Editing Battle of Jutland (section)

===Ship design===
Within the existing technological limits, a trade-off had to be made between the weight and size of guns, the weight of armour protecting the ship, and the maximum speed. Battleships sacrificed speed for armour and heavy naval guns ({{cvt|11|in|mm}} or larger). British battlecruisers sacrificed weight of armour for greater speed (their purpose being to catch and destroy cruisers while avoiding battleships), while their German counterparts were armed with lighter guns and heavier armour. These weight savings allowed them to escape danger or catch other ships. Generally, the larger guns mounted on British ships allowed an engagement at greater range. In theory, a lightly armoured ship could stay out of range of a slower opponent while still scoring hits. The fast pace of development in the pre-war years meant that every few years, a new generation of ships rendered its predecessors obsolete. Thus, fairly young ships could still be obsolete compared with the newest ships, and fare badly in an engagement against them.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=666}} Some research has also shown that the chemicals used in British naval ammunition increased the chances of internal explosions.{{sfn|Brown|McCallum |2001|pp=58–59}}

[[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Admiral John Fisher]], responsible for reconstruction of the British fleet in the pre-war period, favoured large guns, fuel oil, and speed. [[Alfred von Tirpitz|Admiral Tirpitz]], responsible for the German fleet, favoured ship survivability and chose to sacrifice some gun size for improved armour. The German battlecruiser {{SMS|Derfflinger}} had [[belt armour]] equivalent in thickness—though not as comprehensive—to the British battleship {{HMS|Iron Duke|1912|6}}, significantly better than on the British battlecruisers such as ''Tiger''. German ships had better internal subdivision and had fewer doors and other weak points in their [[bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]], but with the disadvantage that space for crew was greatly reduced.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=666}} As they were designed only for sorties in the North Sea they did not need to be as habitable as the British vessels and their crews could live in barracks ashore when in harbour.{{sfn|Marder|1966|p=168}}