The class mattered politically before it could matter militarily. Its prospective capital ships worried Turkey and Germany and could give Japan a visible justification for further construction under treaty escalation clauses. German reconnaissance photographs are unusually valuable because direct observation of yards and hulls was more reliable than Soviet official claims. They show incomplete ships being dismantled so their material could strengthen the defences of threatened construction cities. As the Eastern Front approached, defending those cities took priority over preserving incomplete capital ships.
Notable Point · 32:22-35:33
How unfinished battleships could still influence strategy
Even ships that never entered service affected how Turkey, Germany, Japan, and treaty powers assessed Soviet naval potential.