GROßE KREUZER
The Large Cruiser Blücher and Beyond
Battlecruisers (L - R) Derfflinger, Seydlitz and Von der Tann Enroute to Dogger Bank
German battlecruiser design got off to a bad start with their first response to Great Britain's HMS Invincible, but they recovered quickly to design and build some of the best balanced ships to see service. Using cased powder, superior optics, extensive compartmentation, and carrying more armour, SMS Von der Tann and her successors were a match individually for British battlecruisers. But outnumbered 2:1 they never got to fight their opponents individually....
Together, the ships operated as the 1st Scouting Group of the High Seas Fleet.
1909
SMS Blücher
1911
SMS Von der Tann
1911
SMS Moltke and Goeben
1913
SMS Seydlitz
1914
SMS Derfflinger, Lützow, and Hindenburg
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Mackensen-class - Never Completed
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Ersatz Yorck-class - Never Completed
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Last Update on 01/03/2004