Jutland turned destroyer night fighting into fleet doctrine

Jutland confirmed that destroyers were essential to protecting fleet operations and had to be effective after dark. Harwich Force contained the Royal Navy's most experienced night fighters, raising the counterfactual that different employment might have helped stop the High Seas Fleet returning to Germany. After the battle, officers and ratings from that force were redistributed to teach night fighting elsewhere. A destroyer recalled, with some hesitation, as HMS Spitfire returned with battleship armor on her bow after a collision. The example illustrates the violence of close destroyer action.