Derfflinger - class battlecruiser The " Derfflinger " class was a class of three battlecruiser s ( ) of the German Imperial Navy . The ships were ordered for the 1912 to 1913 Naval Building Program of the German Imperial Navy as a reply to the Royal Navy ' s three 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 " Derfflinger " class boasted considerable improvements , including a larger primary armament , all of which was mounted on the centerline , eliminating the restricted arc of the amidships turret . The ships were also larger than the preceding classes . However , the " Derfflinger " 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 during World War I . " Derfflinger " 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 and Jutland . " Lützow " was commissioned in August 1915 , and only participated in the raid on Yarmouth before being sunk at Jutland . " Hindenburg " was not commissioned into the fleet until May 1917 , and as a result saw no major action . " Derfflinger " and " Hindenburg " were interned at Scapa Flow following the armistice in November 1918 . While their fate was still unknown , Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter , 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 " Derfflinger " - class battlecruisers were a result of the fourth and final Naval Law , which was passed in 1912 . Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz used public outcry over the British involvement in the Agadir Crisis of 1911 to pressure the Reichstag into appropriating additional funds to the Navy . The Fourth Naval Law secured funding for three new dreadnought s , two light cruiser s , and an increase of an additional 15 , 000 officers and men in the ranks of the Navy for 1912 . The three dreadnoughts secured in the bill were to become , , and . Design work on the first two ships began in October 1910 and continued until June 1911 ; " Hindenburg " 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 on the central shaft . This would substantially increase the cruising range , and would ease the transfer of fuel and reduce the number of crew members 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 more powerful 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) weapons . This was due to the fact that the latest British battleships had thicker main belt armor , up to . Since the German battlecruisers were intended to fight in the line of battle , 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 . Admiral Alfred von 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 " Derfflinger " - 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 were to be 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 " Seydlitz " . In the meantime , pressure from the British public and media had forced the British Parliament to step up ship building . Kaiser Wilhelm II 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 . " Derfflinger " and " Lützow " were long at the waterline and long overall . " Hindenburg " was slightly longer , at at the waterline and overall . All three ships had a beam 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 . " Hindenburg " displaced slightly more , at standard and fully laden . The ships ' hulls were constructed from longitudinal steel frames , over which the outer hull plates were riveted . " Derfflinger " s hull contained 16 watertight compartments , though " Lützow " and " Hindenburg " had an additional seventeenth compartment . All three ships had a double bottom 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 " Derfflinger " - class ships were described as having had gentle motion , though they were " wet " at the casemate 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 " Derfflinger " . The three ships had a metacentric height 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 ships carried an additional 14 officers and 62 men . The " Derfflinger " s carried a number of smaller craft , including one picket boat , three barges , two launches , two yawls , and two dinghies . Machinery . By the time construction work on " Derfflinger " 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 were equipped with two sets of marine - type turbines ; each set drove a pair of 3 - bladed screws that were in diameter on " Derfflinger " and " Lützow " and in diameter on " Hindenburg " . 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 volts . Each ship was equipped with two rudders . The engines for first two ships were designed to provide , at 280 revolutions per minute . This would have given the two ships a top speed of . However , during trials , " Derfflinger " s engines achieved , but a top speed of . " Lützow " s engines reached and a top speed of . " Hindenburg " s power plant was rated at at 290 rpm , for a top speed of . On trials she reached and . " Derfflinger " could carry of coal and of oil ; at a cruising speed of , she had a range of . " Lützow " carried of coal and 1 , 000 tons of oil , though she had no advantage in range over her sister " Derfflinger " . " Hindenburg " also stored 3 , 700 tons of coal , as well as of oil ; her range at 14 knots was rated at . Armament . The " Derfflinger " - class ships were armed with eight 30 . 5 cm ( 12 in ) SK L / 50 guns in four twin gun turret s , two forward of the main superstructure in a superfiring 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 " Hindenburg " . The turrets were trained with electrical 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 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 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 shells . The shells were loaded with two RP C / 12 propellant 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 casemate s along the superstructure . Because " Derfflinger " had to be fitted with anti - roll tanks , two of the casemated guns had to be removed , to allow enough room in the hull . " Lützow " and " Hindenburg " 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 a number of different configurations . The " Derfflinger " - 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 " Lützow " , 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 tubes in their hulls . " Derfflinger " 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 . " Derfflinger " s 50 cm torpedoes were the G7 type , 7 . 02 m ( 276 in ) long and armed with a 195 kg ( 430 lb ) Hexanite 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 " Derfflinger " - class ships were protected with Krupp cemented steel armor , as was the standard for German warships of the period . They had an armor belt that was thick in the central citadel of the ship , where the most important parts of the ship were located . 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 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 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 " Hindenburg " , 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 " Derfflinger " was ordered as an addition to the fleet , under the provisional name " K " . The other two ships were to intended to replace obsolete vessels ; " Lützow " was ordered as " Ersatz Kaiserin Augusta " for the elderly protected cruiser and the contract for " Hindenburg " was issued under the provisional name " Ersatz Hertha " , to replace the protected cruiser . " Derfflinger " was constructed at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg under construction number 213 . She was the least expensive of the three ships , at a cost of 56 million gold marks . 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 was not until nearly a month later , on 12 July , that she actually entered the water . She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 1 September 1914 , shortly after the outbreak of World War I . " Lützow " 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 . " Hindenburg " , the final member of the class , was built at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven , 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 . Units . SMS " Derfflinger " . Named after Georg von Derfflinger , a German field marshal during the Thirty Years War , was commissioned on 1 September 1914 . A dockyard crew transferred the ship from Hamburg to Kiel , via the Skagen . The ship was assigned to the I Scouting Group at the end of October . Damage to the ship ' s turbines sustained during trials 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 . 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 " Derfflinger " s starboard turbine was accidentally damaged on 28 June , and the ship was again in the dockyard until August . On 24 April 1916 , " Derfflinger " took part in the bombardment of Yarmouth . On 31 May , " Derfflinger " was heavily engaged during the battle of Jutland , 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 " Derfflinger " and " Seydlitz " . Two hours later , at 18 : 30 , suffered a similar fate , though " Derfflinger " was assisted by her sister " Lützow " . During the engagement , " Derfflinger " 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 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 , " Derfflinger " was interned with a significant portion of the High Seas Fleet in Scapa Flow . On 21 June 1919 , with the guard ships of the Royal Navy out on maneuvers , Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered that the fleet be scuttled . The resulting scuttling of the German fleet saw some 66 vessels of various types sunk . Among those was " Derfflinger " , 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 intervened . The ship , which remained capsize d , was anchored off the island of Risa until 1946 , at which point she was sent to Faslane Port , where she was broken up . The ship ' s bell was delivered to the German Federal Navy on 30 August 1965 . SMS " Lützow " . was named after Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow , a Prussian lieutenant - general who fought during the Napoleonic Wars . The ship was commissioned on 8 August 1915 , and then underwent trials . On 25 October , while still running sea trials , " Lützow " s port low pressure turbine were 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 . " Lützow " was by then fully operational , and assigned to the 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 , " Lützow " , along with her sister " Derfflinger " and the battlecruisers " Seydlitz " , , and , bombarded Yarmouth . While en route to the target , Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper ' s flagship " Seydlitz " was heavily damaged by mines . As a result , " Lützow " was transferred to the role of squadron flagship . During the operation , the German battlecruisers encountered British light forces , and a running battle ensued . " Lützow " 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 included hits below her waterline . Shortly after the start of the battlecruiser action , " Lützow " hit her opponent 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 ; " Lützow " opened fire immediately , followed by several German dreadnought s . 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 engaged their German opposites . Between 19 : 26 and 19 : 34 , " Lützow " 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 " Lützow " and her sister " Derfflinger " destroyed the battlecruiser " Invincible " . By 20 : 15 , " Lützow " had been hit five more times , including hits on her two forward turrets . By 22 : 15 , " Lützow " 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 however 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 , " Lützow " 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 " Hindenburg " . 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 , albeit too late to see any major action in World War I . On 17 November " Hindenburg " and " Moltke " , along with the light cruisers of the II Scouting Group , were acting as distant support for German minesweepers off the German coast when they were attacked by British battlecruisers . However , the raid was brief ; by the time " Hindenburg " and " Moltke " arrived on the scene , the British ships had broken off the attack and withdrawn . Six days later , " Hindenburg " replaced " Seydlitz " as flagship of the 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 . " Moltke " 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 the I Scouting Group ; he raised his flag on " Hindenburg " the following day . " Hindenburg " was interned at Scapa Flow , along with her sister " Derfflinger " 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 . Her bell was presented to the German Federal Navy on 28 May 1959 . Notes . Footnotes Citations References . Online sources