I am looking at writing a very short TL focusing on a major sea battle fought in August 1914 between the High Seas Fleet and the Grand Fleet. It might have some obvious followup battles or butterflies, but it would not be a full WW1 TL. The POD will be a German Naval War Plan to seek a decisive battle early in the war.
As to things to change, I am looking at Jutland as a base, adjusted for the ships likely to be in the battle in 1914. Below are some of the changes that I would need to make.
1) Naval gunnery practice on both sides had been limited due to various reason including budget reasons. To adjust for this, I would need to lower both the rate of fire and the accuracy rate. So this will make a slower battle.
2) At least the UK greatly improved the amount of time it took to pass orders to large fleets. So the UK will be slower in making changes to the battle plan on the fly. This means it will be more of a set piece battle.
3) I have read people on this board who claim the bad ammo handling practices of the UK Battlecruisers developed over the war. Is there a source for this belief? In my experience, changes to ammo handling procedures require written orders which are likely to survive until today.
4) The UK had defective ammo issues in Jutland. Some have claimed this was due to lower quality ammo made in the war. Is there actually hard evidence that the ammo decline for naval ammunition or is this simply an extrapolation of the issues related to land artillery ammo?
5) Any other obvious changes I am missing?
Comments are welcomed.