SMS Derfflinger was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine built in the early 1910s. She was the lead ship of her class of three ships; her sister ships were Lützow and Hindenburg. She took part in numerous operations in the North Sea, including the Battle of Jutland in 1916. The ship’s main battery consisted of eight 30. 5 cm guns, compared to the 28 cm guns of earlier battlecruisers.
About SMS Derfflinger in brief
SMS Derfflinger was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine built in the early 1910s. She was the lead ship of her class of three ships; her sister ships were Lützow and Hindenburg. She took part in numerous operations in the North Sea, including the Battle of Jutland in 1916. After the end of the war in November 1918, the fleet was interned in Scapa Flow. On the order of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the interned ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919 to prevent them from being seized by the Allied powers. The ship’s main battery consisted of eight 30. 5 cm guns, compared to the 28 cm guns of earlier battlecruisers. She had a top speed of 26. 5 knots and carried heavy protection, including a 30-centimeter thick armored belt. Four 50 cm submerged torpedo tubes were located in the bow, two on the broadside, and one in the stern. Her secondary battery received 150mm of armor on the casemates where it protected the ammunition magazines and propulsion machinery. Her deck was 30 to 80mm thick, with the thicker armor sloping down the sides to connect to the sloping lower edge of the belt. She could steam for 5,600 nautical miles at a cruising speed of 14 knots. She displaced 26,600 t normally and up to 31,200 t at full load. She also had four 8 cm flak guns in individual pivot mounts on the superstructure, four of which were removed in 1916, for defense against torpedo boats.
Her engines were rated to produce 63,000 metric horsepower for aTop speed of 26.5 knots. She had four screw propellers, with steam provided by fourteen coal-burning water-tube boilers ducted into two funnels. Her main battery had 270mm protection on the main turrets, with an armor belt that was 300mm thick in the central part of the ship. She carried eight 8cm guns on the amidships, which were installed amidship, and four 8cm flaks on the bow and broadside. The main battery also had 12 15 cm SK L45 guns in single casemate in the superstructures, six per broadside and four on the stern, with six on each side of the funnel. She served in I Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet, where she served for the duration of the conflict. She helped to sink the British battle Cruisers HMS Queen Mary and Invincible in the Battle of Jutlands in June 1916, but was seriously damaged in the action and was out of service for repairs for several months afterward. She and the rest of the fleet saw little activity for the last two years of the War apart from patrol duty in the German Bight. In early August 1915, a derrick was mounted amidhips, and tests with Hansa-Brandenburg W seaplanes were conducted.
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