In 1905, Britain began work on the Invincible Class battlecruisers. Construction of three
such large vessels would be impossible to
conceal, so misinformation was spread to
hide the true capabilities of these ships.
Believing that Invincible would be a larger version of a conventional
armored cruiser, the Germans designed an
improved Scharnhorst Class armored cruiser to match. She rates
mention here only because of that connection,
and because of her role at the Battle of
Dodgerbank.
Blucher is sometimes referred to as a battlecruiser,
but she carried the armored cruiser designation
and should be considered as such. Too weakly
armed to match the new battlecruiser type,
Blucher was obsolete before completion. She served
as a gunnery training ship until pressed
into service with the scouting force. She
was struck by a salvo from HMS Tiger at Doggerbank. Slowed, she was left to her
fate as Admiral Hipper escaped with his three
battlecruisers. Due to a signalling error, Blucher was destroyed by the combined fire of Tiger, Princess Royal, New Zealand, and Indomitable, plus torpedoes from the light cruiser Arethusa and destroyers, while the persuit of the
remaining German ships was broken off. Blucher rolled over and sank at 54 20N, 05 43E, leaving
792 dead.
| Laid down Oct 1906 |
Launched 11 Apr 1908 |
Completed Sep 1909 |
Commissioned 1 Oct 1909 |
| Fate Sunk Battle of Doggerbank, 24 Jan 1915 |
Builders Kaiserliche Werft, Kiel |
Complement 888 |
|
| Displacement 15,500 tons standard, 17,500 full load |
Dimensions 530' 10" x 80' 5" |
Draught 28' 9" |
|
| Main guns 12 x 8.27"45 cal (6 x 2) |
Secondary guns 8 x 5.9" (8 x 1) |
Light guns 16 x 88mm (16 x 1) |
Torpedo tubes 4 x 17.7" submerged |
| Armour Belt: 7.09" Turrets: 7.09" Deck: 2.75" C.T.: 9.84" |
|||
| Machinery 18 Schulz-Thornycroft boilers |
Engines: 3 triple expansion |
Power output 34,000 ihp |
Shafts 3 |
| Speed 24.8 kts |
Range 6,600 NM @ 12 kts |
Fuel 900 tons coal normal 2400 tons coal max |
|
Blucher:
1911 refit and re-gunned
Gunnery training ship until 1914
1913 refit, experimental tripod mast fitted
WWI service:
24 Jan 1915 Sunk at Battle of Doggerbank
A turret, conning tower, bridge, and funnel
destroyed, ship slowed to 17 knots
Left to her fate as Seydlitz, Derfflinger,
and Moltke escaped.
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