Scharnhorst's 11-inch guns and disputed firepower

Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are treated as fast battleships on the basis of their subdivision and protection. Their 11-inch battery is explained as a response to the delay in obtaining 15-inch guns, which allowed Germany to arm the ships with weapons already available. Fleet defends the nine 11-inch guns as effective weapons that served the class well and rejects the description of the ships as underarmed. The opposing view accepts the quality of the guns within their calibre but questions which contemporary battleships they could match. Older French and Russian battleships offer more favorable opponents, while a possible comparison with rebuilt Italian ships is explicitly limited to the guns themselves. German limits on producing thicker armor are another industrial constraint raised in the debate. Gun calibre alone cannot determine classification: the King George V class retained battleship status with 14-inch guns.