F3's official speed of about 29 knots creates a clear benchmark for German capital-ship planning. A requirement to outrun it would demand more machinery power, consuming weight and internal volume. Faster Scharnhorst- or Bismarck-class designs would then have to give up firepower, protection, or another design priority. That choice remains unanswered, so this is an open design problem rather than a prediction.
Notable Point · 1:02:42-1:03:12
The German design problem posed by a 29-knot F3
F3's official 29-knot speed frames an unanswered design problem: a faster German capital ship would need more machinery and sacrifices elsewhere.