Invincible and Inflexible fired nearly 1,174 rounds of 12-inch ammunition, including 285 armour-piercing rounds, and exhausted much of their magazines. Hits on the German armoured cruisers could not be counted accurately, but the estimate was roughly forty on each ship. German gunnery placed twenty-two hits on Invincible and three on Inflexible. The British expenditure raises a question about fire control and accuracy, while the number of heavy-calibre hits needed to sink the cruisers raises a separate question about shell effect. In this assessment, the Falklands already supplied grounds to investigate British ammunition performance before Dogger Bank and Jutland. The argument depends on distinguishing uncertain hit estimates from the recorded ammunition expenditure.
Chapter · 16:59-18:21
Falklands victory raises shell-quality warnings
Ammunition expenditure at the Falklands turns a decisive victory into an early warning about British fire control, accuracy, and 12-inch shell performance.