Around noon on August 12, two German submarines, U-27 and U-34, lurking in the waters southwest of Scapa Bay, invariably noticed the unusual behavior of the British Navy. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 A large number of patrol ships launched a dragnet near the main channel leading to the anchorage, and a number of white soft airships and seaplanes appeared in the sky. In the face of such a tight defensive position, the two submarines could only quietly levitate at the periscope depth, spying on the enemy's intentions from afar. Soon, a small fleet approached from the south, like a runner in a long-distance race, tired but not hesitating to cross the line at full speed. The U-34, which was relatively well positioned, had only time to glance at it for a few moments and made out the lead-gray silhouettes of two armored cruisers and six destroyers.

Just as the so-called emaciated camel is bigger than a horse, after the defeat in the Battle of Jutland, the British Grand Fleet in the Scapa Bay anchorage still has a scale that is proud of the great powers, although the British armored cruisers in service today are 10,000-ton warships, but they are far from the grade of the capital ships, this small fleet can hardly be called "strong reinforcement", since the British Navy has put on such a formation, nine times out of ten there are important people coming.

After the fleet passed, the British ships that were hovering around the vicinity did not close the group, so it was not until nightfall that the U-34, which had been underwater for most of the day, was able to surface. The submarine was commanded by a young German lieutenant, Wasel-Furstmann, and although what he had observed during the day did not return to Kiel in the first place, Furstmann felt the need to report it in detail to his superiors. Due to interference in radio communications from the British side, the telegram was sent three times before the submarine command in Kiel received the complete telegram.

During the half day that Lieutenant Furstman had no choice but to waste, the Scapaflo Naval Base, where the main British fleet was stationed, was indeed warmed up by the arrival of a "big man", who was King George V, who was known as the "King of Sailors." The British fleet was newly defeated, the strategic initiative in the North Sea was in the hands of the Germans, and German submarines sank several British warships and auxiliary ships in the northern seas one after another, and many ministers felt that it was too risky for George V to go to the north to inspect at this time, but the tenacious George V took Queen Mary aboard the armored cruiser "Aboukir", escorted by his fellowship "Cressie" and six destroyers, and successfully arrived at Scapa Bay after a day and a night of sailing.

Scapa Bay is a semi-enclosed body of water in the Orkney Islands, the northernmost part of Scotland, England, surrounded by the main islands of the archipelago, Hawy Island, South Ronasay Island and a small island. Since the ancient Viking era, Scarpa Bay has been a frequent area for warships, at the end of the 19th century, the beginning of the 20th century, the British and German navies have become increasingly fierce in the shipbuilding competition, the geographical situation of the two countries highlights the strategic value of Scarpa Bay, Churchill was appointed British Admiral Secretary in 1911, and strongly advocated the construction of this important naval base, to the outbreak of war, Scarpa Flo has become the largest naval anchorage in the British mainland waters, It has dry docks and floating docks that can accommodate 30,000 tons of warships for maintenance, sufficient reserves of all kinds of combat supplies, communication facilities, barracks, hospitals, and leisure places, and has also built new airship hangars and military airfields, and renovated coastal defense facilities. After the outbreak of war, the British Navy quickly laid minefields around the moorings, set up anti-submarine nets in the main access waterways, and arranged for patrol ships to be on guard day and night.

In an era of royal power and military honor, the arrival of King George V and Queen Mary did boost the morale of the British officers and soldiers who had experienced the defeat in Jutland, and the British government and navy's strategy to deal with the crisis also showed results, people blamed the defeat on the insidious cunning of the enemy, the commander of the Grand Fleet, John Jellico, and the commander of the mobile fleet, David Betty, not only were not dismissed, but became the heroes of naval warfare and the model of the military who were not in trouble, and the two were awarded the Order of Victoria, Nearly half of the ships participating in the battle received group commendations, more than 2,000 officers and men received various forms of personal commendations, and a considerable number of those who died in battle also received posthumous honors from the royal family and the navy.

After nightfall, a top-secret information from the Admiralty that the main German fleet had left the port of Kiel was sent by the Admiralty to the headquarters of the Grand Fleet at the Scappaflo naval base, and the senior admiral headed by Jellicoe was surprised by this, which led to a debate - Jellicoe believed that it was impossible for the Germans to repair the damaged ships in such a short time, but the Admiral Churchill, who had arrived in Scapavolo the day before, felt that this was another strategic adventure of the German Navy, that is, to attack Britain before the ships were fully repaired. Create a huge panic for the British people.

Immediately after the deliberations, the admiral reported the situation to King George V.

In the official battle report released to the public, the British government has made certain "modifications" to the actual losses of the fleet in order to appease the military and civilians and mislead the opponent: the flagship "Iron Duke", the main battleship "George V", the battle cruiser "Royal Princess" and "Australia" have all suffered structural heavy damage, even if they are fully repaired, the combat performance will not return to the ideal state, but the British official claims that they will soon return to the combat sequence; The "Dreadnought" was attacked and sunk by a German submarine on the way home, and British officials claimed that it accidentally triggered a mine that broke away from the anchor chain in the storm.

Of the four battered capital ships, the Royal Princess had to return to its place of construction - the Vickers-Armstrong shipyard in Newcastle-on-Tyne for overhaul due to the length of the hull, while the other three ships were docked at Scapa Flo for repairs, while the damaged "Palerophon", "Collingwood", "Daring" and "Ajax" also took at least three weeks to repair. Under these circumstances, the main ships of the British Grand Fleet included the "Senvencent" and "Hercules", which were unable to participate in the Battle of Jutland due to mechanical problems, the three Orion sisters - "Emperor", "Conqueror" and "Thunderbolt", who were lightly damaged, and the "Agincourt" and "Ireland" which were forcibly requisitioned by the British without being delivered to the Turkish Navy.

If the "Agincourt" and "Ireland", which have not yet fully formed their combat effectiveness, are not counted, Jericho has two dreadnoughts and three super-dreadnoughts that can fight, but if you count the German capital ships leaving the port of Kiel, Jerichault's strength is undoubtedly at a disadvantage.

After listening to Jericho's operational analysis, George V's face was solemn and he did not say a word. Prince Louis, the First Sea Lord, who accompanied him, was being questioned and criticized by the British people because of his German origins, and he was ready to resign, and it was inconvenient to make any advice on specific military affairs on the cusp of the storm, while Churchill, the Admiral Churchill, who arrived in Scappaflo the day before, said conclusively that the stronger the enemy, the more it could inspire the glorious will of the British Royal Navy to fight back, as long as it could defeat this "invincible armada" that challenged the door. The British Empire is bound to usher in another prosperity that will last for hundreds of years.

Knowing that Britain's homeland security and maritime lifeline had reached a precarious critical point, Jericho gritted his teeth and proposed a "small boat for big ship" combat plan, that is, to concentrate a large number of destroyers, torpedo boats, and submarines to attack the German fleet, weaken the opponent to the greatest extent, and then completely defeat the opponent with the main fleet. This tactical tactic was immediately endorsed by Churchill, who simply compared it to "ants bite the elephant" and offered to lay mines on the return of the German fleet.

George V had always regarded the German navy as an upstart with no background, but in the Battle of Jutland, the British fleet with superior forces was defeated, and the invincible prestige accumulated over hundreds of years was greatly damaged, which forced him to re-examine the balance of power between the two sides. Now that the German fleet has come victorious, if the British navy is defeated again, the prospect of war and the fate of the country will be in an unprecedented desperate situation. With no other choice, George V agreed to the tactics of Jericho and Churchill, and for the sake of the Royal Navy's face, he made it clear that the key to the battle would still be a head-to-head battle between the two fleets.

"The British Navy must prove to the world that its glorious heritage and tenacity make it fearless of any adversary!"

Once the tactics had been decided, Churchill and Jellicoe split up. In order to win in adversity, they still have many problems to solve, the first of which is to track down the whereabouts of the German fleet. Since the intelligence did not provide an exact time for the German fleet to leave Kiel, the dangerous warships may have stayed in Wilhelmshaven or Yad Bay, or they may have sailed out of Helgoland Bay. In order to obtain critical information, Churchill asked naval intelligence to urgently contact the spies stationed in Germany to find ways to obtain information on the movements of the German fleet, and at the same time issued a directive to the naval forces responsible for the defense of Britain's east coast, requiring the detachment and patrol fleets to urgently dispatch ships to implement a hierarchical combat alert in key areas 150 nautical miles offshore.

Most of the light cruiser detachments and destroyers under Jellico's command who participated in the Battle of Jutland suffered heavy losses, but the British Navy had a rich family after all, and as of the date of the declaration of war on Germany, the number of British light cruisers, reconnaissance cruisers and protective cruisers in service reached 87, more than twice that of the German Navy, and there were 221 British destroyers in service, far exceeding the 90 large torpedo boats of the German Navy, and the 73 submarines of the British Navy also had a significant numerical advantage over the 49 ships of the German Navy. Only the Germans had the upper hand in high-speed torpedo boats - the German Navy announced a staggering 501 of them, while the British Navy had 322, which together surpassed the combined number of high-speed torpedo boats in the rest of the world combined!

Excluding ships deployed in overseas colonies, about 70 percent of the British Navy's wartime cruisers and destroyers, 80 percent of submarines, and 95 percent of its torpedo boats were concentrated in the home waters, and Jericho's staff quickly laid out a theoretical figure: not counting the main fleet of Scapa Flow, there were 23 cruisers, 76 destroyers, and 223 torpedo boats at the disposal of the ports on the east coast of Britain, and the Channel Fleet deployed in the English Channel had 21 old battleships, 6 cruisers, 20 destroyers, as well as 89 torpedo boats. Many of these large and small ships were launched before 1906, and their performance was outdated in all aspects, but if they could be concentrated in one place, there would still be a chance to annihilate the main German fleet that came from across the sea.

(End of chapter)