Contemporary German naval doctrine called for a scouting group to be made up with at least four large ships, or half a squadron. See Philbin, p. 119, Scheer, p. 13. As the largest non-capital warship in the fleet, Blücher was frequently employed as the fourth. Philbin, Tobias R. III (1982). Admiral Hipper: The Inconvenient Hero. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN978-90-6032-200-0. Scheer, Reinhard (1920). Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War. London, New York: Cassell. OCLC2765294.
Contemporary German naval doctrine called for a scouting group to be made up with at least four large ships, or half a squadron. See Philbin, p. 119, Scheer, p. 13. As the largest non-capital warship in the fleet, Blücher was frequently employed as the fourth. Philbin, Tobias R. III (1982). Admiral Hipper: The Inconvenient Hero. John Benjamins Publishing Company. ISBN978-90-6032-200-0. Scheer, Reinhard (1920). Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War. London, New York: Cassell. OCLC2765294.
Rüger, p. 160. Rüger, Jan (2007). The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN978-0-521-87576-9. OCLC124025616.
Herwig, p. 45. Herwig, Holger (1998) [1980]. "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst, New York: Humanity Books. ISBN978-1-57392-286-9. OCLC57239454.