Wikipedia:Today's featured list/February 1, 2016
The battlecruisers of Germany were built in the first half of the 20th century by the Kaiserliche Marine, the navy of the German Empire. The battlecruiser type was an outgrowth of older armored cruiser designs; they were intended to scout for the main battle fleet and attack the reconnaissance forces of opposing fleets. Kaiser Wilhelm II maintained that the new battlecruisers be able to fight in the line of battle with battleships to counter Germany's numerical inferiority. SMS Von der Tann (pictured) was the first German battlecruiser, built in 1908–1910. The Kaiserliche Marine eventually built four more battlecruisers before the start of the First World War to serve with the High Seas Fleet, and another two were completed during the conflict. A further seven were planned, including four of the Mackensen and three of the Ersatz Yorck-class ships. Six of the seven battlecruisers completed before or during World War I saw relatively heavy combat, primarily in the North Sea. All of the ships, with the exception of Goeben, were assigned to the I Scouting Group under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper. (Full list...)