Wikipedia:Today's featured article/April 11, 2013

SMS Blücher was the last armored cruiser built by the Imperial German Navy. She was designed to match what German intelligence incorrectly believed to be the specifications of the British Invincible-class battlecruisers. Blücher was larger than earlier armored cruisers and carried more heavy guns, but was unable to match the size and armament of the new battlecruisers. The ship was named for Gebhard von Blücher, commander of Prussian forces at the Battle of Waterloo. After being commissioned in 1909, Blücher served in the I Scouting Group for most of her career, including World War I. She took part in the bombardment of Yarmouth and the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in 1914. At the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1915, she was slowed significantly after being hit by British gunfire. Franz von Hipper, the German commander, decided to abandon Blücher to the pursuing enemy ships in order to save his more valuable battlecruisers. She was sunk and British destroyers began recovering the survivors, although they were forced to withdraw when a German zeppelin began bombing them, mistaking Blücher for a British ship. Estimates of the number of casualties range from 747 to around 1,000. (Full article...)

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