Published estimates of German losses with effective British shells range from six ships to as many as twelve. The five-ship estimate is deliberately conservative, partly because Seydlitz historically survived damage that could reasonably have sunk her through exceptional German seamanship and damage control. At the short ranges of the battlecruiser action, working 15-inch shells would still have been devastating to ships never designed to absorb them. The survival record supports a much more damaging counterfactual while cautioning against converting hits directly into certain sinkings.
Notable Point · 1:51:49-1:55:04
Seydlitz shows why loss estimates need caution
Seydlitz's historical survival after extreme damage makes five German losses a deliberately conservative estimate despite much higher published projections.