Concentrating German engine development on diesels

German marine diesel development was moving from nine-cylinder engines toward twelve- and twenty-four-cylinder machinery. An all-diesel policy would redirect work from 600 PSI boilers into those engines instead of maintaining parallel propulsion programmes. Multiple engines and gearing would provide the proposed route to the required power and speed while retaining endurance. Earlier availability of that performance depends on the counterfactual concentration of development effort. The procurement criticism is that matching other navies' machinery encouraged Germany to imitate their priorities instead of concentrating on its own strengths.