SMS Hindenburg

Historical information

SMS Hindenburg was a battlecruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine and the third ship of the Derfflinger class. She was named in honor of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg, the victor of the Battle of Tannenberg and the Battle of the Masurian Lakes, as well as Supreme Commander of the German armies from 1916. The ship was the last capital ship of any type built by the German navy during World War I.

Hindenburg was commissioned late in the war and as a result had a brief service career. The ship took part in a handful of short fleet advances as the flagship of the I Scouting Group in 1917–18, though saw no major action. Hindenburg was subsequently interned with the rest of the German battlecruisers at Scapa Flow in November 1918. Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter ordered the ships be scuttled on 21 June 1919. Hindenburg holds the distinction of being the last of the ships to sink.