With German ships silhouetted and the Grand Fleet better placed for gunnery, Scheer reversed course to free his battlecruisers and create room for torpedo attacks. Peacetime signaling practice mattered because the formation could not improvise such a reversal safely under fire. During a later turn, squadron commander Ehrhard Schmidt in Ostfriesland recognized that following the normal rear-first sequence would endanger ships around Friedrich der Grosse. He acted on Scheer's intent instead of waiting mechanically, and subordinate judgment rescued a rigid command system.
Chapter · 1:08:28-1:12:49
Battle turns extracted the High Seas Fleet
Scheer used the drilled German battle turn to escape Jellicoe's favorable position, later relying on subordinate initiative when the prescribed sequence no longer fit the danger.