A do-or-die battle outside Germany's home ports

The revised operation has only about even odds because success requires both passage and a decisive battle close to Germany's bases. Britain cannot withdraw after committing troops and prestige, while Germany cannot surrender its own coast without fighting. Every German coastal torpedo boat would enter the action, but British capital ships retained large numbers of light guns and the fleet possessed many cruisers and destroyers built to counter such craft. Jellicoe might also carry small torpedo boats aboard larger ships and launch them after passing the straits. He would bring nearly every ship able to move and fight rather than enforce his usual gunnery standards for inclusion. Mines, torpedo boats, and submarines would still claim unpredictable victims before the main battle line settled the issue. The confined sea room makes this a much harsher engagement than the maneuvering contest normally imagined for Jutland. Fisher and Churchill create the political demand, yet Jellicoe's organization determines whether that demand becomes a survivable operation.