SMS Derfflinger

SMS "Derfflinger" was a World War I battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine. The ship was named after Brandenburg Field Marshal "Reichsfreiherr" Georg von Derfflinger who fought in the Thirty Years' War. She was the lead ship of her class, her sister ships being SMS "Lützow" and SMS "Hindenburg".

Construction

, she was fully operational by November of that year.

The "Derfflinger" and the ships of her class were designed to be improvements on the previous battlecruisers of the German Navy, the Moltke class and the SMS "Seydlitz" as well as to complement the König class battleships.

Both the "Königs" and the "Derfflingers" mounted their main battery in twin turrets on the centerline and both classes were outfitted with a partially oil-fired boiler arrangement. Derfflinger was the first German capital ship to have a flush deck design, while the lack of secondary casements mounts in the hull itself was a preview of more modern naval designs by the 1930s.

ervice

Upon commissioning she was attached to the First Scouting Group (I "Aufklärungsgeschwader") commanded by Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper. After the outbreak of World War I she took part in the bombardment of Scarborough, Yorkshire on 14 December 1914.

Subsequently, she fought at the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915 where she was hit by three shells but in the process also managed to hit and cripple the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS "Lion".

On 24 April 1916 the "Derfflinger" took part in the coastal bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft.

Jutland

Participating in the Battle of Jutland as part of the German High Seas Fleet on 31 May 1916, the "Derfflinger" and her sister-ship the SMS "Lützow" were between them credited with sinking the British battlecruisers HMS "Queen Mary" and HMS "Invincible". In the process she was herself heavily damaged by hits from ten 15-inch, one 13.5-inch, and ten 12-inch heavy shells, and took on 3,000 tons of water. One 15-inch shell struck "Derfflinger's" "D" turret and detonated inside, killing most of the turret crew, rendering it useless. One 15-inch shell from "Revenge" penetrated "Derfflinger's" "C" barbette, knocking it out of action. She nevertheless was able to limp home, and the resulting repairs took her out of commission for four months. This was the highest amount of hits on a ship not sunk at the Battle of Jutland; because of this, the British nicknamed her the "Iron Dog". [Staff, Gary: "German Battlecruisers: 1914-1918", page 39. Osprey Books, 2006. ISBN 978-1-84603-009-3]

After the Battle of Jutland the German Navy seemed to have less inclination to challenge the Royal Navy, and aside from an unsuccessful sortie into the North Sea on 3 April 1918, the rest of the First World War passed uneventfully for the "Derfflinger".

After the end of World War I, she was interned at Scapa Flow where her crew scuttled her on 21 June 1919. The wreck was raised in 1939 but was not scrapped until the end of World War II, in 1946.

External links & References

* [http://www.german-navy.de/hochseeflotte/ships/battlecruiser/derfflinger/index.html SMS Derfflinger] at the German Navy History website
* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/germany/battleships/derfflinger/sms_derfflinger.htm SMS Derfflinger photo gallery] at MaritimeQuest.com
* [http://german-navy.tripod.com/sms_bc_derfflinger.htm Gross Kreuzer] of the Derfflinger class at German-Navy.tripod.com.
*Koop, Gerhard & Schmolke, Klaus-Peter. "Vom Original zum Modell: Die Großen Kreuzer Von der Tann, Moltke-Klasse, Seydlitz, Derfflinger-Klasse." Bonn: Bernard & Graefe Verlag, 1998. ISBN 3-7637-5673-5

See also

*List of ship launches in 1913
*List of ship commissionings in 1914
*SMS Hindenburg
*SMS Lützow

References