Glider
Captain
Appreciate your copmments Henke and I am sure that Delc would second that.
Your comments on the bigger picture are also fair. There is no doubt that the Germans lost fewer ships and fewer men and that on average the German shooting was more effective. Note the 'on average'.
Regarding the shooting the British Battlecruisers were in many ways poorly trained regarding shooting. A lot of emphasise in training was put on the rate of fire but they didn't train as much as the rest of the Grand Fleet. The importance that was given to the rate of fire led to short cuts being taken with the Cordite Bags, which in turn led to the magazine explosions which caused so many losses.
The Queen Elizabeth class were better trained and had the latest rangfinders resulting in their accuracy being every bit as good as the Germans. If yu look at the hits sufferred by the Germans the proportion of 15in hits are quite high which helps back up this observation and you must remember that these ships were for most of the time further away than other British Battlecruisers.
What is also suprising is the ability of the British Battlecruisers to take damage (assuming their magazine didn't blow up.
Lion was hit by 13 x 12in, Princess Royal by 8 x 12in and 1 x 11in. Tiger 15 x 11in,
As for night fighting the Germans were far in advance of the British Fleet. There was one British Force who were trained, equipped and experienced in night fighting called the Harwich Force who could have been supplementedby the Dover Patrol. Unfortunately for the British and fortunately for the Germans, due to internal wranglings this force wasn't present in the battle. This force had they been present could well have signalled the end of the German Fleet as they could have been decisive in the night following the battle.
Your comments on the bigger picture are also fair. There is no doubt that the Germans lost fewer ships and fewer men and that on average the German shooting was more effective. Note the 'on average'.
Regarding the shooting the British Battlecruisers were in many ways poorly trained regarding shooting. A lot of emphasise in training was put on the rate of fire but they didn't train as much as the rest of the Grand Fleet. The importance that was given to the rate of fire led to short cuts being taken with the Cordite Bags, which in turn led to the magazine explosions which caused so many losses.
The Queen Elizabeth class were better trained and had the latest rangfinders resulting in their accuracy being every bit as good as the Germans. If yu look at the hits sufferred by the Germans the proportion of 15in hits are quite high which helps back up this observation and you must remember that these ships were for most of the time further away than other British Battlecruisers.
What is also suprising is the ability of the British Battlecruisers to take damage (assuming their magazine didn't blow up.
Lion was hit by 13 x 12in, Princess Royal by 8 x 12in and 1 x 11in. Tiger 15 x 11in,
As for night fighting the Germans were far in advance of the British Fleet. There was one British Force who were trained, equipped and experienced in night fighting called the Harwich Force who could have been supplementedby the Dover Patrol. Unfortunately for the British and fortunately for the Germans, due to internal wranglings this force wasn't present in the battle. This force had they been present could well have signalled the end of the German Fleet as they could have been decisive in the night following the battle.