The quoted biography explains that the Grand Fleet's substitute screen consisted of outdated Defence-class armoured cruisers. They lacked the speed to reach their assigned scouting stations and remained only about six miles ahead of the battle fleet. That shallow screen gave Jellicoe very little space or time in which to identify an approaching enemy. Beatty's absent battlecruiser scouts compounded the communications problem with a force-allocation problem. The speed of ships assigned to reconnaissance could shape a commander-in-chief's tactical choices before deployment.
Notable Point · 6:31-6:50
Obsolete cruisers leave the Grand Fleet short of scouts
Without Beatty's scouting forces, Defence-class armoured cruisers could not reach their intended stations ahead of the Grand Fleet at Jutland.