British decisions imply only partial knowledge of German orders

The opening intelligence picture is an inference rather than a documented certainty. Kaiser Wilhelm II's earlier instruction allowed Goeben and Breslau to raid the western Mediterranean or attempt a return to German waters, while later orders from Alfred von Tirpitz and Hugo von Pohl sent Wilhelm Souchon toward Constantinople. Because the two directives used different transmission paths, British behavior makes sense if officials knew the first set but not the second. That partial picture would explain their persistent concern with a westward breakout even when cruiser reports pointed east. Apparently irrational pursuit decisions may therefore have followed incomplete but internally coherent intelligence.