Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:44:47-2:45:29

Why fast German battleships could still be slowed at Jutland

A faster German battle line gains maneuver options only if commanders are willing to leave the older Deutschland-class ships behind.

Battle Of JutlandDeutschland Class BattleshipsFast BattleshipsFleet TacticsImperial German Navy
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Question

If Germany built fast battleships from 1908, could the High Seas Fleet run away from Jellicoe at Jutland?

Short answer

Only if it stopped relying on the slower Deutschland-class division, because a fleet remains constrained by the slow units it insists on keeping with it.

Notes

Fast battleships could give the High Seas Fleet more freedom to disengage from Jellicoe. At Jutland, however, the older Deutschland-class pre-dreadnought division slowed the formation and limited the maneuvers available to the commander. Keeping those ships supplied numbers but tied the fleet's practical speed to its slowest valued unit. The lesson is that fleet speed is an organizational choice as well as a specification printed for each new hull.