 The Derfflinger @-@ class battlecruisers were a result of the fourth and final Naval Law , which was passed in 1912 . Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz used public <unk> over the British involvement in the <unk> Crisis of 1911 to pressure the <unk> into appropriating additional funds to the Navy . The Fourth Naval Law secured funding for three new dreadnoughts , two light cruisers , and an extra 15 @,@ 000 officers and men in the Navy for 1912 . The three dreadnoughts secured in the bill became Derfflinger , Lützow , and Hindenburg . Design work on the first two ships began in October 1910 and continued until June 1911 ; Hindenburg was built to a slightly modified design , which was created between May and October 1912 . 
