In contrast to British Battlecruisers, those built by Germany did not follow the same design doctrine. The Germans had a lot of catching up to do. Hence, Germany's first Battlecruiser - SMS Von Der Tann - wasn't ordered until a year later. It was clear that this new class of ship - classified as a Battlecruiser - was superior in every way to Armoured Cruisers, hence Blücher was obsolete before she was even laid down (there were no funds to redesign the ship). It made Blücher's 21cm guns look pathetic in comparison. This new class of ship carried 8 guns - but these were 12-inch guns, like those carried on HMS Dreadnought. Tragically (or hilariously, depending on who you talk to), one week later, the Germans obtained the actual details of the Royal Navy's newest warship. These were mounted in 6 twin turrets in a similar arrangement to the Nassau-Class Battleship, both of which were approved funding at the same time in mid-1906. Hence, Blücher was armed with 12 21cm guns. However, she had been designed to match the British Armoured Cruisers that were being built at the time, which the Germans expected would be armed with 6 or 8 9.2-inch (234mm) guns - 4 of which had been used on the Royal Navy's newest Armoured Cruiser - the Minotaur Class. She was bigger, better armoured, better armed, and faster than any German Armoured Cruiser before her, and superior to any British Armoured Cruiser that had been built. SMS Blücher, the last German Armoured Cruiser, could be argued to be the first German Battlecruiser. Whilst much of these efforts were spent on the new Dreadnought Battleships, Battlecruisers also came to play in this at approximately the same time. During the mid 1900's, Germany and Britain entered a naval arms race, building larger and more powerful ships than the other.
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