Why similar German cruisers lost the benefits of scale

Lützow coupled eight diesel engines to two shafts through precision gearboxes, with four engines feeding each shaft. The gearing and the 11-inch guns changed between successive Deutschland-class ships rather than remaining common across the class. A stable design could have generated economies of scale across a larger production run; continual internal changes meant superficially similar ships did not deliver those benefits. The machinery example helps explain both Lützow's individual handling problems and the wider difficulty of building a coherent German surface force.