The Derfflinger class was a class of three battlecruisers () of the German Imperial Navy. The ships were ordered for the 1912 to 1913 Naval Building Program of the German Imperial Navy as a reply to the Royal Navy's three new Lion-class battlecruisers that had been launched a few years earlier. The preceding Moltke class and the incrementally improved Seydlitz represented the end of the evolution of Germany's first generation of battlecruisers. The Derfflinger class boasted considerable improvements, including a larger primary armament, all of which was mounted on the centerline, eliminating the restricted arc of the amidships turret. The ships were also larger than the preceding classes. However, the Derfflinger class used a similar propulsion system, and as a result of the increased disp