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} |} The ''Derfflinger'' class was a class of three battlecruisers () of the Imperial German Navy. The ships were ordered for the 1912–13 Naval Building Program of the German Imperial Navy as a reply to the Royal Navy's three new s that had been launched a few years earlier. The preceding and the incrementally improved represented the end of the evolution of Germany's first generation of battlecruisers. The ''Derfflinger'' class had considerable improvements, including a larger primary armament, all of which was mounted on the centerline, eliminating the restricted arc of the amidships turret. The ships were also larger than the preceding classes. The ''Derfflinger'' class used a similar propulsion system, and as a result of the increased displacement were slightly slower. The class comprised three ships: , , and . All three of the ships saw active service with the High Seas Fleet during World War I. ''Derfflinger'' was commissioned shortly after the outbreak of war, and was present at most of the naval actions in the North Sea, including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland. ''Lützow'' was commissioned in August 1915, and only participated in the raid on Yarmouth before being sunk at Jutland. ''Hindenburg'' was commissioned into the fleet in May 1917, and saw no major action. ''Derfflinger'' and ''Hindenburg'' were interned at Scapa Flow following the armistice in November 1918. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, who was in command of the interned High Seas Fleet, ordered the ships to be scuttled in an attempt to prevent their possible seizure by the Royal Navy. == Design == The ''Derfflinger''-class battlecruisers were a result of the fourth and final Naval Law, which was passed in 1912. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz used public outcry over the British involvement in the Agadir Crisis of 1911 to pressure the Reichstag into appropriating additional funds to the Navy. The Fourth Naval Law secured funding for three new dreadnoughts, two light cruisers, and an extra 15,000 officers and men in the Navy for 1912. The three dreadnoughts secured in the bill became , , and . Design work on the first two ships began in October 1910 and continued until June 1911; ''Hindenburg'' was built to a slightly modified design, which was created between May and October 1912. When design work began, the navy department was asked to submit new requirements to fix deficiencies found in the preceding battlecruiser classes, which primarily covered propulsion systems and the main armament. Previous battlecruisers used a four shaft arrangement for their engines; reducing the number to three would allow the new ships to equip a diesel engine on the central shaft. This would substantially increase the cruising range, and would ease the transfer of fuel and reduce the number of crew needed to operate the ships' machinery. The navy department also argued for an increase in the main battery guns, from 28-centimeter (11 in) guns to 30.5 cm (12 in) weapons. This was because the latest British battleships had thicker main belt armor, up to . Since the German battlecruisers were intended to fight in the line of battle, their armament needed to be sufficiently powerful to penetrate the armor of their British opponents. Weight increases were managed by reducing the number of guns, from 10 to 8—the increase in gun caliber added only 36 tons to the ships' displacement. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz argued against the increase in gun caliber, for he thought the 28 cm gun was powerful enough. A new construction technique was employed to save weight. Previous battlecruisers were built with a combination of transverse and longitudinal steel frames; the ''Derfflinger''-class ships dispensed with the transverse frames and used only the longitudinal ones. This enabled the ship to retain structural strength and a lower weight. As with all preceding capital ships, the outer hull spaces between the hull wall and the torpedo bulkhead were used for coal storage. On 1 September 1910, the design board chose the 30.5 cm, to be mounted in four twin turrets on the centerline of the ship. The armor layout was kept the same as in ''Seydlitz''. In the meantime, pressure from the British public and media had forced the British Parliament to step up ship building. Kaiser Wilhelm II requested that the build time for the new battlecruisers be reduced to two years each, as opposed to three years. This proved unfeasible, because neither the armor or armament firms could supply the necessary materials according to an expedited schedule. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Derfflinger-class battlecruiser」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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