Southampton, wireless reports, and visual contact

The quoted Naval Staff appreciation follows the difficulty of maintaining contact with the German battle fleet as the Grand Fleet began to deploy. Southampton stayed astern of the Fifth Battle Squadron and maintained contact under fire, even though errors in reckoning marred some of her reports. Wireless alone could not give Jellicoe a dependable tactical picture, so the battle orders also required a visual reporting chain. The positions of Falmouth and Black Prince left gaps in that chain, while the Fifth Battle Squadron sent no report despite being closest to the enemy. Southampton understood the task, but the wider formation did not turn contact into the continuous information the commander-in-chief needed.