Doggerbank was a failure as well. Due to Beatty's signals screwups,the BCF went after the Blucher instead of chasing down Hipper's BCs.
Even Beatty considered Heligoland Bight,Doggerbank and Jutland to be failures,but he blamed it all on his signal man.(Or on the Admiral in charge of the BCF's scouting force,or on his second in command,or on Jellicoe) Not on his poor choice of orders.
Admiral Sturdee was in command at the Falklands. The Invincible and inflexible were on detached duty so that does not count as a BCF action. And that was one of the few times where battlecruisers were used the way they were intended to be used.
|