German redundancy inflated ships without equal combat value

Were large German surface warships overweight mainly because of distributed armour, or because of other design choices?

Other choices mattered greatly: excessive subdivision, duplicated systems, and unnecessary layers of redundancy added weight and crew without proportional fighting value.

The weight problem was broader than a distributed armour scheme: German surface ships were built with inefficient subdivision and layers of redundancy that did not always improve combat survival. Separate sections and multiple backup systems increased crew, machinery, and support requirements, sometimes for services that would be irrelevant after the damage needed to reach a fourth fallback. Duplicated washing facilities show how seemingly benign habitability choices could add tanks, heaters, piping, and displacement throughout a ship.