iral Jellicoe's personal
command. It is interesting as an example of the extreme complexity
of fleet formation under modern conditions, especially when it is
realized that the whole fleet was proceeding on its base course
by zigzagging.

[Illustration: BEATTY'S CRUISING FORMATION, 2 P. M.

(After diagrams by Lieut.-Comdr. H. H. Frost, U.S.N., _U. S. Naval
Institute Proceedings, Nov., 1919._)]

Seventy-seven miles to the southward Vice Admiral Beatty, commanding
the scouting force, was heading on a northeasterly course. His force
was spread out in scouting formation. The First Battle Cruiser
Squadron of four ships, headed by the flagship _Lion_, was flanked
three miles to the eastward by the Second Battle Cruiser Squadron of
two ships, and five miles to the north by the Fifth Battle Squadron,
consisting of four of the finest battleships in the fleet, 25-knot
_Queen Elizabeths_, under Rear Admiral Evan-Thomas. Each of these
squadrons had its screen of destroyers and light cruisers. Eight miles
to the south the First, Second, and Third Light Cruiser Squadrons
were spread out in line at five-mile intervals. The formation is
made clear by the accompanying diagram.

At the same hour, 2 p. m., Vice Admiral Hipper, with the German
scouting force, was heading north about 15 to 20 miles to the southeast
of Beatty. Hipper commanded the First Battle Cruiser Squadron,
consisting of the _Luetzow_ (flag), _Derflinger, Seydlitz, Moltke_,
and _Van der Tann_, accompanied by a screening force of four or
five light cruisers and about 15 destroyers. Fifty miles south
of this advance force was the main body of the High Seas Fleet under
Vice Admiral von Scheer. It consisted of three battle squadrons
arranged apparently in one long column of 22 ships escorted by
a screen of 62 destroyers, eight or ten light cruisers, and the
one remaining armored cruiser in the German navy, the _Roon_.

Thus the stage was set and the characters disposed for the great
naval drama of that day.

[Illustration: TYPE OF GERMAN BATTLE CRUISER: THE DERFFLINGER

From Jane, _Fighting Ships, 1918_

Normal displacement, 26,600 to 28,000 tons.

Length (waterline), 689 to 700 feet. Beam, 95 to 96 feet. Mean draught,
27-1/2 feet.

Guns: Some (4.7 inch?) anti-aircraft
8--1.2 inch, 50 cal. (A5) 2 machine
14--5.9 inch, 50 cal. in M. & H. Torpedo tubes (21.7 inch):
but only