Design studies suggested that the 35 cm ship would displace around and cost around 59.7 million marks, while the 40 cm proposal would cost approximately 60 million marks and displace , but both of these ships were deemed to be too expensive. The Construction Department proposed a ship armed with eight 38 cm guns, which reduced the cost to 57.5 million marks per vessel. This design was adopted as the basis for the next class of battleship on 26 September, and the decision to adopt the 38 cm gun was formally taken on 6 January 1912. Work continued on the design into 1912, and included further developing the armor layout that had been adopted in the previous . The ships were originally projected to be armed with eight anti-aircraft guns, though they were not completed with any. Since the development of diesel engines was proving to be problematic, the design staff adopted traditional steam turbines for the ships, though it was hoped that by the time the third member of the class was ready to begin construction, reliable diesel engines would be available.