John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe

“ In the first place, submarines in this locality have so much sea room that it is impracticable to corner them by means of destroyer sweeps when they are sighted, and there is the added difficulty of bad weather for a great part of the year. Secondly, owing to the constant expectation of the fleet being required for sea at short notice, and the serious risks involved by sailing without the destroyer force as a submarine screen, it is not possible to send destroyers far from the base in any numbers or to allow them to get short of fuel. ”

“ There is no real counter. Nothing but ample time and superior speed can be an answer, and this means that unless the meeting of the fleets takes place fairly early in the day it is most difficult, if not impossible, to fight the action to a finish. In this particular case, thanks to the fact that the enemy did not, as far as can be seen, expect to find our whole fleet present, there was no time for him to lay a prepared mine area, and not much time to place his submarines, although many submarines were present. ”

“ The destroyer, although very effective in confined waters, and when present in large numbers, is ineffective for offence in open waters, as is any other vessel, by reason of the fact that the submarine has a submerged radius of action of well over one hundred miles, and can therefore, even if located, escape with great facility. ”

“ Owing to the necessity that exists for keeping our cruisers at sea, it is probable that many will be short of coal when the opportunity for a fleet action arises, and they might be unable to move far to the southward for this reason. ”

“ The second measure may involve retaining men for the work who would otherwise be at the front or who would be engaged on munition work, but the completion of merchant ships is of even greater importance than the supply of men and munitions. Finally it may quite conceivably be wise policy to divert destroyers from the Grand Fleet and from all other available sources, such as the Humber, Harwich, etc., for a thoroughly organised attack on submarines when it is known that they are operating in considerable numbers in comparatively narrow waters such as the Channel. ”

“ In the first case the submarines would probably be led by the cruisers to a position favourable for attacking our Battle Fleet as it advanced to deploy, and in the second case they might be kept in a position in rear, or to the flank, of the enemy's battle fleet, which would move in the direction required to draw our own fleet into contact with the submarines.
9. The first move at (a) should be defeated by our own cruisers, provided we have a sufficient number present, as they should be able to force the enemy's cruisers to action at a speed which would interfere with submarine tactics. ”

“ It is of supreme importance to keep from the knowledge of the enemy the fact that ships were able to avoid torpedoes by seeing the track, as it would not be beyond the ingenuity of the Germans to devise a means of preventing any track being left.
13. The experience and results of the action, particularly the knowledge we now have of the speed of the enemy's Third Squadron, must exercise considerable influence on our future dispositions and tactics. ”

“ In the event of a fleet action being imminent, or, indeed, as soon as the High Seas Fleet is known to be moving northward, it is most desirable that a considerable number of our oversea submarines should proceed towards the fleet, getting first on to the line between the Germans and Heligoland in order to intercept them when returning. ”

“ It is in the hope we may discover methods of dealing with submarines under such conditions that I urge the action indicated above.
13. There are, of course, other measures which may tend to prolong the period during which our losses do not seriously embarrass the conduct of the war. Under this heading I include a thoroughly organised system of diverting ships with great rapidity from dangerous to safe routes, and the completion of all merchant ships now building in this and the allied countries. ”

“ It is quite evident that all German ships possess a speed much in excess of that for which they are nominally designed.
5. When Sir David Beatty sighted the enemy battle-cruisers he adopted the correct and only possible course in engaging and endeavouring to keep between the enemy and his base. Whether the First Scouting Group was supported or not, his duty would be to engage and keep touch with the enemy vessels of similar class to his own, so long as he was not in manifestly inferior force. ”

“ They should work under some senior officer, who will not only have the energy to carry through with great rapidity any promising suggestions which may be put forward, but will also have the power to so influence those in authority as to overcome all difficulties that may be encountered. ”

“ The fact that the gunnery of the German battlefleet when engaged with our battlefleet did not show the same accuracy must not, I think, be taken as showing that the standard is not so high as with their battle-cruisers, as I am inclined to the opinion that we then had some advantage in the way of light, although it was very bad for both sides.
9. The German organisation at night is very good. Their system of recognition signals is excellent. Ours is practically nil. Their searchhghts are superior to ours and they use them with great effect. ”

“ Our present methods of offence against submarines are to a considerable extent due to suggestions put forward by some of the younger officers, and the most promising method of evolving new methods appears to lie in the formation of a small committee of such officers who have shown in the past special inventive aptitude or originality. ”

“ What is required is to bring together a number of young officers who have proved themselves to be fitted for the special work required, and to work them under one head who also possesses the qualifications necessary for the post. ”

“ New methods may involve new weapons which must be provided with great rapidity, and possibly the abolition of old weapons may follow. For instance, the patrol trawler is rapidly becoming ineffective, owing to her low speed and poor armament. ”

“ The longest-living author of this work died in 1935, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 87 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works. ”

“ Third Battle Cruiser Squadron, "Chester" and "Canterbury" will leave with me. I will send them on to your rendezvous. If no news by 2.0 p.m. stand towards me to get in visual touch. I will steer for Horn Reef from position Lat. ”