Scharnhorst corrected more real problems than the later Bismarck class, although German planners still tended to imitate British warship categories before defining their own needs. The Deutschland class was already sufficient to dominate the Baltic against the modernized Gangut-class ships, so larger battleships were unnecessary for that mission. Recreating the pre-1914 risk-fleet contest was equally unsustainable because Britain possessed greater naval infrastructure. Germany also had to fund a continental army and many other projects, preventing it from matching British construction without enormous additional investment. The useful test for every German capital ship was the operational problem it solved, rather than how closely it resembled the latest foreign design.
Chapter · 1:39-4:42
What Germany needed capital ships to do
Scharnhorst prompts the prior question Germany often neglected: whether it needed a British-style battle fleet at all when the Deutschland class already covered Baltic requirements.