The Germanic States were looking to improve the capital ships it had in production. The two classes being built were the Scharnhorst and Yorck with 8x16.5" and 8x13.8" respectively. The next two classes were to be the Teiwaz and Seydlitz. They were to be armed with 9x16.5" and 6x16.5". The smaller battleships were again looked at for both all forward and for the normal fore and aft layouts.
Laid down in 1939, they were slated for completion at the same time as the Bismarck and was to act as the bait ship to draw out the British units onto the guns of the four Scharnhorst class monsters. One of the reasons for the all forward main armament was to give the ship the best chance to chase down and destroy any patrol cruisers it might come across. That was the Seydlitz's job. Clear the way for the rest of the fleet to escape into the Atlantic without the Allies being aware of it, until it was too late! That was the theory, but delays in the production of the triple 16.5" turrets put completion back six months and the pair did not complete till early 1942. Both types of construction were looked at and while the fore and aft looked better balanced, the forward only met the criteria for these ships operational duties. The extra 5.9" aft did not hurt either.
While I have these ships being built after the Yorck type, they could also be replacements for the Yorck type. I have often thought to make the Scharnhorst type that I currently have armed with 8x16.5", being armed with 9x16.5" instead. That would bring the triple 16.5" into the Germanic States armouries earlier to arm the two classes of battleships. Just think of these types as replacement 'pocket battleships'.
