designs—those of and the —there was still significant debate as to how new ships of the type were to be designed. In 1909, the (Navy Department) requested Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the State Secretary for the navy, to provide them with the improvements that would be necessary for the next battlecruiser design. Tirpitz continued to push for the use of battlecruisers solely as fleet scouts and to destroy enemy cruisers, along the lines of the battlecruisers employed by the British Royal Navy; this meant larger guns, higher speeds, and less armor protection. Kaiser Wilhelm II and the majority of the Navy Department argued that due to Germany's numerical inferiority compared to the Royal Navy, the ships would also have to fight in the line of battle. This necessitated much heavier armor protection than that afforded to the Royal Navy's battlecruiser designs. Ultimately, the Kaiser and the Navy Department won the debate, and the battlecruiser for the 1909–1910 building year would continue in the pattern of the previous and -class designs. Financial constraints meant that there would have to be a trade-off between speed, battle capabilities, and displacement. The initial design specifications mandated that speed was to have been at least as high as with the class, and that the ship was to have been armed with either eight guns or ten guns. The design staff considered three-gun turrets, but these were discarded when it was decided that the standard 28 cm twin turret was sufficient. In August 1909, the (Imperial Diet) stated that it would tolerate no increases in cost over the -class battlecruisers, and so for a time, the Navy Department considered shelving the new design and instead to build a third -class ship. Admiral Tirpitz was able to negotiate a discount on armor plate from both Krupp and Dillingen; Tirpitz also pressured the ship's builder, Blohm & Voss, for a discount. These cost reductions freed up sufficient funds to make some material improvements to the design. On 27 January 1910, the Kaiser approved the design for the new ship, ordered under the provisional name "Cruiser J". Design General characteristics was long at the waterline, and overall. The ship had a beam of , which was increased to with anti-torpedo nets equipped. She had a draft of forward and aft. displaced as designed, which increased to at full load. had a double bottom for 76 percent of the length