A Quick Turnaround
The last message from the Goeben was that British battlecruisers were in sight to the East. For most of her crew, the news would prove fatal, but it brought no cheer for Admiral Scheer either.
The two ‘Renowns’ were shadowing him to the northwest, and he now knew that the other British battlecruisers were to the West. But where was the Grand Fleet?
If it was behind or to the north of the BCF, then he was already safe, but the fact that the British were so keen to keep him under observation suggested that their main fleet was still being guided towards him. That meant they might be to the north, or worse, the northeast; sailing south in order to cut him off.
Tragic though it was, he had no choice but to leave the Goeben to her fate, and hope that none of his other ships fell behind. His only comfort was that no reports had been received from his scouts to the North.
As events turned out, Scheer need not have worried. Even though Admiral Beatty had pushed the fleet to its utmost speed, his flagship Royal Sovereign was still sixty miles to the north. He’d given himself the best possible chance of action by allowing the seven fast ships of the Fifth Battle Squadron (Valiant was in dock) to take station ten miles ahead of the rest of the fleet. However the weight of command and his experience at Stavanger had made him wary of splitting his fleet, and he wanted to keep these powerful ships in sight.
The chances of interception were fading as the fleet steamed southeast past the latitude of Scarborough. A German U-boat screen was a distinct possibility, and torpedo tracks were reported at 12.29. A few minutes later, Beatty ordered the fleet to turn back northwest. The leading ships had come within 30 miles of the Germans, but by now the enemy would be approaching the safety of his minefields.
In fact Scheer had only been able to send seven U-boats into the central North Sea, and none of them reported firing a torpedo that day.
As the fleet returned to Wilhelmshaven, he formulated a new plan. The British had steamed a long way south and would now be returning to their bases in Scotland. Steaming so far would take them at least another 12 hours, after which they would have to coal. If enough of Scheer’s fleet could coal quickly enough, they could maintain this 12-hour lead, and relaunch the operation with a built-in advantage in time.
As the hours ticked by after they returned, Scheer could see that the prospect of this hastily planned renewal of the operation was beginning to slip through his fingers. The Kaiserin had to open her port turbine for repairs, and the Seydlitz was damaged for’ard and needed to go into dock. Even the Lutzow and Hindenburg needed more time to replenish ammunition stocks and cover over minor damage.
By the evening of the 3rd, the Admiral was ready to accept that he had lost his 12-hour advantage, when he received word that his request to renew the operation had been denied.
For the time being, further offensive operations in the North Sea were being curtailed, as the Fleet was needed in the Baltic.
