SMS Blücher SMS " Blücher " was the last armored cruiser built by the German Empire . She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British s . " Blücher " was larger than preceding armored cruisers and carried more heavy guns , but was unable to match the size and armament of the battlecruiser s which replaced armored cruisers in the British Royal Navy and German Imperial Navy ( " Kaiserliche Marine " ) . The ship was named after the Prussian Field Marshal Gebhard von Blücher , the commander of Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 . " Blücher " was built at the Kaiserliche Werft shipyard in Kiel between 1907 and 1909 , and commissioned on 1 October 1909 . The ship served in the I Scouting Group for most of her career , including the early portion of World War I . She took part in the operation to bombard Yarmouth and the raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914 . At the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915 , " Blücher " was slowed significantly after being hit by gunfire from the British battlecruiser squadron under the command of Vice Admiral David Beatty . Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper , the commander of the German squadron , decided to abandon " Blücher " to the pursuing enemy ships in order to save his more valuable battlecruisers . Under heavy fire from the British ships , she was sunk , and British destroyers began recovering the survivors . However , the destroyers withdrew when a German zeppelin began bombing them , mistaking the sinking " Blücher " for a British battlecruiser . The number of casualties is unknown , with figures ranging from 747 to around 1 , 000 . " Blücher " was the only warship to have sunk during the battle . Design . German armored cruisers — referred to as " Große Kreuzer " ( large cruisers ) — were designed for several tasks . The ships were designed to engage the reconnaissance forces of rival navies , as well as fight in the line of battle . The earliest armored cruiser — — was rushed through production specifically to be deployed to China to assist in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in 1900 . Subsequent armored cruisers — with the exception of the two ships — served with the fleet in the reconnaissance force . On 26 May 1906 , the " Reichstag " authorized funds for " Blücher " , along with the first two s . Though the ship would be much larger and more powerful than previous armored cruisers , " Blücher " retained that designation in an attempt to conceal its more powerful nature . The ship was ordered under the provisional name " E " . Her design was influenced by the need to match the armored cruisers which Britain was known to be building at the time . The Germans expected these new British ships to be armed with six or eight guns . In response , the German navy approved a design with twelve guns in six twin turrets . This was significantly more firepower than that of the previous of German armored cruisers , which only carried eight 21 cm guns . One week after the final decision was made to authorize construction of " Blücher " , the German naval attache obtained the actual details of the new British ships , called the . In fact , HMS " Invincible " carried eight guns of the same type mounted on battleship s . It was soon recognized that these ships were a new type of warship , which eventually came to be classified as the battlecruiser . When the details of the " Invincible " class came to light , it was too late to redesign " Blücher " , and there were no funds for a redesign , so work proceeded as scheduled . " Blücher " was therefore arguably obsolete even before her construction started , and was rapidly surpassed by the German Navy ' s battlecruisers , of which the first ( ) was ordered in 1907 . Despite this , " Blücher " was typically deployed with the German battlecruiser squadron . The ship ultimately cost the German government 28 , 532 , 000 Goldmarks . General characteristics . " Blücher " was long at the waterline and long overall . The ship had a beam of , and with the anti - torpedo nets mounted along the sides of the ship , the beam increased to . " Blücher " had a draft of forward , but slightly less aft , at . The ship displaced at her designed weight , and up to at maximum displacement . Her hull was constructed with both transverse and longitudinal steel frames , and she had 13 watertight compartments and a double bottom that ran for approximately 65 % of the length of the hull . Documents from the German naval archives generally indicate satisfaction with " Blücher " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s minor pitch and gentle motion at sea . However , she suffered from severe roll , and with the rudder hard over , she heeled over up to 10° from the vertical and lost up to 55 % of her speed . " Blücher " ' s metacentric height was . The ship had a standard crew of 41 officers and 812 enlisted men , with an additional 14 officers and 62 sailors when she served as a squadron flagship . She carried a number of smaller vessels , including two picket boats , three barges , two launches , two yawls , and one dinghy . Propulsion . " Blücher " was equipped with three vertical 4 - cylinder triple expansion engines . Each engine drove a propeller , the center screw being in diameter , while the outer two screws were slightly larger , at in diameter . The ship had a single rudder with which to steer . The three engines were segregated in individual engine rooms . With six marine - type double boilers per room , the ship contained a total of 18 coal - fired boilers . The ship had a designed maximum speed of , but during her trials , she achieved . At a cruising speed of , " Blücher " could steam for . At a speed of , her range was cut down to . The ship was designed to carry of coal , though voids in the hull could be used to expand the fuel supply to up to of coal . Electrical power for the ship was supplied by six turbo - generators that provided up to 1 , 000 kilowatts , rated at 225 volts . The highest power ever achieved by a reciprocating engine warship was the produced by " Blücher " on her trials in 1909 . Armament . " Blücher " was equipped with twelve SK L / 45 quick - firing guns in six twin turrets , one pair fore and one pair aft , and two pairs in wing turrets on either side of the superstructure . The guns were supplied with a total of 1 , 020 shells , or 85 rounds per gun . Each shell weighed , and was 61 cm ( 24 in ) in length . The guns could be depressed to −5° and elevated to 30° , providing a maximum range of . Their rate of fire was 4 – 5 rounds per minute . The ship had a secondary battery of eight quick - firing guns mounted in MPL C / 06 casemate s , four centered amidships on either side of the vessel . These guns could engage targets out to . They were supplied with 1320 rounds , for 165 shells per gun , and had a sustained rate of fire of 5 – 7 rounds per minute . The shells were , and were loaded with a RPC / 12 propellant charge in a brass cartridge . The guns fired at a muzzle velocity of per second , and were expected to fire around 1 , 400 shells before they needed to be replaced . " Blücher " was also armed with sixteen SK L / 45 quick - firing guns , placed in both casemates and pivot mounts . Four of these guns were mounted in casemates near the bridge , four in casemates in the bow , another four in casemates at the stern , and the remaining four were mounted in pivot mounts in the rear superstructure . They were supplied with a total of 3 , 200 rounds , or 200 shells per gun , and could fire at a rate of 15 shells per minute . Their high explosive shells weighed , and were loaded with a RPC / 12 propellant charge . These guns had a life expectancy of around 7 , 000 rounds . The guns had a maximum range of . " Blücher " was also equipped with four torpedo tubes . One was placed in the bow , one in the stern , and the other two were placed on the broadside , all below the waterline . The ship carried a total of 11 torpedoes . The torpedoes carried a warhead and had two speed settings , which affected the range . At , the weapon had a range of and at , the range was reduced to . Armor . As with other German capital ships of the period , " Blücher " was equipped with Krupp cemented armor . The armored deck was between in thickness ; more important areas of the ship were protected with thicker armor , while less critical portions of the deck used the thinner armor . The armored belt was thick in the central portion of the ship where machinery , ammunition magazines , and other vitals were located , and tapered to in less important areas of the hull . The belt tapered down to zero at either end of the ship . Behind the entire length of the belt armor was an additional of teak . The armored belt was supplemented by a torpedo bulkhead , though this only ran between the forward and rear centerline gun turrets . The forward conning tower was the most heavily armored part of the ship . Its sides were thick and it had a roof that was 8 cm thick . The rear conning tower was significantly less well armored , with a roof that was 3 cm thick and sides that were only thick . The central citadel of the ship was protected by armor . The main battery turrets were 8 cm thick in their roofs , and had 18 cm sides . The 15 cm turret casemates were protected by 14 cm of armor . Service history . " Blücher " was launched on 11 April 1908 and commissioned into the fleet on 1 October 1909 . She served as a training ship for naval gunners starting in 1911 . In 1914 , she was transferred to the I Scouting Group along with the newer battlecruisers , , and the flagship . The first operation in which " Blücher " took part was an inconclusive sweep into the Baltic Sea against Russian forces . On 3 September 1914 , " Blücher " , along with seven pre - dreadnought battleship s of the IV Squadron , five cruisers , and 24 destroyers sailed into the Baltic in an attempt to draw out a portion of the Russian fleet and destroy it . The light cruiser encountered the armored cruisers and north of Dagö ( now Hiiumaa ) island . The German cruiser attempted to lure the Russian ships back towards " Blücher " so that she could destroy them , but the Russians refused to take the bait and instead withdrew to the Gulf of Finland . On 9 September , the operation was terminated without any major engagements between the two fleets . On 2 November 1914 , " Blücher " — along with the battlecruisers " Moltke " , " Von der Tann " , and " Seydlitz " , and accompanied by four light cruiser s , left the Jade Bight 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 . On the way , a heavy fog covered the Heligoland Bight , so the ships were ordered to halt until visibility improved and they could safely navigate the defensive minefields . The armored cruiser made a navigational error that led her into one of the German minefields . She struck two mines and quickly sank ; only 127 men out of the crew of 629 were rescued . Bombardment of Scarborough , Hartlepool , and Whitby . Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl , commander of the German High Seas Fleet , decided that another raid on the English coast should be carried out in the hopes of luring a portion of the Grand Fleet into combat where it could be destroyed . At 03 : 20 , CET on 15 December 1914 , " Blücher " , " Moltke " , " Von der Tann " , the new battlecruiser , and " Seydlitz " , along with the light cruisers " Kolberg " , " Strassburg " , " Stralsund " , " Graudenz " , and two squadrons of torpedo boats left the Jade estuary . 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 eight pre - dreadnought s and a screening force of two armored cruisers , seven light cruisers , and 54 torpedo boats , departed to provide distant cover for the bombardment force . 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 . On the night of 15 / 16 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 . Of the three towns , only Hartlepool was defended by coastal artillery batteries . During the bombardment of Hartlepool , " Seydlitz " was hit three times and " Blücher " was hit six times by the coastal battery . " Blücher " suffered minimal damage , but nine men were killed and another three were wounded . 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 " 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 the German naval command found out that British ships were conducting reconnaissance in the Dogger Bank area . Admiral 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 . Rear Admiral ( ) 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 Gordon 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 08 : 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 searchlight , 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 toward Hipper ' s ships . Hipper later remarked : Hipper turned south to flee , but was limited to , which was " Blücher " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s maximum speed at the time . 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 , 000 m ) ; shortly after , 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 around this time , " Blücher " scored a hit with a 21 cm shell on " Lion " ' s forward turret . The shell failed to penetrate the armor , but had concussion effect and temporarily disabled the left gun . 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 . By 11 : 00 , " Blücher " had been severely damaged after having been pounded by numerous heavy shells from the British battlecruisers . However , the three leading German battlecruisers , " Seydlitz " , " Derfflinger " , and " Moltke " , had concentrated their fire on " Lion " and scored several hits ; two of her three dynamos were disabled and the port side engine room had been flooded . At 11 : 48 , arrived on the scene , and was directed by Beatty to destroy the battered " Blücher " , which was already on fire and listing heavily to port . One of the ship ' s survivors recounted the destruction that was being wrought : The British attack was interrupted due to 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 reduced 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 target " Blücher " alone . She continued to resist stubbornly ; " Blücher " repulsed attacks by the four cruisers of the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron and four destroyers . However , the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron flagship , " Aurora " , hit " Blücher " twice with torpedoes . By this time , every main battery gun turret except the rear mount had been silenced . A volley of seven more torpedoes was launched at point - blank range ; these hits caused the ship to capsize at 13 : 13 . In the course of the engagement , " Blücher " had been hit by 70 – 100 large - caliber shells and several torpedoes . As the ship was sinking , British destroyers steamed towards her in an attempt to rescue survivors from the water . However , the German zeppelin " L5 " mistook the sinking " Blücher " for a British battlecruiser , and tried to bomb the destroyers , which withdrew . Figures vary on the number of casualties ; Paul Schmalenbach reported 6 officers of a total of 29 and 275 enlisted men of a complement of 999 were pulled from the water , for a total of 747 men killed . The official German sources examined by Erich Gröner stated that 792 men died when " Blücher " sank , while James Goldrick referred to British documents , which reported only 234 men survived from a crew of at least 1 , 200 . Among those who had been rescued was Captain at Sea ( " Kapitan zur See " ) Erdmann , the commanding officer of " Blücher " . He later died of pneumonia while in British captivity . A further twenty men would also die as prisoners of war . The concentration on " Blücher " allowed " Moltke " , " Seydlitz " , and " Derfflinger " to escape . Admiral Hipper had originally intended to use his three battlecruisers to turn about and flank the British ships , in order to relieve the battered " Blücher " , but when he learned of the severe damage to his flagship , he decided to abandon the armored cruiser . Hipper later recounted his decision : By the time Beatty regained control over his ships , after having boarded , the German ships had too great a lead for the British to catch them ; at 13 : 50 , he broke off the chase . Kaiser Wilhelm II was enraged by the destruction of " Blücher " and the near sinking of " Seydlitz " , and ordered the High Seas Fleet to remain in harbor . Rear Admiral Eckermann was removed from his post and Admiral Ingenohl was forced to resign . He was replaced by Admiral Hugo von Pohl . Notes . Explanatory notes Citations References . Online sources