Keeping the Fifth Battle Squadron within signal range

The Queen Elizabeth-class ships were too important to be treated as a detached afterthought. Their practical speed was lower than the battlecruisers' maximum, but a force moving near twenty-four knots could preserve their signal link and combine powerful guns and fire control with the cruisers' scouting role. Designed maximum speed also differed from the pace a formation could sustain after machinery had spent time in service and while its slowest ships had to remain together. The historical separation made the two formations operate almost as independent fleets because Beatty had not worked through how to employ Evan-Thomas's ships as part of one force. Sturdee's less theatrical command style therefore matters at the level of formation speed: accepting a slower chase preserves cohesion and makes the attached battleships useful.