Commander - in - Chief , while he himself determined to await developments off Horns Reef with the battlefleet . " During the course of the battle , " Seydlitz " was hit 21 times by heavy - caliber shells , twice by secondary battery shells , and once by a torpedo . The ship suffered a total of 98 of her crew killed and 55 wounded . " Seydlitz " herself fired 376 main battery shells and scored approximately 10 hits . Later operations . On 15 June 1916 , repair work to " Seydlitz " began in the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven , and continued until 1 October . The ship then underwent individual training , and rejoined the fleet in November . With his previous flagship " Lützow " at the bottom of the North Sea , Admiral Hipper again raised his flag in " Seydlitz " . On 4 November , " Seydlitz " and " Moltke " , along with the II Division , I Battle Squadron , the III Battle Squadron , and the new battleship sailed to Bovbjerg on the Danish coast , in order to retrieve the stranded U - boat s and . 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 . By 14 : 10 , the convoy had still not yet been located , and so Scheer turned the High Seas Fleet back towards German waters . Fate . " Seydlitz " 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 . 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 harbor 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 . Many of the war - weary sailors felt the operation would disrupt the peace process and prolong the war . Starting on the night of 29 October , sailors on several battleships mutinied ; three ships from the III Squadron refused to weigh anchors , and acts of sabotage were committed on board the battleships and . The unrest ultimately forced Hipper and Scheer to cancel the operation . Informed of the situation , the Kaiser stated " I no longer have a navy . " The Wilhelmshaven mutiny spread to Kiel , and fueled a larger German Revolution that continued after the end of the war . Germany ' s military position was hopeless , and so Generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff convinced the government to sign the Armistice to end the war . Following the capitulation of Germany in November 1918 , most of the High Seas Fleet , under the command of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , were interned in the British naval base in Scapa Flow . Prior to the departure of the German fleet , Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to von Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships , under any conditions . The fleet rendezvoused with the British light cruiser , which led the ships to the Allied fleet that was to escort the Germans to Scapa Flow . The massive flotilla consisted of some 370 British , American , and French warships . Once the ships were interned , their guns were disabled through the removal of their breech blocks , and their crews were reduced to 200 officers and men . The fleet remained in captivity during the negotiations that ultimately produced the Treaty of Versailles . Von Reuter believed that the British intended to seize the German ships on 21 June 1919 , which was the deadline for Germany to have signed the peace treaty . Unaware that the deadline had been extended to the 23rd , Reuter ordered the ships to be sunk at the next opportunity . On the morning of 21 June , the British fleet left Scapa Flow to conduct training maneuvers , and at 11 : 20 Reuter transmitted the order to his ships . " Seydlitz " slipped beneath the surface at 13 : 50 . On her side and on the bottom in twelve fathoms of water the wreck was frequently mistaken for a small island , and was sold in this condition as scrap to the salvage firm of Cox and Danks along with a battleship and twenty - six destroyers . The ship was raised on 2 November 1928 , and while still inverted was towed south to be scrapped in Rosyth by 1930 . " Seydlitz " s bell is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial . Notes . Footnotes Citations References . Online sources