H39

H39-Class Battleships were designed for Germany's Kriegsmarine during the years of 1938 to 1939. The plan, Plan Z, called for 6 total Battleships.

Preceded by:  Bismarck class

H39-Class Battleships "H" and "J", were ordered on 14 April 1939. The contracts for the other four ships, "K", "L", "M", and "N", followed on 25 May. The keels for the first two ships were laid at the Blohm & Voss dockyard in Hamburg and the Deschimag shipyard in Bremen on 15 July and 1 September 1939. The outbreak of war in September 1939 interrupted the construction of the ships. Work on the first two was suspended and the other four were not laid down, as it was believed they would not be finished before the war was over.