The fast battleships entered the exchange with restricted firing arcs rather than ideal full broadsides. Only three ships could initially bear, several turrets were still turning, and smoke obscured targets. Even under those constraints Fifth Battle Squadron recorded six heavy hits, including one on Seydlitz, one on Von der Tann, and four on Moltke. That was an impressive hit rate relative to the number of ships and guns actually able to fire. The result makes the failure of all four 15-inch shells on Moltke especially important to the counterfactual.
Notable Point · 2:01:28-2:03:00
Fifth Battle Squadron hit with partial broadsides
Only part of Fifth Battle Squadron could bear and some ships used forward turrets through smoke, yet six heavy hits included four 15-inch strikes on Moltke.