I was just looking at this article when I came across this AH possibility:
"Ingenohl had already exceeded the strict limit of his standing orders from the Kaiser by involving the main German fleet in the operation without mentioning to the Kaiser that he intended to do so.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-13 At 5.30 a.m., mindful of the orders not to place the fleet in jeopardy and fearing he had encountered the advance guard of the British Grand fleet, he reversed course back towards Germany. Had he continued, he would shortly have engaged the four British battlecruisers and six battleships with his much larger force including twenty-two battleships. This was precisely the sort of opportunity which German strategy had been seeking to even the odds in the war. The ten British capital ships would have been heavily outnumbered and outgunned with likely significant losses. Their loss would have equalised the power of the two navies. Churchill later defended the situation, arguing the British ships were faster and could simply have turned about and run.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-14 Others, such as Jellicoe, felt there was a real risk an admiral such as Beatty would have insisted upon engaging the enemy once contact was established.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-15Admiral Tirpitz commented Ingenohl had the fate of Germany in his hand.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-16"
So, what if the Main German Fleet's orders had been slightly less cautious and they had engaged Beatty's squadron?
"Ingenohl had already exceeded the strict limit of his standing orders from the Kaiser by involving the main German fleet in the operation without mentioning to the Kaiser that he intended to do so.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-13 At 5.30 a.m., mindful of the orders not to place the fleet in jeopardy and fearing he had encountered the advance guard of the British Grand fleet, he reversed course back towards Germany. Had he continued, he would shortly have engaged the four British battlecruisers and six battleships with his much larger force including twenty-two battleships. This was precisely the sort of opportunity which German strategy had been seeking to even the odds in the war. The ten British capital ships would have been heavily outnumbered and outgunned with likely significant losses. Their loss would have equalised the power of the two navies. Churchill later defended the situation, arguing the British ships were faster and could simply have turned about and run.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-14 Others, such as Jellicoe, felt there was a real risk an admiral such as Beatty would have insisted upon engaging the enemy once contact was established.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-15Admiral Tirpitz commented Ingenohl had the fate of Germany in his hand.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#cite_note-16"
So, what if the Main German Fleet's orders had been slightly less cautious and they had engaged Beatty's squadron?