Imperial German Navy: Derflinger Class Battle Cruisers

	Derflinger Class Battle Cruisers

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR CLASS

Displacement:
S.M.S. Derflinger: 26,180 tons/design, 30,707 tons/maximum
S.M.S. Lützow: 26,318 tons/design, 30,707 tons/maximum
S.M.S. Hindenburg: 26,513 tons/design, 31,002 tons/maximum
Length:
Derflinger and Lützow: 210.4 m.
Hindenburg: 212.8 m.
Beam: 29.0 m. all ships. Draught: 9.6 m. all ships.

Main Armament:	Eight 30.5 cm quick firing guns of 50 calibres length arranged in four double turrets. Two superfiring turrets on amidships line fore and aft.
Secondary and Tertiary Armaments:	Twelve aboard Derfflinger, and fourteen aboard Lützow and Hindenburg, 15 cm quick firing guns of 45 calibres length in casemates. Derfflinger built with eight 88 mm quick firing guns single mount shielded, which were removed in 1916. Eight, later reduced to four, single mount 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. Lützow built with only eight single mount 88 mm shielded quick firing guns. Hindenburg built with eight 88 mm quick firing guns, later reduced to four single mount 88 mm anti-aircraft guns. All ships in the class were built with four torpedo tubes, all underwater, arranged one in bow, one in stern on port side, and one on each beam. Torpedo tubes were 50 cm aboard Derfflinger, and 60 cm aboard Lützow and Hindenburg.
Armor:	Armoured traverse bulkheads: stern/100mm, vital parts/250mm, bow/250mm... Side armour: stern/100mm, vital parts/300mm tapered towards waterline to 150mm, bow/tapering towards bow 120mm-100mm-30mm...Citadel armour: 230mm-270mm... Horizontal armour: superstructure decks above casemates/50mm, upper deck/20mm- 25mm, armoured deck/after portion 80mm, other parts 30mm-40mm including the inclines...Heavy armament: barbettes/260mm, turrets-front/270mm- sides/220mm-tops/110mm-80mm (Hindenburg had 150mm side turret armour)... Conning tower: forward part/350mm, after part/200mm.
Machinery:	Fourteen twin coal fired, and four double ended oil fired naval boilers feeding two steam turbines driving four propeller shafts. Machinery installation developed 63,000 shaft horsepower at 26.5 knots. Hindenburg developed 72,000 shaft horsepower at 27.0 knots. Two rudders arranged in line amidships. Wartime trial run results were: S.M.S. Derfflinger: 76,600 s.h.p. at 25.8 knots. S.M.S. Lützow: 80,988 s.h.p. at 26.4 knots. S.M.S. Hindenburg: 95,777 s.h.p. at 26.6 knots.

Fuel reserves: 738 tons coal/normal with 246 tons oil/normal, 3642 tons coal/maximum with 984 tons oil/maximum.
Radius of action: 5300 nautical miles at 14 knots.
Additional General Information for Class:
The first German battle cruisers to be fitted with 30.5 cm guns. Their designs were completed during the middle of 1911, with the last ship in the class, Hindenburg, being finalized in 1912. Always considered beautiful ships, if indeed a warship may be thought of as such, the Derfflinger class vessels were also very popular with their crews. The continuing changeover to oil firing, at least for part of the engineering plant, yielded increased room for armaments, and the designers took advantage of this to mount two superfiring turrets fore and aft. Of the three, only Derfflinger was constructed as a new addition to the fleet, the other two were to be replacements for obsolete ships; Lützow for the corvette/cruiser Kaiserin Augusta, and Hindenburg for the heavy cruiser Hertha. The sisters didn't come cheaply to be sure, Derfflinger cost RM 56,000,000, Lützow RM58,000,000 and Hindenburg RM 59,000,000. Anti-rolling tanks were built into Derfflinger as an experiment between the funnels at the keel. Due to their intricate compartmentalization, this class had tremendous staying power in battle, but there was a potentially disastrous flaw in that the armoured traverse bulkheads had been omitted behind the beam torpedo tube flats to save space. Struck there by two large calibre shells, Lützow's forecastle entirely filled with water foreward of the leading turret. Derfflinger was the first of the capital ships to have the single mount anti-aircraft guns.

SHIPS IN CLASS

S.M.S. Derflinger
Budget year: 1911 Builders: Blohm & Voss, Hamburg Laid down: Jan.12 Launched: See ship's history. Completed: Sep.1.14
Ship's History:
The original launch date for the ship was to have been Jun.14.13, but she became stuck to the slipways and after four weeks of intense effort, was finally launched on Jul.12.13.
Dec.16.14 action against Scarborough...Jan.24.15 battle of the Dogger Bank during which she received one hit...Mar.5/6.16 sortied to the Hoofden... Apr.24.16 actions agaisnt Lowestoft and Yarmouth...May.31.16 battle of Jutland during which she sank H.M.S. Queen Mary and Invincible, and received seventeen heavy calibre hits and four medium calibre hits; she returned to Wilhelmshaven under her own power, although she carried over 3,000 tons of water. Temporary repairs at Wilhelmshaven and heavy repairs at Howaldtswerke in Kiel through Oct.15.16 when she was reported ready for sea...Apr.23.18 sortie into the northern North Sea...Nov.24.18 interned at Scapa Flow...scuttled Jun.21.19, a total loss...salvage operations begun 1934, scrapped at Rosyth beginning 1935 and not completed until 1948.

S.M.S. Lützow
Budget year: 1912 Builders: F. Schichau, Danzig Laid down: Jul.12 Launched: Nov.29.13 Completed: Aug.8.15
Ship's History:
Ready for service with the fleet from Mar.16 due to damage to her turbines sustained during her trials. Apr.24.16 actions against Lowestoft and Yarmouth... May.31.16 battle of Jutland during which she sank H.M.S. Invincible and received twenty-four heavy calibre hits and was struck by one torpedo. Turned for home with over 7,500 tons of water aboard, and despite the truly heroic efforts of her engineers the pumps were unable to keep ahead of the sea, and the crew was taken off by S.M. Torpedo Boat G-38, who then fired two torpedos into her after which she sank. Total lost 116 officers and men.

S.M.S. Hindenburg
Budget year: 1913 Builders: Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven Laid down: Jun.30.13 Launched: Aug.1.15 Completed: May.10.17
Ship's History:
Nov.17.17 relief sortie to the western North Sea/cruiser engagement... Apr.23.18 sortie up the Norwegian coast...Nov.24.18 interned at Scapa Flow... Jun.21.19 scuttled, total loss...the British tried on several occasions to salve the wreck, finally succeeding in 1930...scrapped at Rosyth by 1932.

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