SMS Seydlitz Scale Models

SMS Seydlitz was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), built in Hamburg. She was ordered in 1910 and commissioned in May 1913, the fourth battlecruiser built for the High Seas Fleet. She was named after Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz, a Prussian general during the reign of King Frederick the Great and the Seven Years’ War.

Seydlitz participated in many of the large fleet actions during World War I, including the battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea. The ship suffered severe damage during both engagements; during the Battle of Dogger Bank, a 13.5 in (34.3 cm) shell from the British battlecruiser Lion struck Seydlitz’s rearmost turret and nearly caused a magazine explosion that could have destroyed the ship. At the Battle of Jutland she was hit twenty-one times by large-caliber shells, one of which penetrated the working chamber of the aft superfiring turret. Although the resulting fire destroyed the turret, the safety measures imposed after the battle of Dogger Bank prevented a catastrophe. The ship was also hit by a torpedo during the battle, causing her to take in over 5,300 metric tons of water and her freeboard was reduced to 2.5 m. The ship inflicted severe damage on her British opponents as well; early in the battle, salvos from both Seydlitz and the battlecruiser Derfflinger destroyed the battlecruiser Queen Mary in seconds.

As with the rest of the German battlecruisers that survived the war, the ship was interned in Scapa Flow in 1918. The ship, along with the rest of the High Seas Fleet, was scuttled in June 1919, to prevent her seizure by the British Royal Navy. She was raised on 2 November 1928 and scrapped by 1930 in Rosyth.

General characteristics
Class and type:	Unique battlecruiser
Displacement:	Design: 24,988 t (24,593 long tons) Full load: 28,550 t (28,100 long tons)
Length:	200.6 m (658 ft 2 in)
Beam:	28.5 m (93 ft 6 in)
Draft:	9.29 m (30 ft 6 in)
Installed power:	27 × water-tube boilers 88,510 shp (66,002 kW)
Propulsion:	4 × screw propellers 4 × Parsons turbines
Speed:	26.5 knots (49.1 km/h; 30.5 mph)
Range:	4,200 nmi (7,800 km; 4,800 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Complement:	1,068
Armament:	10 × 28 cm (11 in) SK L/50 guns (5 × 2) 12 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns 12 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in)guns 4 × 50 cm (19.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 100 to 300 mm (3.9 to 11.8 in) Deck: 30 to 80 mm (1.2 to 3.1 in) Gun turrets: 250 mm (9.8 in) Conning tower: 350 mm (13.8 in)