German battleships all had to avoid any gunneryduel with no matter what kind of capital ship the British had, as the British could and would accept damage and even losses, as they already had more capital ships than the Germans, but the Germans could not do the same. A damaged German ship is more valuable to miss in the war, than a damaged British ship, simply because it would mean the German ship had to return to German controlled waters, in other words, get blockaded again in enclosed German waters, while the British always had the better geographical possition to continue their blockade of German waters, as their cocks and yards were better possitioned to take in damaged ships, than the German ones.
Pound for pound, the British capital ship could accept being pounded and take heavy damage, iff necessary, as her dockyards were closer to her own possition, than those of Germany, while even a slightly damaged German capital ship, would need to get back to a homeport, to fix it, as it could not longer do its bussiness at sea in the war.
In terms of quality, the German battleships of the Bismarck class and also the ones of the Scharnhorst class were all better constructed to survive damage than their British cousins, but not better armored, as the King George V and Nelson Classes both carrierd more and thicker armor, although on a smaller part of the vessel. (Belt of King Goerge V class was the thickest ever on any capital ship, except Yamato, being nearly 15 inches thick, while Nelson had one of 14 inch. Both had superior deckarmor compared to the German ships, which was maximum 120mm over the magazines in Bismarck and 100mm in Scharnhorst, while the wheatherdeck was some 45 to 50mm as well, with a splinterdeck of some 20 to 40mm below the main armroed deck. KGV had a single main armored deck of 152mm, plus a wheatherdeck of some 40mm, while Nelson even had one main deck of 170mm plus a wheatherdeck of also 40mm.
Bismarck and Scharnhorst were much wider in the beam and more intenally subdivided in watertight compartments, which showed her abbility to absorb very heavy damage, without the risk of sinking. Vital parts could be damaged though, but not by shellfire. Only torpedodamge could knock out such a ship, but only just that, while she would certainly remain afloat, due to her superior internal subdivission. (Not that it would be much different though, as an incapacitated ship is as dangereous as one sunken ship.)