S.M.S. Seydlitz

Type: Unique Battlecruiser

In Service: 1913-1919

Armament: 5 x twin 28cm (11-inch) guns

Speed: 26.5 knots

Displacement: 28,550 tons

Its History

The Seydlitz was the direct successor to the Moltke and Von Der Tann class battlecruisers of the Imperial German Navy preceding the First World War. She was armed with ten 28cm guns spread across five turrets; one fore, two superfiring aft, and two in echelon amidships.

She is best known for her service during the Battle of Dogger Bank in January of 1915, where she was badly damaged by the British battlecruiser H.M.S. Lion and for her role as the flagship for the German High Seas Fleet during the Battle of Jutland during May-June of 1916 where she, commanded by Admiral Reinhard Scheer and along with the rest of the German battle line, obliterated the H.M.S. Invincible, H.M.S. Queen Mary, and H.M.S. Indefatigable class battlecruisers of the Royal Navy, all via magazine detonations tearing the ships apart.

During the battle, Seydlitz was struck repeatedly by heavy shell fire and forced to retreat after her bow was suffering heavy flooding, so much so that the propellers in the back of the ship protruded from the water, forcing the ship to undergo counterflooding aft to allow her to limp back to port, which she barely did so before sinking the last several meters into the ground when moored.

After Jutland, the High Seas Fleet remained largely inactive and when the war ended, Seydlitz was taken to Scapa Flow in 1919 and scuttled along with many other German capital ships.

This replica took approximately 17 hours to build.