Germany has already sunk a British battleship and aircraft carrier and can point to the resources tied down by Admiral Graf Spee. Those early results do not give it a balanced fleet. Individual raiders cannot create the same operational problem as a coherent task group, and the fleet lacks destroyers, anti-submarine and convoy escorts, a carrier, and satisfactory light cruisers. Renaming Deutschland as Lützow may avoid a propaganda disaster, but it does not repair these structural weaknesses. With the Phoney War already under way, even fuel and ship-production reforms must compete with immediate operational demands.
Chapter · 17:34-20:15
The Kriegsmarine's missing balanced task group
Early raiding successes mask shortages of destroyers, escorts, capable light cruisers, and an aircraft carrier needed for a coherent Atlantic task group.