Torpedo-boat destroyers quickly had to fight their own kind, which pushed them beyond lightly protected attackers armed only for the first blow. Battlecruisers faced the same pressure once peer ships became likely opponents. Some admirals were still surprised that battlecruisers needed more protection, despite the destroyer's recent evolution. The comparison exposes an institutional problem: specialists can miss warnings visible elsewhere in the same navy.
Notable Point · 5:25-6:55
Destroyer evolution offered battlecruiser designers a warning
Destroyers had already shown how a lightly built attacker changes once it must fight its own kind, yet some battlecruiser thinking failed to transfer that lesson.