MS Scharnhorst was the flagship of German Vice-Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee's East Asia Squadron.
It was sunk on 8 December 1914 with more than 800 men on board, including Vice-Adm von Spee himself.
The leader of the search for the wreckage said the moment of discovery was "extraordinary".
The wreck of a World War One German armoured cruiser has been located off the Falkland Islands, where it was sunk by the British navy 105 years ago.