Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 47:42-48:25

Were Scharnhorst and Dunkerque battleships or battlecruisers?

An answered classification prompt cautions against treating Scharnhorst and Dunkerque as battlecruisers solely because they look unusual beside later capital ships.

BattlecruisersBattleshipsDunkerque Class BattleshipsNaval Ship DesignScharnhorst Class BattleshipsShip Classification
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Question

What were Scharnhorst and Dunkerque built for, and should they be classified as battleships or battlecruisers?

Short answer

They were battleships: each navy built a battleship within its contemporary industrial constraints, even though the results did not match the familiar late-1930s form.

Notes

Both Scharnhorst and Dunkerque count as battleships because that was their intended role and design category. French and German infrastructure produced ships that looked unlike the most familiar late-1930s capital-ship model. Their differences do not automatically turn them into battlecruisers. Intended employment and national construction constraints matter more than a simplified visual template for what a battleship should be.