The two ships of the Moltke class were improved versions of their predecessor Von der Tann. Bigger and even better protected, they could carry an additional heavy turret, bringing their 28cm gun count to ten. The extra space also allowed to accommodate an even stronger power plant, giving the new ships an extra knot of top speed. Both ships bore the names of generals from the Franco-Prussian War, Moltke was named after the famed Prussian chief of staff whose brilliant strategy defeated Imperial France. Shortly before the war, SMS Goeben was detached to the Mediterranean to assist in the international intervention force for handling the Skutari crisis in 1913, and managed to escape from the Austrian naval base Pola to Constantinople when hostilities with France and Britain broke out. The Ot