The Germans did build them tough. Don’t know if you have read “The Rules of the Game”, it is a tremendous read about Jutland and the culture of British naval command.
I think in that book there is also discussion that the British AP shell was not as effective as the German, that they used poor quality control in their proofing of shell lots.
German optical sighting equipment was outstanding as well, their shooting tended to be much better than the Royal Navy.
Have not read the “The Rules of the Game.” Sounds interesting. Did listen to some other books on WWI naval warfare.
German Optics have always been great and were a substantial enhancement to fire control systems on Imperial German ships.
The Brits were far to complacent about their ‘tradition of victory’ and it cost them. The Brits invented the Dreadnaught (well, launched the first one, anyway), but the Germans innovated and their ships showed it.