SMS Derfflinger

SMS Derfflinger.
SMS Derfflinger was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine built in the early 1910s, the lead vessel of the Derfflinger class. The ships were larger than the previous German battlecruisers, and featured significant improvements. Derfflinger served in I Scouting Group during the war and took part in attacks on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914 and Yarmouth and Lowestoft in 1916, as well as the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915 and the Battle of Jutland in 1916. At Jutland, Derfflinger helped to sink the British battlecruisers Queen Mary and Invincible, but was seriously damaged herself. Derfflinger saw little activity for the remainder of the war and she was interned with the rest of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow following the armistice in November 1918. Under the orders of Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, the interned ships were scuttled on 21 June 1919. (This article is part of a featured topic: Battlecruisers of the world.)