Erm...currently working on figuring out how to animate an ocean in Blender?Right then...Well, fundamentally Bismarck is a product of her time. Germany has not built any capital ships for twenty years by the time Scharnhorst (let's not count the Deutschlands, as oversized cruisers) rolls out. This is aintellectual and practical experience drain. Its a common knock on Scharn and Bisko that they're 'World War 1 designs in a WW2 skin'. Which isn't. Scharn in particular is clearly based on the last Imperial German designs to some extent.(one of the GK-series battlecruiser proposals was basically Scharn with 16.5 in guns. Same belt thickness though I can't say on coverage, same-ish speed, same number of main guns...)This said, it's completely understandable if the Third Reich's capital ships are based on the Second's. German designers had to startand with how relatively little time they had to work with, going back to old proposals and plans is quicker than starting from scratch. This said, they aren'tthe same as Imperial German designs. There are definite modernizations and differences to be seen. The closest one gets is using turtleback armor, having the same main battery layout as Bayern, and the same triple screw design.Scharnhorst is designed as a fast commerce raider, and this is obvious in her speed and weaponry. Even if she had the 15in she was originally designed for, she'd be at best a match for a Renown, other than her tough armor.Bismarck, as Dirtnap mentioned, is a. Much as with Imperial German ships, she's designed to operate in the North Sea to some extent. Commerce raiding is also part of her mission though, so she has engines that give decent range. Because this isn't Imperial Germany and she has no way to refuel at sea. This said, her armor scheme is based around close-quarters brawls. This is why you see Bismarck bouncing shells from Rodney and KGV when they chased her down. Because they closed in on her and fired at what she was. Close-in combat and impacts to her hilariously thick horizontal protection. This makes her a bit weaker in long range fights like what an American would do but.... Bismarck and Tirpitz got 15in guns because Richelieu did. They were never designed to fight the USN or RN. In fact, the Germans were not fond of taking Bismarck against Hood, as most of their simulated battles saw her. IIRC. Bismarck was a ship designed to go up against Richelieu and the other French ships, which meant that being designed to go up in close-quarters brawls isn't a bad thing. Operate in the North Sea, make the French come to you, and then smack them in the face.You can see this in her heavy secondary layout as well. The French are infamous for their big destroyers, so having a hilariously heavy secondary armament on Bismarck makes her more able to stand up to destroyer attack.All this said?Bismarck is a good ship. She's inefficient in some ways- her secondaries aren't dual-purpose, the triple screw is an Achilles heel more than it helps -but for what Germany had she's a perfectly serviceable design. Neither the best nor the worst of WW2 warship design. She'd probably lose in a straight up fight against an Iowa, but then, most ships would.