Dreyer turns post-Jutland criticism into new shell standards

Frederic Dreyer accelerated British shell reform after Jutland. The diagnosis covered soft caps that could be stripped at oblique impact, bodies that broke up, unreliable fuzes, and unstable filling. Trial orders followed within two months of his March 1917 appointment, while new shell-filling work and proof standards tested fifteen- and twelve-inch projectiles against angled armour plate. Mass production began in December 1917, and large-scale fleet issue followed in April 1918. That real timeline supplies the basis for estimating how much lead time an earlier programme would need.