As points of alternate history discussion, re-hashed Jutland variants are pretty common. I think there's some features of Jutland that make it an attractive point for timelines: it was indecisive, the underdogs gave a good showing, and it's pretty much set at the midpoint of WW1. I've also seen a few discussions about the High Seas Fleet launching a deathride in late 1918 when the land war was lost. This also has some features that make it attractive for alternate history scenarios, such as the fact that such a battle would feature dreadnought based fleets at their very peak, but also in certain aspects is less interesting than Jutland because the Allied fleet had such overwhelming superiority.
However, I haven't seen as many timelines of pre-Jutland "decisive actions" as I have of post-Jutland, and I've never seen any about the very beginning of WW1 the same way "deathride" timelines are typically set at the closing days of WW1.
In fact, the absence of such an opening decisive action was befuddling to the OTL Royal Navy, who considered that their distant blockade strategy would force the Germans to come out and fight because of the inevitability of economic collapse when Germay was cut off from world trade. (So accurate, yet so miscalculated) The Hochseeflotte on the other hand had been built without much consideration to strategic vision. I've heard anecdotes that the high command started having discussions about what the fleet should do at the beginning of the war, and the Kaiser thought the fleet ought to be kept intact for use as a barganing chip in the inevitable negotiations. (Again, a prediction that was true in a technical sense) However, this seems to be a ripe POD. What happens if the indecisive German admiralty staff goes to the Wilhelm and he tells to deploy the navy in aggressive forward support of the army from the outset?
So what would actually happen if Admiral von Ingenohl takes the Hochseeflotte into the English Channel to bombard coastal resources of the Entente, attack targets of opportunity, and generally disrupt the supply lines of the British Expeditionary Force? I think such a scenario is especially interesting because of the consequences for long term butterflies, and the relatively unique tactical situation. Predreadnoughts would still be abundant. (they were almost phased out at Jutland) WW1 naval warfare, especially early WW1 naval warfare, was characterized by some embarrassing Royal Navy defeats and uninspired leadership in the face of quality German technology and initiative (escape of the Goeben, Coronel, and the Live Bait squadron come to mind) but with the occasional moment of redemption (like the Falklands) or stumble into success (Heligoland Bight), averaging out into doing its job *just* well enough (like at Dogger Bank).
So what would a battle look like? This early in the war I don't think the Royal Navy had broken their enemy's codes. IIRC the dreadnought count is roughly 20 British vs 15 German, as narrow as it ever was. Would Grand Fleet be able to interdict them when sailing from remote Scapa Flow? What are the status of the minefields which would later be massively built up over the course of the war? Did German torpedo boats even have the range to participate? How disruptive could the Hochseeflotte be if it was loose in the English Channel or if it made a move (even if only in part) into the Atlantic? I think the big point in favor of the Royal Navy throughout this scenario is that it's really the mission they had been anticipating at least a generation being fought on home turf.
However, I haven't seen as many timelines of pre-Jutland "decisive actions" as I have of post-Jutland, and I've never seen any about the very beginning of WW1 the same way "deathride" timelines are typically set at the closing days of WW1.
In fact, the absence of such an opening decisive action was befuddling to the OTL Royal Navy, who considered that their distant blockade strategy would force the Germans to come out and fight because of the inevitability of economic collapse when Germay was cut off from world trade. (So accurate, yet so miscalculated) The Hochseeflotte on the other hand had been built without much consideration to strategic vision. I've heard anecdotes that the high command started having discussions about what the fleet should do at the beginning of the war, and the Kaiser thought the fleet ought to be kept intact for use as a barganing chip in the inevitable negotiations. (Again, a prediction that was true in a technical sense) However, this seems to be a ripe POD. What happens if the indecisive German admiralty staff goes to the Wilhelm and he tells to deploy the navy in aggressive forward support of the army from the outset?
So what would actually happen if Admiral von Ingenohl takes the Hochseeflotte into the English Channel to bombard coastal resources of the Entente, attack targets of opportunity, and generally disrupt the supply lines of the British Expeditionary Force? I think such a scenario is especially interesting because of the consequences for long term butterflies, and the relatively unique tactical situation. Predreadnoughts would still be abundant. (they were almost phased out at Jutland) WW1 naval warfare, especially early WW1 naval warfare, was characterized by some embarrassing Royal Navy defeats and uninspired leadership in the face of quality German technology and initiative (escape of the Goeben, Coronel, and the Live Bait squadron come to mind) but with the occasional moment of redemption (like the Falklands) or stumble into success (Heligoland Bight), averaging out into doing its job *just* well enough (like at Dogger Bank).
So what would a battle look like? This early in the war I don't think the Royal Navy had broken their enemy's codes. IIRC the dreadnought count is roughly 20 British vs 15 German, as narrow as it ever was. Would Grand Fleet be able to interdict them when sailing from remote Scapa Flow? What are the status of the minefields which would later be massively built up over the course of the war? Did German torpedo boats even have the range to participate? How disruptive could the Hochseeflotte be if it was loose in the English Channel or if it made a move (even if only in part) into the Atlantic? I think the big point in favor of the Royal Navy throughout this scenario is that it's really the mission they had been anticipating at least a generation being fought on home turf.
