The review moves from completed German ships to the much larger H-class projects associated with Plan Z. Adding roughly 12,500 tons to the Bismarck pattern would not automatically make the result more efficient because extra size could preserve or enlarge its underlying design problems. The proposed 406-millimetre main battery, extensive secondary armament, torpedo tubes, and aircraft show how many demands were being packed into the design. Impressive paper specifications and greater displacement do not by themselves prove that a warship design is coherent.
Notable Point · 7:10-8:16
H-class battleships and the risks of paper design
The projected H-class battleships show how greater displacement and heavier guns could amplify rather than solve the inefficiencies of an existing design tradition.