Geography made German capital-ship construction harder to conceal than Yamato

Could Germany secretly build a ship large enough to withstand Nelson-class fire or ramming?

It could attempt the design, but Britain would be far more likely to discover German construction than Japan's secret Yamato program.

A very large German ship could theoretically be built to resist heavy British weapons, but the construction program would be conspicuous. European access and human intelligence made it much easier for Britain to observe German yards than the tightly controlled Japanese program.