Fisher's Baltic strategy shaped the ships

The original concept was to exploit Denmark and the Danish straits, threaten German Baltic trade, and force the High Seas Fleet into an unfavourable choice. Their shallow draft, speed, and unusually heavy guns made more sense within that strategic problem than as conventional fleet battlecruisers. Fisher hoped British pressure would draw Germany into Denmark, allowing Allied forces to reinforce Copenhagen and the island defence lines as an entrance to the Baltic. Blocking the Kiel Canal would make German ships contest those positions directly, while leaving it open invited them into the North Sea where the Grand Fleet wanted to fight. The operation could also close neutral Scandinavian trade routes that weakened Britain's distant blockade. The plan was strategically coherent, but its dependence on British Army troops made it difficult while the Western Front consumed those forces.