A meteorologist recommended increasing speed to stay beneath cloud cover, and Lutjens declined without explaining why. The surviving account relays the meteorologist's frustration, so it does not establish everything the admiral was considering. Lutjens might have been balancing concealment against fuel consumption or acting on another conversation, but those possibilities remain unconfirmed. Higher speed would consume fuel faster and bring the next replenishment requirement closer. Whatever the reasoning, withholding it left the wider staff unable to understand the tradeoff behind the order.
Notable Point · 2:20:18-2:21:41
An unexplained refusal to follow the cloud cover
The complaint about Lutjens refusing a meteorologist's speed advice illustrates a communication failure while leaving his actual reasoning uncertain.