The German Kaiser class retained ten 12-inch guns while Britain, Japan, Chile, the Ottoman order, and the United States were choosing larger weapons. Its belt varied from about 4.7 to 13.8 inches, challenging the familiar claim of uniformly superior German protection when British contemporaries carried comparable armour and heavier shells. Three oil-fired and twelve coal-fired water-tube boilers fed three turbine sets and three shafts for about 21 knots. Germany had dependable coal but could not be certain of wartime oil supplies, so the mixed plant answered a strategic supply constraint. That constraint limited the machinery choices available to German engineers. High Seas Fleet capability depended on the combined gunnery, armour, propulsion, and fuel-supply choices visible in the design.
Chapter · 16:59-21:21
Kaiser class and Germany's coal constraint
Uncertain oil supplies and coal dependence constrained Kaiser-class machinery and fighting power.