I am not sure I understand the cog 11 being earlier referred to as first gear, early in the post, and the derailleur being then extended completely forward. One would expect the derailleur then being completely tucked in, with one jockey wheel getting close to the cog and the other busy absorbing the chain slack. The photo shows cog 33 in operation, with reference again to the first gear, and then the derailleur extending the tensioner arm forward.
In any case, it sounds like the capacity of the derailleur got exceeded, and that became the source of the problem, and not the derailleur being of unconventional type. Is that right?
Yes, you are correct. I exceeded the range of the derailleur. And I have fixed my post to refer to 1st gear as the 32-tooth ring.