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Sms LtzowSMS ''Ltzow'' was a German Kaiserliche Marine battlecruiser under Capt. Harder, flagship of Vice Admiral Franz von Hipper's Scouting Group I battlecruiser fleet in World War I. She was commissioned in 1915, displacing ~27,000 tons with a main armament of 8 x 12 in (305 mm) guns, making her the largest and most powerful German battlecruiser to date along with her elder sister Derfflinger. She led Scouting Group I at the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. In this engagement her accurate fire in the early battlecruiser action (began 15:48) knocked out a 13.5 in (343 mm) turret of HMS Lion, the lead Royal Navy battlecruiser, starting a catastrophic fire that, but for the quick-witted heroism of the turret's mortally injured commanding officer, would have subjected Lion to the same lethal magazine explosion that befell 3 other British battlecruisers that day. Ltzow proceeded to take heavy punishment from her British counterparts as the main battle was joined in early evening on 31 May, though her own fire remained deadly: British armored cruiser HMS Defence, rushing to finish off the foundering light cruiser SMS Wiesbaden between the opposing fleets, was hammered by Ltzow and other leading German capital ships, disintegrating spectacularly at 18:20. At about this moment, however, Ltzow and Derfflinger came within range of a fresh squadron of British battlecruisers led by Rear-Admiral Hood in HMS Invincible - the original design of all battlecruisers. Two 12 in (305 mm) shells from Invincible penetrated Ltzow below the water line leading to severe flooding. However at about 18:30 - the very moment the Grand Fleet first "crossed the T" of the High Seas Fleet - Invincible suddenly appeared before Ltzow and Derfflinger as a perfect target steaming 5 miles (8 km) away. Several 12 in (305 mm) salvos later, Invincible blew up and sank with all but 6 of her 1,032 crew, Admiral Hood included. Ltzow steadily fell behind the main fleet as flooding worsened, forcing Hipper to transfer his flag to a destroyer around 19:00. In the following hour Ltzow continued to sustain damage for a grand total of 24 heavy-caliber from the 12, 13.5 and 15 in (305, 343 and 381 mm) hits, the 2 12 in (305 mm) below-waterline impacts from Invincible being most serious. In the night action of 31 May/1 June Ltzow was abandoned by her 1,150 survivors and scuttled, her escape from the battle area being reckoned hopeless. She was the biggest German ship sunk by British gunfire in the war. Ltzow
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