Combat Experience At The Battle of Jutland
When the fast battleship concept was put to the test at the Battle of Jutland, the Queen Elizabeths had been temporarily attached to Vice-Admiral Beatty’s Battlecruiser Fleet at Rosyth (this was to release the Invincible class battlecruisers of the Third Battlecruiser Squadron for gunnery practice at Scapa Flow). The Queen Elizabeths proved an outstanding success, firing with great rapidity, accuracy and effect, while surviving large numbers of hits from German 28.4 cm (11-inch) and 30.5 cm (12-inch) shells, and successfully evading the main German battlefleet during the so-called run to the North. In the fighting, Warspite was severely damaged, suffered a steering failure and was obliged to withdraw, while Malaya suffered a serious cordite fire which nearly caused her loss. However, both ships returned safely to port. This was in notable contrast to the performance of the battlecruisers, of which three (out of nine present) were destroyed by magazine explosions after a relatively small number of hits.
When the main body of the Grand Fleet came into action, the Queen Elizabeths were unable to reach their intended station ahead of the battleline, and instead joined the rear of the line, seeing little further action. Meanwhile, the six surviving battlecruisers assumed the “Fast Division” role, operating ahead of the battleline with some success, exploiting their advantage of speed to damage the head of the German line with virtual impunity.
Jutland was a crippling blow to the reputation of the existing battlecruisers. However, it also reinforced the views of the commander-in-chief, Sir John Jellicoe, that the Queen Elizabeths were too slow to operate with the Battlecruiser Fleet on a permanent basis. Based on combat reports, Jellicoe credited the German König class battleships with 23 knots (43 km/h), which would mean that Queen Elizabeths, which were good for just 24 knots (44 km/h), would be in serious danger if they were surprised by a battlefleet headed by these ships.
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