The class did not possess the exceptional speed often attached to its reputation. Its pair of heavy-gun turrets created a striking silhouette and a powerful headline, but they did not provide a broad set of capabilities. Calling the ships super-heavy cruisers better reflects their place between conventional cruisers and true capital ships. The short exchange separates the design's actual performance from the mythology built around an unusual armament.
Notable Point · 2:15:10-2:15:28
The limits behind the Deutschland-class mythology
The Deutschland class is stripped of the pocket-battleship mystique and treated as a slow, narrowly capable super-heavy cruiser.