The planned force included battleships, carriers, cruisers, and 68 destroyers, but the escort calculation collapses as soon as those capital ships sail. Assigning only four destroyers to each battleship and carrier would consume 56 of them before the cruisers received any protection. A large surface fleet also needs light cruisers for scouting and other duties, so they cannot simply replace the missing screen. The example makes fleet balance, rather than headline ship totals, the important measure of a naval programme.
Chapter · 31:11-33:32
Plan Z's missing destroyer screen
Raeder's proposed German battle fleet is tested against the unglamorous requirement to screen capital ships with enough destroyers.