The O-class battlecruisers could reach about 35 knots, but aircraft reconnaissance and land-based air power narrowed the sea room in which speed alone could evade combat. A defender moving to intercept a known destination could cover a shorter distance, so fast battleships and air attack could force the engagement the raider was built to avoid. H39 is treated as a more credible battleship, yet its eight 16-inch guns compared poorly with Britain's nine-gun Lion at similar speed and exposed Germany's conservative industrial ceiling. The argument traces part of that ceiling to British priorities at Versailles: more than reparations, Britain wanted to cripple the maritime industry and infrastructure that could sustain another German fleet. Plan Z also multiplied 15-inch, 16-inch, 16.5-inch, and prospective 18-inch ammunition systems, making heavy-gun logistics another way the programme could defeat itself.
Chapter · 1:24:09-1:30:54
Plan Z and the limits of German rearmament
Plan Z's O-class and H-class proposals are tested against British opposition, aircraft reconnaissance, industrial limits, and the difficulty of sustaining several gun calibres.
15-inch Guns16.5-inch Guns16-inch Guns18-inch GunsAircraft CarriersAmmunition LogisticsBismarck Class BattleshipsCalibre StandardisationH-39 Class BattleshipsHMS HoodKriegsmarineLand Based AircraftLion Class BattleshipsMaritime InfrastructureNaval Arms RaceNaval Industrial CapacityNaval LogisticsNaval RaidingNaval ReconnaissanceO Class BattlecruisersPlan ZRenown Class BattlecruisersStrategic MobilityTreaty Of Versailles