List of battlecruisers of Germany
Encyclopedia
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
, the navy of the German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, built a series of battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s in the first half of the 20th century. The battlecruiser type was an outgrowth of older armored cruiser
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
designs;Specifically, the armored cruiser was an intermediate design that bridged the gap between the traditional pre-dreadnought armored cruiser and the first true German battlecruiser. Blüchers design was based on incorrect intelligence related to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
's first battlecruiser, , which was believed to have much smaller guns than it actually did. By the time the true specifications had been released, it was too late to redesign Blücher. See: Staff, p. 3–4 they were intended to scout for the main battle fleet and attack the reconnaissance forces of opposing fleets. Kaiser Wilhelm II maintained that the new battlecruisers be able to fight in the line of battle
Line of battle
In naval warfare, the line of battle is a tactic in which the ships of the fleet form a line end to end. A primitive form had been used by the Portuguese under Vasco Da Gama in 1502 near Malabar against a Muslim fleet.,Maarten Tromp used it in the Action of 18 September 1639 while its first use in...
with battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s to counter Germany's numerical inferiority.
was the first German battlecruiser, built in 1908–1910. The Kaiserliche Marine eventually built four more battlecruisers before the start of the First World War to serve with the High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
, and another two were completed during the conflict. A further seven were planned, including four of the and three of the es. Two of the Mackensens—the name ship and Graf Spee—were launched but never completed, and the other two were in earlier stages of work when they were canceled towards the end of the war. Serious work never began on the three Ersatz Yorck class ships.
Six of the seven battlecruisers completed before or during World War I saw relatively heavy combat, primarily in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
. All of the ships, with the exception of , which had been assigned to the German Mediterranean Division
Mediterranean Division
The Mediterranean Division was a division consisting of one battlecruiser , one light cruiser , and a yacht of the Kaiserliche Marine. It saw service in the First Balkan War, Second Balkan War, and First World War...
, were assigned to the I Scouting Group
I Scouting Group
The I Scouting Group was a special reconnaissance unit within the German Kaiserliche Marine. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper during World War I. The I Scouting Group was one of the most active formations in the High Seas Fleet during the war; the unit took part in every...
under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
. The unit conducted several raids of the English coast between 1914 and 1916, which culminated in the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
during 31 May – 1 June 1916, in which they were expected to draw parts of the British fleet onto the German battleship line. The German flagship was sunk at the battle, and the other ships were heavily damaged. For their own part, during the battle Von der Tann sank her counterpart , sank , and and Lützow together destroyed . The five remaining battlecruisers—Von der Tann, , Seydlitz, Derfflinger, and —were interned with the bulk of the German fleet at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
following the end of the war and subsequently scuttled by their crews
Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow
The scuttling of the German fleet took place at the Royal Navy's base at Scapa Flow, in Scotland, after the end of the First World War. The High Seas Fleet had been interned there under the terms of the Armistice whilst negotiations took place over the fate of the ships...
in 1919. Goeben was transferred to the Ottoman Navy
Ottoman Navy
The Ottoman Navy was established in the early 14th century. During its long existence it was involved in many conflicts; refer to list of Ottoman sieges and landings and list of Admirals in the Ottoman Empire for a brief chronology.- Pre-Ottoman:...
at the outbreak of hostilities, and operated against the Russian Black Sea Fleet
Black Sea Fleet
The Black Sea Fleet is a large operational-strategic sub-unit of the Russian Navy, operating in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea since the late 18th century. It is based in various harbors of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov....
for the majority of the war. She was heavily damaged by British naval mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s near the end of the war, but was repaired and went on to serve the Turkish Navy
Turkish Navy
The Turkish Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the Turkish Armed Forces.- Ottoman fleet after Mudros :Following the demise of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of World War I, on November 3, 1918, the fleet commander of the Ottoman Navy, Liva Amiral Arif Pasha, ordered all flags to be...
until the 1950s; she was eventually broken up for scrap
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
in the 1970s.
The successor to the Kaiserliche Marine, the Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
, considered building three "O" class battlecruisers before the Second World War as part of the Plan Z
Plan Z
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the Nazi German Navy ordered by Adolf Hitler on January 27, 1939...
buildup of the Navy. However, the outbreak of war in 1939 caused the plans to be shelved, and none of these ships were built.The two warships have been referred to as battlecruisers, especially in British works. The Kriegsmarine classified them as battleships, and a significant majority of scholarly works refer to them as such; hence, they are not included in this list.
Key
| Main guns | The number and type of the main battery Main battery Generally used only in the terms of naval warfare, the main battery is the primary weapon around which a ship was designed. "Battery" is in itself a common term in the military science of artillery. For example, the United States Navy battleship USS Washington had a main battery of nine guns... guns |
| Displacement | Ship displacement Displacement (ship) A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load... at full combat load |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed generated |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
| Laid down | The date the keel Keel In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event... began to be assembled |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned Ship commissioning Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military... |
SMS Von der Tann
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...
, the State Secretary for the Imperial German Navy, wanted the ship to follow the British pattern of large guns, relatively light armor, and high speed. Kaiser Wilhelm II, along with other senior navy officers instead argued that, owing to Germany's numerical inferiority, the new ships should have armor strong enough to permit their use in the battle line.
Von der Tann was present for most of the German fleet operations during World War I, including several raids of the English coast. At the Battle of Jutland, Von der Tann was the last ship in the German battlecruiser squadron. She engaged and, after 15 minutes of firing, Von der Tanns 28 cm (11 in) shells caused a magazine
Magazine (artillery)
Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...
explosion, destroying Indefatigable. At the end of the war, Von der Tann was interned in Scapa Flow and eventually scuttled. She was raised in 1930 and broken up for scrap between 1931–34.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| 8 × 28 cm (11 in) | 21300 MT (20,963.5 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company was a British engineering company based in Wallsend, North England, on the River Tyne.-History:The company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1897 with £500,000 of capital, and specialised in building the steam turbine engines that he had invented for... steam turbine Steam turbine A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884.... s, 27.75 knots (51 km/h) |
21 March 1908 | 1 September 1910 | Scuttled at Scapa Flow Scapa Flow right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about... on 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1930s and scrapped at Rosyth Rosyth Rosyth is a town located on the Firth of Forth, three miles south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to an estimate taken in 2008, the town has a population of 12,790.... |
|
Moltke class
Moltke and Goeben, improvements over the preceding Von der Tann, were ordered in 1908 and 1909, respectively. While their design was not as contentious as with the Von der Tann, there were still disagreements between Tirpitz and the General Navy Department over whether the main battery guns should be increased in number or caliber. Tirpitz favored the increase to ten guns, while the Navy Department preferred eight 30.5 cm (12 in) guns. It was eventually decided that ten 28 cm guns would be mounted. In addition to the increased main battery, the two Moltke-class ships were slightly larger and better armored than Von der Tann.Moltke joined Von der Tann in the battlecruiser squadron upon her commissioning, and saw action against the British in the North Sea. The ship also saw significant duty in the Baltic Sea against the Russian navy; in 1915 she was torpedoed during the Battle of the Gulf of Riga
Battle of the Gulf of Riga
The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915...
, and in 1917, she returned to the Baltic as the flagship of the invasion force that conducted Operation Albion
Operation Albion
Operation Albion was the German land and naval operation in September-October 1917 to invade and occupy the Estonian islands of Saaremaa , Hiiumaa and Muhu , then part of the Russian Republic...
. Moltke was also interned in Scapa Flow at the end of the war and scuttled in 1919. Goeben, on the other hand, was assigned to the Mediterranean, as the flagship of the Mediterranean Division. At the outbreak of war in 1914, Goeben and the light cruiser evaded the British fleet
Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau
The pursuit of Goeben and Breslau was a naval action that occurred in the Mediterranean Sea at the outbreak of the First World War when elements of the British Mediterranean Fleet attempted to intercept the German Mittelmeerdivision comprising the battlecruiser and the light cruiser...
and escaped to Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, where they were transferred to the Ottoman Navy. The ship primarily operated in the Black Sea against the Russians. She attacked British forces outside the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
in 1918 and struck three mines. The ship continued in Turkish service until 1973 when she was sold for scrapping.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| 10 × 28 cm (11 in) | 25400 MT (24,998.8 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28.4 kn (15.5 m/s) | 7 December 1908 | 30 August 1911 | Scuttled at Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1927 and scrapped at Rosyth | |
| 10 × 28 cm (11 in) | 25400 MT (24,998.8 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 28 August 1909 | 2 July 1912 | Transferred to the Ottoman Empire Ottoman Empire The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries... on 16 August 1914, scrapped in 1973 |
|
SMS Seydlitz
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...
. Seydlitz mounted the same ten 28 cm guns as in the Moltke class in the same arrangement. Upon commissioning into the fleet, Seydlitz became the flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Rear Admiral Franz von Hipper. The ship took part in most of the major fleet operations during the war. At the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
, Seydlitz was hit in her after turrets by two or three 34.4 cm (13.5 in) shells from ; the shells burnt out the turret and nearly destroyed the ship. At Jutland, Seydlitz inflicted fatal damage on the British battlecruiser . The ship was heavily damaged through the remainder of the battle, and took in over 5,300 metric tons (5,200 long tons) of water. Despite the immense damage, Seydlitz was able to make the trip back to Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, where she was repaired. As with Von der Tann and Moltke, Seydlitz was interned and eventually scuttled in Scapa Flow.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| 10 × 28 cm (11 in) | 28550 MT (28,099 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28.1 knots (51 km/h) | 4 February 1911 | 22 May 1913 | Scuttled at Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1928 and scrapped at Rosyth | |
Derfflinger class
The three Derfflinger class ships were the last battlecruisers completed for the German navy. The ships' primary armament was radically modified, compared to the older ships. The number of guns was reduced to eight, but their diameter was increased to 30.5 cm (12 in). They were also placed in two superfiring pairsSuperfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
, fore and aft of the main superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
. The first unit, the name ship, was completed shortly after the outbreak of World War I. Lützow followed in August 1915, and Hindenburg joined the fleet in May 1917. Derfflinger was involved in most of the fleet actions during the war. At Jutland she fired on Queen Mary and contributed to her destruction, along with Seydlitz. Derfflinger and Lützow later concentrated their fire on and destroyed her. However, during the battle, Lützow was severely damaged by at least 24 heavy-caliber shells and was unable to make it back to Germany. She was scuttled early the following morning. Hindenburgs career was much less eventful; she was completed so late in the war that she saw no significant action against the British fleet. She and Derfflinger were interned and scuttled in Scapa Flow with the rest of the fleet.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| 8 × 30.5 cm (12 in) 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun The 30.5 cm SK L/50 gunIn Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/50 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/50 gun is 50 calibers, meaning that the gun is 50 times as long as it is in diameter. was a heavy gun mounted on 16 of... |
31200 MT (30,707.2 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 25.5 kn (13.9 m/s) | 30 March 1912 | 1 September 1914 | Scuttled in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1939, broken up after 1946 | |
| 8 × 30.5 cm (12 in) | 31200 MT (30,707.2 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 26.4 kn (14.4 m/s) | May 1912 | 8 August 1915 | Scuttled after severe damage at the Battle of Jutland Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only... , 1 June 1916 |
|
| 8 × 30.5 cm (12 in) | 31500 MT (31,002.4 LT) | 4 [screws, Parsons steam turbines, 26.6 kn (14.5 m/s) | 1 October 1913 | 10 May 1917 | Scuttled in Scapa Flow on 21 June 1919, wreck raised 1930, scrapped 1930–1932 | |
Mackensen class
Following the realization in February 1915 that the war would not be won quickly, the Navy department decided to replace the six armored cruisers that had been lost thus far. The ships were improved versions of the Derfflinger class; the primary alterations being the adoption of the 35 cm (13.8 in) gun for the main battery, along with a full-length forecastle deck. Four ships were ordered and laid down, but only two of them, Mackensen and Graf Spee, were launched. None of the ships were completed, as work had been diverted to U-boatU-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
construction. All four ships were broken up in Germany between 1921 and 1924.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| SMS Mackensen | 8 × 35 cm (13.8 in) | 35300 MT (34,742.4 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 1914 | — | Struck on 17 November 1919, broken up 1922 |
| SMS Graf Spee | 8 × 35 cm (13.8 in) | 35300 MT (34,742.4 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 1915 | — | Struck on 17 November 1919, broken up 1921–22 |
| SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich | 8 × 35 cm (13.8 in) | 35300 MT (34,742.4 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 1915 | — | Broken up 1921 |
| SMS Fürst Bismarck | 8 × 35 cm (13.8 in) | 35300 MT (34,742.4 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 1915 | — | Struck on 17 November 1919, broken up 1922 |
Ersatz Yorck class
The three ships of the Ersatz Yorck class were originally ordered as Mackensen-class ships, but the design was modified in January 1917 to increase the armament to eight 38 cm (15 in) guns. The Ersatz Yorcks were otherwise similar to the Mackensens, with the exception of the funnels. The Ersatz Yorck class ships were modified to trunk the two smoke uptakes of the previous design into one large funnel. Only the lead shipLead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
was laid down, and work did not proceed far; only about 1,000 metric tons of steel had been assembled by the time work ceased. The other two ships were assigned to shipyards, but work never began.
| Ship | Main guns | Displacement | Propulsion | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||
| Ersatz Yorck | 8 × 38 cm (15 in) | 38000 MT (37,399.7 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 27.3 kn (14.9 m/s) | 1916 | — | Scrapped 26 months before completion |
| Ersatz Gneisenau | 8 × 38 cm (15 in) | 38000 MT (37,399.7 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 27.3 kn (14.9 m/s) | 1916 | — | Scrapped 26 months before completion |
| Ersatz Scharnhorst | 8 × 38 cm (15 in) | 38000 MT (37,399.7 LT) | 4 screws, Parsons steam turbines, 27.3 kn (14.9 m/s) | 1916 | — | Scrapped 26 months before completion |