Wikipedia:Today's featured article/May 30, 2014

The Derfflinger class was a class of three battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy. The ships were ordered for the 1912 to 1913 Naval Building Program of the German Imperial Navy as a reply to the Royal Navy's three new Lion-class battlecruisers. The Derfflinger class ships were larger and slightly slower than their predecessors, and had a larger primary armament. The class comprised three ships: SMS Derfflinger (pictured), SMS Lützow, and SMS Hindenburg. All three 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, commissioned in May 1917, 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.

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