The fleet plan centres on one large Scharnhorst-type hull for carriers and capital ships, alongside destroyer and cruiser hulls. Submarine construction would concentrate on a large type adaptable to long-range and minelaying work, plus a coastal type. Standardisation would concentrate the expertise available after Versailles reduced German shipbuilding capacity. The losses affected shipyards and human skills: interrupted training, migration for work and retirement without passing on experience. Repeated designs would give the remaining engineers and naval architects a smaller set of problems to solve and improve.
Chapter · 35:27-36:44
Standard hulls and Germany's lost shipbuilding skills
A small family of hulls is proposed as a way to concentrate scarce German design and construction expertise.