German and British battlecruisers converged from different doctrines

How did HMS Tiger's design compare with German battlecruisers?

Tiger approached a similar balance of protection and fighting power, although British battlecruiser hunting and German battle-line service produced different design priorities.

German battlecruisers were designed with a secondary battle-line role because Germany expected to lack enough battleships to match Britain directly. That role is compared with Japan's use of armoured cruisers in its six-six and eight-eight fleet plans. Early British battlecruisers had a wider cruiser-hunting role, while the Lion class increasingly had to contend with enemy battlecruisers. Tiger comes closest to a fast battleship in this interpretation because of her subdivision and armour coverage. German designs approached the same balance through their expected service as second-line battleships, while Tiger approached it through the need to hunt other battlecruisers. The comparison still preserves a speed distinction: Tiger is described as a 28-knot-plus ship, against German ships moving toward about 26 knots as they carried more armour.