The Scharnhost-class is probably one of the best examples on how flawed German WWII warship designs were:

In Autumn 1939, both Scharnhost and Gneisenau were found to be unable to fire their main guns. This was only corrected after 22,000 yards (!) of useless electrical wiring was removed and major modifications were done to the Fire Control Systems mechanisms and circuits.

Off the Lofoten islands coast, Norway the two Scharnhost-class battleships performed rather poorly against an enemy force consisted of an obsolete battlecruiser and a destroyer escort force, despite the near-perfect conditions:

- Good visibility.
- Normal sea conditions for that region.
- 18 large caliber guns vs. 6 on the HMS Renown.
- Distance to opponent about 16,400 yards, perfect for main guns and secondaries.
- The German shells could easily defeat the Renown's armor at this range.
- A chance for "crossing the T"

After a few minutes of engagement, Scharnhost radar malfuctioned, making her unable to effectively engage the Renown, while Gneisenau's overly complex and extremely sensitive FCS (as well one of her main turrets and radar) were disabled by Renown's 15 inch shells, at this point German gunnery went downhill until both battleships withdrew.

LucasHidemiKomori said:

In Autumn 1939, both Scharnhost and Gneisenau were found to be unable to fire their main guns. This was only corrected after 22,000 yards (!) of useless electrical wiring was removed and major modifications were done to the Fire Control Systems mechanisms and circuits.

I wish I could say that having four miles of electrical wiring that doesn't work was somehow unusual or surprising, but if you look at the horror stories coming out of places like Afghanistan, where we have whole bases built for no reason, and which are never used, or we send over an air force to Afghanistan that is sold for scrap because they don't know how to fly or maintain them...

Nah, having something in case you need it is better than not every being able to use it whatsoever.

The Germans didn't had enough time to focus on naval warfare and had to focus mostly on the ground. Probably since they were held back by the previous Treaty of Versailles which limits Germany's capabilities to design advance warships, the Kriegsmarine had no choice but to adapt mostly on their WWI warship designs and had began making new designs quite late. But despite of those held backs, the Kriegsmarine could be considered as one of the deadliest fleet in the war because of the success of their submarines. And beside, Scharnhost scored a hit from the longest range ever recorded while using an obsolete radar.

The German school of naval design was scrubbed after WWI. They had to start from scratch and lower their standards considerably. That's the main reason why their ships had problems.

As for their subs, they were only good at the start of the war. As soon as anti-submarine warfare was a thing, it was pretty much a death sentence to go out in a U-boat.

Bit late (given that it has been like 3 years since she was added) but this is pretty amusing now that Shin'you/SS Scharnhorst is in KC.