Screening and signal repetition at Jutland

In May 1916, Active was attached to the Grand Fleet flagship HMS Iron Duke. During the Battle of Jutland she screened the fleet's left flank as it approached the High Seas Fleet and repeated signals between ships. She fired only eight four-inch rounds because direct attack was not her assigned task. Her low ammunition expenditure reflected a mission centred on flank protection and command-and-control. Industry could build enormous fleets before radio could coordinate them reliably across a wide area. Visual relay ships remained essential because gunfire, vibration, and battle damage could disrupt early wireless equipment.