Following them home was therefore out of the question altogether; for
you _can_ sink a fleet, while you _can't_ sink a coast. But even
trying to run them down at night was out of the question too; for their
strongest point was night fighting, which is much fuller of risks and
chances than day battles are. Besides, there was the chance of missing
them and losing the best position between them and their base. So
Jellicoe and Beatty separated again and steamed, parallel to each
other, south-south-east to within a hundred miles of the German coast.
They could not possibly cover more than a quarter of the whole way into
the Danish and German coasts; and so most of the Germans managed to
slip in behind them, round by the north.
The night fighting was done by the light craft; and it was here that
Jellicoe had so much need of Tyrwhitt's flotillas from Harwich.
Harwich was very handy to the battlefield and Tyrwhitt's light craft
were as keen and ready as any one could be. But the Government were
afraid to let them go, for fear lest some Germans might raid the
English coast.
Pages:
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351