Moltke, along with her sister ship Goeben, was an enlarged version of the previous German battlecruiser design, Von der Tann, with increased armor protection and two more main guns in an additional turret.

[b] The ship participated in most of the major fleet actions conducted by the German Navy during the First World War, including the Battles of Dogger Bank and Jutland in the North Sea in 1915 and 1916, respectively.

Moltke was damaged several times during the war: the ship was hit by heavy-caliber gunfire at Jutland, and torpedoed twice by British submarines while on fleet advances.

[2] The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 28 cm (11 in) SK L/50 guns mounted in five twin-gun turrets; of these, one was placed forward, two were en echelon amidships, and the other two were in a superfiring pair aft.

She thereafter began sea trials, and though she had not yet formally entered service, the ship joined I Scouting Group, the fleet's main reconnaissance force.

The latter was already stationed in the waters off South America, and was to meet Moltke and Stettin at their destination, as part of a temporary cruiser division commanded by Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Hubert von Rebeur-Paschwitz.

The ships took part in the annual fleet maneuvers held in August and September, which concluded with a naval review for Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Bight.

By that time, Goeben and the new light cruiser Breslau had been sent to the Mediterranean Sea in response to the First Balkan War, Von der Tann was out of service for maintenance, Yorck had been decommissioned, and the new battlecruiser Seydlitz had not yet commissioned, leaving I SG under strength for the fleet maneuvers scheduled for May.

The large armored cruiser Blücher, then serving as the artillery school training ship, was temporarily assigned to I SG to make up the shortfall.

However, the arrival at approximately 13:37 of the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral David Beatty, quickly put the German ships at a disadvantage.

[14] Moltke was ready to sail by 12:10, but the low tide prevented the ships from being able to pass over the sand bar at the mouth of the Jade Estuary safely.

[16] On 2 November 1914, Moltke, Hipper's flagship Seydlitz, Von der Tann, and Blücher, along with four light cruisers, left the Jade Estuary and steamed towards the English coast.

Yorck left the Jade without permission, and while en route to Wilhelmshaven made a navigational error that led the ship into one of the German minefields.

[17] At 03:20 on 15 December, Moltke, Seydlitz, Von der Tann, Derfflinger, and Blücher, along with the light cruisers Kolberg, Strassburg, Stralsund, and Graudenz, and two squadrons of torpedo boats left the Jade.

The captain of Moltke was furious; he stated that Ingenohl had turned back "because he was afraid of eleven British destroyers which could have been eliminated ... under the present leadership we will accomplish nothing.

Ingenohl was initially reluctant to destroy these forces, because I Scouting Group was temporarily weakened while Von der Tann was in drydock for periodic maintenance.

However, KAdm Richard Eckermann, the Chief of Staff of the High Seas Fleet, insisted on the operation, and so Ingenohl relented and ordered Hipper to take his battlecruisers to the Dogger Bank.

[24] On 23 January, Hipper sortied, with his flag in Seydlitz, followed by Moltke, Derfflinger, and Blücher, along with the light cruisers Graudenz, Rostock, Stralsund, and Kolberg and 19 torpedo boats from V Flotilla and II and XVIII Half-Flotillas.

At 11:18, Lion was hit by two 12 in (30 cm) shells from Derfflinger, one of which struck the waterline and penetrated the belt, allowing seawater to enter the port feed tank.

Beatty, in the stricken Lion, ordered the remaining battlecruisers to "Engage the enemy's rear," but signal confusion caused the ships to solely target Blücher, allowing Moltke, Seydlitz, and Derfflinger to escape.

The German forces, under the command of now VAdm Hipper, included the four Nassau and four Helgoland-class battleships, the battlecruisers Moltke, Von der Tann, and Seydlitz, and a number of smaller craft.

The German battlecruisers Derfflinger, Lützow, Moltke, Seydlitz and Von der Tann left the Jade Estuary at 10:55 on 24 April, and were supported by a screening force of six light cruisers and two torpedo boat flotillas.

Due to reports of British submarines and torpedo attacks, Boedicker broke off the chase and turned back east towards the High Seas Fleet.

[39] An hour and a half later, the High Seas Fleet under the command of Admiral Reinhard Scheer left the Jade; the force was composed of 16 dreadnoughts.

[44] Von der Tann and Moltke changed their speed and direction, which threw off the aim of the V Battle Squadron and earned the battered ships a short respite.

[48] Instead, Scheer ordered his ships to turn 16 points to starboard, which would bring the pre-dreadnoughts to the relative safety of the disengaged side of the German battle line.

[62] Hipper reported: "I Scouting Group was therefore no longer of any value for a serious engagement, and was consequently directed to return to harbour by the Commander-in-Chief, while he himself determined to await developments off Horns Reef with the battlefleet.

Four days later, she took part in the fleet advance on 18–19 August[64] During the operation, I Scouting Group was to bombard the coastal town of Sunderland in an attempt to draw out and destroy Beatty's battlecruisers.

[67] Between September and October 1917, the ship took part in Operation Albion supporting the German invasion of the Russian islands of Ösel, Dagö, and Moon (in present-day Estonia).

As Von der Tann and Derfflinger passed through the locks that separated Wilhelmshaven's inner harbor and roadstead, some 300 men from both ships climbed over the side and disappeared ashore.