The battlecruiser losses are explained through the type's intended tactical function. Speed was supposed to let these ships set the range, angle, and terms of contact instead of accepting a prolonged battle against heavier opponents. A stand-up fleet action removed the advantage around which the type had been conceived. Fisher's decision to call them battlecruisers may also have encouraged the wrong expectations, while reviving the name frigate might have signaled their role more clearly. That naming proposal is interpretive, but the larger lesson is concrete: design advantages disappear when command decisions impose the wrong kind of fight.
Notable Point · 3:52-5:05
Why battlecruisers were vulnerable in a stand-up fight
Battlecruisers were meant to use speed to choose engagements, not trade blows with battleships on equal terms.