The H class was a series of battleship designs for the German Kriegsmarine, intended to fulfill the requirements of Plan Z in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The first variation, "H-39," called for six ships to be built, essentially as enlarged Bismarck-class battleships with guns. The "H-41" design improved the "H-39" ship with still larger main guns, with eight weapons. Two subsequent plans, "H-42" and "H-43", increased the main battery yet again, with pieces, and the enormous "H-44" design ultimately resulted with guns. The ships ranged in size from the "H-39", which was long on a displacement of , to the "H-44", at on a displacement of . Most of the designs had a top speed in excess of .