SMS Von der Tann[a] was the first battlecruiser built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), as well as Germany's first major turbine-powered warship.

At the time of her construction, Von der Tann was the fastest dreadnought-type warship afloat, capable of reaching speeds in excess of 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph).

Von der Tann was hit several times by large-caliber shells during the battle, and at one point in the engagement, the ship had all of her main battery guns out of action either due to damage or malfunction.

Kaiser Wilhelm II however, along with most of the RMA, was in favor of incorporating the ship into the battle line after initial contact was made, which necessitated much heavier armor.

The insistence upon the capability to fight in the battle line was a result of the numerical inferiority of the German High Seas fleet to the British Royal Navy.

The Kaiser approved "2a", which the design staff continued to refine, producing "2b" by moving the wing turrets to an en echelon arrangement that provided a theoretical broadside of all eight guns (though severe blast effects prevented this in practice).

[20] Unlike her British contemporaries, Von der Tann also carried a heavy secondary battery, consisting of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 guns, casemated in MPL C/06 pivot mounts, each with 150 high explosive and armor-piercing shells.

These guns fired a 9 kg (20 lb) shell at the high rate of 15 rounds per minute, up to a range of 10,694 m (11,695 yd), which was quite long for a smaller caliber weapon.

[21] In late 1916, following repair work after the damage sustained during the Battle of Jutland, Von der Tann had her 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns removed and the firing ports welded shut.

[25] In May 1910, Von der Tann sailed from the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg to receive her final fitting-out in the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Dockyard) at Kiel.

[25][28] The primary purpose of the cruise was to obtain armament contracts from South American countries by impressing them with what was "widely advertised as the fastest and most powerful warship then afloat.

In June, she steamed to Vlissingen in the Netherlands, where she embarked Crown Prince Wilhelm and his wife Cecilie to take them to attend the coronation of King George V of the United Kingdom.

[28][30] Following the outbreak of the First World War in July 1914, Von der Tann's first major sortie occurred when the ship took part in the unsuccessful search for British battlecruisers, after the Battle of Heligoland Bight, in August 1914.

During the action, Von der Tann had been stationed in Wilhelmshaven Roads, and had been ordered to raise steam as early as 08:20, to assist the German cruisers under attack in the Heligoland Bight.

During the night of 15 December, the main body of the High Seas Fleet encountered British destroyers, and fearing the prospect of a night-time torpedo attack, Admiral Ingenohl ordered the ships to retreat.

On 10 August 1915, Von der Tann shelled the island fortress at Utö, in the eastern Baltic,[44] during which she took part in an artillery duel with the Russian armored cruiser Admiral Makarov.

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 6 light cruisers and two torpedo boat flotillas.

At 15:38, Seydlitz struck a mine, which tore a 50-ft (15-m) hole in her hull, just abaft of the starboard broadside torpedo tube, which allowed 1,400-t (1,500-short tons) of water to enter the ship.

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

"[53] Following the destruction of Indefatigable, Beatty turned his force away, while the British 5th Battle Squadron closed in on the German battlecruisers, opening fire from approximately 19,000 yd (17,000 m).

[54] Von der Tann and Moltke, the two rearmost of Hipper's squadron, came under fire from the three lead British battleships of the 5th BS: Barham, Valiant, and Malaya.

[54] This hit temporarily damaged the ship's steering gear, and combined with Von der Tann's zig-zagging cause her to fall out of line to port.

The German Official History commented that "the greatest calamity of a complete breakdown of the steering gear was averted, otherwise, Von der Tann would have been delivered into the hands of the oncoming battleships as in the case of Blücher during the Dogger Bank action.

[67] At 03:37, the British destroyer Moresby fired a torpedo at the rear of the German line; this passed closely across Von der Tann's bow, and forced the ship to turn sharply to starboard to avoid being hit.

By that time, Derfflinger and Von der Tann each had only two guns in operation, Moltke was flooded with 1,000 tons of water, and Seydlitz was severely damaged.

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

[70] The ship was firing so fast that several of the main guns in the amidships turrets became overheated and jammed in their recoil slides, and could not be returned to working order.

During the first of these, conducted on 18–19 August, Von der Tann was one of two remaining German battlecruisers still in fighting condition (along with Moltke), so three dreadnoughts were assigned to I Scouting Group for the operation: Markgraf, Grosser Kurfürst, and Bayern.

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.

[79] Prior to the departure of the German fleet, Admiral Adolf von Trotha made clear to Reuter that he could not allow the Allies to seize the ships, under any conditions.