The historical Bismarck and Tirpitz plants produced roughly 148,000 and 161,000 shaft horsepower through boilers and geared turbines. Z51's planned diesels offer a useful comparison at 12,600 horsepower each. Twelve engines at that output total just over 151,000 horsepower and can be distributed across three shafts. The calculation is not a finished engineering design, but it shows that sustained development from the mid-1920s could make a diesel battleship a scaling problem rather than an impossible leap.
Notable Point · 56:57-1:00:00
Scaling a diesel plant to Bismarck
Bismarck's roughly 150,000-horsepower requirement is demanding, but a twelve-engine, three-shaft plant becomes conceivable after a decade of sustained marine-diesel development.