Gunnery accuracy and ammunition performance were separate problems. British battlecruisers fired more rounds and achieved a broadly comparable number of hits despite a lower percentage than other Grand Fleet formations. Even defective projectiles damaged Seydlitz, Derfflinger, and Lützow, showing how much destructive potential remained unrealized when shells broke up or burst incorrectly. Badly balanced Italian shells in the Second World War provide a useful contrast: the British Jutland problem lay mainly in terminal effect rather than projectiles wandering away from the aim point.
Notable Point · 58:02-1:00:32
British hit volume mattered despite poor shell performance
British battlecruisers compensated for a lower hit percentage with volume of fire, but too many projectiles failed after reaching German ships.