The High Seas Fleet could not seek a straightforward fleet action against the larger Royal Navy. Its operational logic required finding a detached British force, destroying it, withdrawing, and repeating the process until the numerical balance became favorable. Japan's later Kantai Kessen concept used similar attrition before a decisive engagement with the U.S. fleet. Tiger Cub squadrons undermine the German plan because even Britain's fast detached wing may appear as strong as the entire German force, removing the smaller target on which the strategy depends.
Notable Point · 1:43:56-1:44:50
The German plan depended on defeating the Royal Navy in detail
Germany needed to isolate and destroy smaller British formations repeatedly, a logic compared with Japan's later plan to reduce the U.S. fleet before a decisive battle.