Operation Regenbogen belonged to the older idea of guerre de course, an economic war against maritime trade. French practice had used privateers and frigates built for that mission, whereas the German force mixed ships conceived for Baltic dominance, fast-battleship work, and an incomplete Plan Z fleet. Deutschland's long range did not erase her original Baltic role. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau came closest to the raiding requirement, but their 11-inch guns should not by themselves define them as battlecruisers: their armament reflected the largest guns Germany could build at the time after Versailles. The Hipper class had lost focus as competing requirements accumulated. Germany was fighting a commerce war with a fleet whose design priorities and incomplete construction suited a different conflict.
Notable Point · 51:22-53:41
Germany attempted commerce raiding with ships designed for other wars
French guerre de course offers a contrast to a German fleet whose Baltic ships and committee-designed cruisers were pressed into an economic war they had not been optimized to fight.