The German fleet's screening problem was less extreme than America's, yet it still reflected the priority given to battleship construction. Some modern cruisers at Jutland were ships originally ordered by Russia and taken over when war began. Germany fielded many seagoing torpedo boats, but their smaller size limited how closely they could match the Royal Navy's larger Grand Fleet destroyers. Cruiser construction paused and destroyer development slowed so capital-ship numbers could be maintained. Numerous escorts could not compensate fully for weaknesses in the quality and balance of the screen.
Notable Point · 1:18:42-1:20:16
How Germany protected battleship funding at the screen's expense
The High Seas Fleet possessed a screen, but cruiser shortages and smaller torpedo boats reveal the compromises required to preserve German battleship numbers.