One of the ex-German ships that France received as part of the countries reparation package, the Hindenburg was only two years old when the ship arrived at Brest Naval Base and was renamed Lyonnais. The Derfflinger class was by far and away the best battlecruiser of WW1 and was only beaten out of best overall because of the Queen Elizabeth class. The better, more accurate drawings, now available, should make a difference.
The Lyonnais was a first class edition to the French Navy who learned a lot from the ship and used the knowledge in the production of later ships such as the Dunkerque and Alsace types. Due to the parlous state of French finances the ship remained virtually unchanged till 1934 when the decision was made to upgrade the ship so that it would resemble Frances other capital ships.
New bow, superstructures, propulsion systems, secondary armament and AA armament, deck armour.... the ship came out almost unrecognisable from the original ship.
Silly me - I originally had this ship named "Brittany" which of course is also "Bretagne" in the French spelling and pronunciation. I thought I had better change it. Lyonnais the ship has become. I do have to remember these things so I don't look any more of a twit than normal.
