How Beatty could have handed over command

Had Beatty failed to establish who should take command if Lion dropped out?

No; seniority already determined the successor, and Beatty needed only to signal Lion's withdrawal and order the force to follow New Zealand or another clearly designated commander.

A viewer asks whether Beatty failed because he had not clarified who was second in command. Succession automatically passed to the senior eligible officer, so no improvised appointment was necessary. Beatty could have signaled that Lion was falling out and ordered the force to follow New Zealand, the second battlecruiser squadron's flagship. If visibility and position made that impractical, he could even have designated Commodore Tyrwhitt in Arethusa despite the unusual jump in rank. The essential act was a clear transfer signal that preserved operational momentum. The interpretation offered here is that Beatty resisted relinquishing control because he did not want another officer to receive the credit. The answer distinguishes a missing command procedure from a failure to use an established one.