Q&A · 2:00:38-2:01:08

More Deutschlands instead of Admiral Hipper-class cruisers

Continuing the Deutschland line would give Germany raiders, but not cruisers as dangerous as the Admiral Hipper class.

Question

What if Germany continued developing the Deutschland class instead of building the Admiral Hipper class?

Short answer

Germany gains more specialized raiders but gives up the more capable and dangerous Hipper-type heavy cruiser.

Notes

A larger family of Deutschland-type ships would preserve long-range commerce-raiding potential and heavy guns on a cruiser-sized hull. The Admiral Hipper class would still be the more dangerous fighting ship. Britain would therefore find a continued pocket-battleship programme troublesome but comparatively manageable. The comparison highlights the difference between optimizing a ship for independent raiding and building a stronger general-purpose heavy cruiser.