At four minutes to six
Jellicoe sighted Beatty. Five minutes later he asked him for the
position of the German line. Nine minutes later he asked again. The
smoke and mist were so bad at first that it was not till 6.14 that
Beatty could say exactly. At 6.16--just two minutes later--Jellicoe's
plan was made and his orders had gone out. There, in the conning tower
of the _Iron Duke_, within those two short minutes, he had calmly
thought out every chance and change and way of going into action under
conditions which could not have been worse for him or better for the
Germans.
His twenty-four battleships were in six divisions, side by side, each
division in line ahead, and all numbered off from port (left) to
starboard (right). The leading ship of the 1st, or port wing, division
was the _King George V_. The leading ship of the 6th, or starboard
wing division, was the _Marlborough_. His own flagship, the _Iron
Duke_, led the 3rd division.
[Illustration: Jellicoe's Battle Fleet in Columns of Divisions. 6.14
P.M.]
The supreme moment had now arrived.
Pages:
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345