The next (and last) two classes of battlecruisers I will take a brief look at were not completed because WW II intervened. They were the Dutch and Russian battlecruisers, both approved in 1940. The Dutch ships will be examined first.
Before WWII the Dutch East Indies were a major world source of strategic raw materials, especially oil. They produced about ten times the amount of petroleum every year that Japan produced. The Japanese coveted this Dutch colony, and, of course, back in Holland, the Government knew it.
Lacking the economic base to build a fleet big enough to defeat the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Dutch realized that, in all likelihood, war with Japan would include the U.S. or UK or both as their allies. The Dutch naval effort was therefore directed toward a small high quality fleet, capable of holding the line in the Western Pacific until augmented by the naval might of their allies.
The Netherlands has a centuries-long tradition as a seafaring nation, and unlike most small nations, they have traditionally built their own warships, including some of the most advanced ships anywhere. Dutch ships were unusually sophisticated, particularly in the areas of gunnery and fire control, where three axis, stabilized, remotely controlled equipment had been developed.
They had little experience in the construction of very large warships, however, so when it was decided to construct a class of battlecruisers for their East Indies Squadron that were three and a half times larger than any previous Dutch cruiser, they sought the help of their German neighbors for some of the early design work.
The new ships were intended to balance the very powerful Japanese heavy cruisers, which were far superior to the smaller light cruisers of the East Indies Squadron.
The resulting ships were very similar to the original (battlecruiser) plans for the Scharnhorst class. They were identical in main battery and beam.
The Dutch revised the initial design to incorporate different boilers, as they (correctly) regarded the German type as overly complicated and difficult to maintain. Along with different boilers came more powerful machinery for greater speed, which required two funnels and a lengthened hull. They also sloped the side armor to increase its effectiveness without increasing weight. Their specifications follow (from Conway's):
Displacement:
29,750t standard
Dimensions:
777ft 8in wl x 98ft 5in x 25ft 7in
Machinery:
4-shaft geared turbines, 8 Werkspoor boilers,
180,000shp = 34kts. Oil 2900t
Armor:
Belt 9in, bulkheads 9in, barbettes 10in, turrets,
10in-4in, torpedo bulkheads 1.6in, decks 4in+1.2in
Armament:
9-11in/45 (3x3), 12-4.7in/45 (6x2), 14-40mm AA
(7x2), 8-20mm AA (8x1)
Complement:
1,050
The unconfirmed proposed names of these ships: Gouden Leeuw (Golden Lion), Eendracht (Unity), Van Oranje (Prince William of Orange). As mentioned above, these three battlecruisers were authorized in 1940, for completion in 1944. The ship yards that would have constructed them were Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappy, Wilton Feyenoord, and Amsterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappy. They were never completed, because the German occupation of The Netherlands halted all work on these ships.
Visually, they looked like Scharnhorst, only with two stacks. The outboard side formed a slight bulge past the base of the belt. They were to be true battlecruisers, armored and rated as such, not battleships like the Scharnhorst class.
Like other battlecruisers, their main job was to overpower heavy cruisers. They had many general similarities to the contemporary American Alaskas, and Japanese B 64 type. Except for their short range, they would have been valuable ships in the Pacific War.