German destroyer guns and the cost of slower fire

German destroyers were maneuverable but top heavy, and their single-gun mounts and stabilization arrangements offered too little improvement over First World War equipment. These limitations reduced the number of shells they could fire compared with British destroyers. The five-inch calibre itself was suitable for destroyer service, as American practice demonstrated. Moving to still larger guns increased the difficulty. British Tribal-class destroyers of roughly comparable size could put more shells downrange, showing why shell size alone gives an incomplete measure of fighting power.