List of sunken battlecruisers

The first combat losses of battlecruisers occurred during World War I, as a result of the Battle of Jutland between the Royal Navy and the Imperial German Navy on 31 May 1916. The three British ships—{{HMS|Invincible|1907|2}}, {{HMS|Indefatigable|1909|2}}, and {{HMS|Queen Mary||2}}—were all sunk by magazine explosions, with heavy loss of life.Campbell, pp. 368–69 {{SMS|Lützow||6}} had been hit several times below the waterline by British shells during the battle and took on a lot of water after the battle. Later that night, Lützow had so much water aboard that she threatened to capsize; the crew was ordered to abandon ship and a German destroyer finished her off with two torpedoes. The next combat losses were a quarter century later during World War II, when the British intercepted a German force attempting to break out into the Atlantic to attack supply convoys. Shortly after the Battle of the Denmark Strait began on 24 May 1941, a shell from the {{ship|German battleship|Bismarck}} hit {{HMS|Hood|51|2}}, causing its magazine to explode with massive loss of life. Six months later, the battleship {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|2}} and the battlecruiser {{HMS|Repulse|1916|2}} attempted to intercept Japanese troop convoys approaching the Malay Peninsula. They were spotted by Japanese aircraft en route and sunk by torpedo bombers on 10 December.Stephen, pp. 70–80, 104–14

Several battlecruisers survived World War I only to be scuttled in its aftermath. The five German battlecruisers that survived World War I—{{SMS|Von der Tann||2}}, {{SMS|Moltke||2}}, {{SMS|Seydlitz||2}}, {{SMS|Derfflinger||2}}, {{SMS|Hindenburg||2}}—were interned at Scapa Flow pending the signing of a peace treaty between Germany and the Allies. The commander of the German ships in Scapa, Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter, thought the British were going to seize the ships immediately after the expiration of the Armistice, and preemptively ordered the ships be scuttled on the morning of 21 June 1919 to keep them out of British hands.Herwig, p. 256 The Royal Australian Navy scuttled {{HMAS|Australia|1911|2}} in 1924 to comply with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.Duncan, p. 32

Half a dozen of the surviving battlecruisers (including three under construction) were converted into aircraft carriers during the 1920s.

All three of the {{sclass|Courageous|battlecruiser|2}}s were converted. Courageous{{'}}s aircraft were hunting for submarines shortly after the beginning of World War II when she was sunk by the {{GS|U-29|1936|6}} on 17 September 1939. The following year, {{HMS|Glorious||2}} was returning to Britain when she was sunk by the German battleships {{ship|German battleship|Scharnhorst||2}} and {{ship|German battleship|Gneisenau||2}} in the North Sea on 8 June 1940.Burt, pp. 282–83, 297–98 A clause in the Washington Naval Treaty allowed two ships per signatory to be converted to aircraft carriers, and the United States Navy chose to convert two of its {{sclass|Lexington|battlecruiser|2}}s during the 1920s because of their high speed. {{USS|Lexington|CV-2|2}} was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes during the Battle of the Coral Sea on 8 May 1942. They only moderately damaged the ship, but, more importantly, they cracked some of her avgas storage tanks. Fumes from these tanks later caught fire and could not be put out; the crew was forced to abandon ship and Lexington was torpedoed and sunk by an American destroyer.Polmar & Genda, pp. 50, 218, 220 {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2}} survived the war, but was considered obsolete so she was used as a target for nuclear weapon tests during Operation Crossroads. The ship survived the first test with little damage, but was sunk by the second test on 25 July 1946. The {{ship|Japanese aircraft carrier|Akagi}} was another battlecruiser converted into a carrier because of the Washington Naval Treaty. She was struck by three bombs during the Battle of Midway on 4 June 1942 that caused serious fires that forced the crew to abandon ship early that night. By the following morning, it was clear that the ship could not be repaired, and so was torpedoed and sunk.Parshall and Tully, pp. 352–53, 463, 466

The four Japanese {{sclass|Kongō|battlecruiser|2}}s were reconstructed as fast battleships during the 1930s. On 13 November 1942, during the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, {{ship|Japanese battleship|Hiei||2}} stumbled across American cruisers and destroyers at point-blank range. The ship was badly damaged in the encounter and had to be towed by her sister ship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Kirishima||2}}. Both were spotted by American aircraft the following morning and Kirishima was forced to cast off her tow because of repeated aerial attacks. Hiei{{'}}s captain ordered her crew to abandon ship after further damage and scuttled Hiei in the early evening of 14 November. On the night of 14/15 November during the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, Kirishima returned to Ironbottom Sound, but encountered the American battleships {{USS|South Dakota|BB-57|2}} and {{USS|Washington|BB-56|2}}. While failing to detect Washington, Kirishima engaged South Dakota with some effect. Washington opened fire a few minutes later at short range and badly damaged Kirishima, knocking out her aft turrets, jamming her rudder, and hitting the ship below the waterline. The flooding proved to be uncontrollable and Kirishima capsized three and a half hours later. Returning to Japan after the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Kongō was torpedoed and sunk by the American submarine {{USS|Sealion II|SS-315|2}} on 21 November 1944. Haruna was based at Kure, Japan when the naval base was attacked by British and American carrier aircraft on 24 and 28 July 1945. The ship was only lightly damaged by a single bomb hit on 24 July, but was hit a dozen more times on 28 July and sank at her pier. She was refloated after the war and scrapped in early 1946.

The listed battlecruisers are grouped according to causes of the sinking. Within groups, they are listed in chronological order of sinking.

The following ships were destroyed in battle.

Several battlecruisers were scuttled.

Several battlecruisers were converted into other ship types either during construction or after entering service; many of these ships were sunk in combat during World War II.

• List of battlecruisers
• List of sunken battleships
• List of sunken aircraft carriers
• List of sunken nuclear submarines

{{reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist}}

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• [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/20th_century_battleship_overview.htm Maritimequest Battleships & Battlecruisers of the 20th century]
• [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/battlecr.htm British and German Battlecruisers of the First World War]
• [http://www.navsource.org/archives/04idx.htm Navsource Online]

{{Battlecruisers of the world}}

Sunken battlecruisers

Battlecruisers, Sunken