An 11-inch-cruiser alternative to German Plan Z

Would replacing German battleships and Hippers with more 11-inch-gun cruisers help the Kriegsmarine?

Potentially, because enough such ships would create a serious commerce-defense problem, though treaty limits and the exact construction schedule matter greatly.

The proposed ships might not remain within Versailles-era limits, but their strategic effect matters more than their nominal displacement. Britain would need larger and better-armed cruisers or battlecruisers to deal with a force that outguns ordinary heavy cruisers while remaining numerous enough to strain patrol coverage. Germany might conceal provision for a third turret during the Weimar period and complete it after treaty restrictions collapsed. Economies of scale across a common 11-inch design would make dispersed commerce raiding more strategically troublesome than a few prestigious capital ships.