Chapter 138: Into the Depths of the Ocean

The High Seas Fleet suffered from a perennial problem: "short legs." This issue had never been resolved. Before the outbreak of the Great War, the Imperial Navy had only one primary mission: to challenge and defeat the British Royal Navy. Consequently, all capital ships of the Imperial Navy were designed with a very specific focus. Tactically, they were intended solely for operations in the North Sea and were never designed for long-term oceanic campaigns. The reason was simple: if the Imperial Navy could not defeat the Royal Navy in the North Sea, it could not venture deep into the open ocean. Thus, there was no need to waste tonnage on range; it was far more valuable to invest in increased firepower, enhanced protection, and higher speed.

It could be said that insufficient range was a common ailment of the Imperial Navy’s capital ships. Among the sixth-rate battleships and third-rate battlecruisers, the greatest range was less than 8,000 nautical miles, while the shortest was a mere 5,000.

What did this mean? A range of 5,000 nautical miles meant the ship could only operate up to 2,000 miles from its home port, and even with 8,000 miles, it could only reach 3,500 miles away. In other words, at the time, the Imperial Navy possessed no battleship capable of crossing the North Atlantic; they could barely operate in the central North Atlantic, being largely confined to the North Sea and its immediate vicinity.

In fact, some of the Royal Navy's capital ships faced similar issues. For instance, the newly built "Revenge" class had a range of only 4,500 nautical miles, while the "Iron Duke" class had a range of less than 8,000 miles at ten knots. Battleships built for other nations, such as the "Erin" and "Agincourt," also had ranges under 5,000 miles.

The difference was that the Royal Navy possessed an advantage the German Imperial Navy lacked: a vast network of overseas military bases. The British fleet could receive robust support from naval bases all around the world. Clearly, the German Imperial Navy did not enjoy such favorable conditions.

This created a dilemma. If the High Seas Fleet intended to operate in the North Atlantic, it had to consider how to return to the Empire’s home ports while simultaneously trying to defeat the enemy. Jellicoe targeted exactly this flaw in the High Seas Fleet.

Before the Grand Fleet left Scapa Flow, Jellicoe sent a telegram to Hamilton, who was heading to the United States to receive the new fleet, instructing him to rendezvous with the light cruiser squadron at the Bermuda Islands. He was to first sail south, make a tour of the Caribbean, refuel in the British Lesser Antilles, and then cross the Atlantic, lingering near the Azores for several days until it was confirmed that the High Seas Fleet had returned to the North Sea before setting sail for Portsmouth. If any unforeseen circumstances arose, Hamilton was authorized to lead the new fleet to the fortress of Gibraltar.

Clearly, Jellicoe had no intention of letting Hamilton return directly to the British mainland. Thus, as long as the High Seas Fleet intended to intercept the new fleet, it would surely be disappointed, eventually forced to return to the North Sea due to the insufficient range of its capital ships.

To Jellicoe, this was a heaven-sent opportunity. In his view, Feng Chengqian would certainly not easily pass up the chance to intercept the new fleet. Therefore, the High Seas Fleet would surely linger in the North Atlantic for a long time after entering it, turning back only when its remaining fuel was just enough for the return voyage. This meant that by the time the High Seas Fleet began its return, its fuel would be critically low. If it encountered the Grand Fleet at that moment, the High Seas Fleet would be at a severe disadvantage. Even if it won a decisive battle against the Grand Fleet under those conditions, it would be unable to return to Wilhelmshaven.

Obviously, Feng Chengqian would not take such a risk and would prioritize returning home rather than engaging in a decisive battle upon encountering the Grand Fleet. As long as Feng Chengqian thought this way, he would lose the initiative. For this reason, Jellicoe made special arrangements.

After the Grand Fleet left Scapa Flow, it did not immediately enter the North Atlantic, nor did it sail toward Norway to intercept the High Seas Fleet—which was highly likely to enter the North Atlantic from that direction. Instead, it sailed south, intending to enter the Bay of Biscay via the English Channel and then proceed to Portsmouth. Jellicoe’s intent was clear: to lure the High Seas Fleet into the North Atlantic. It must be admitted that Jellicoe’s capability was indeed superior to Beatty’s; he possessed a very sharp sense of purpose, and all his actions were geared toward achieving that goal.

Feng Chengqian was unaware of this. On the morning of May 5, he only received a report that the Grand Fleet had sortied at dawn and subsequently driven off several German vessels conducting reconnaissance near the Shetland Islands. As for the Grand Fleet's destination, Feng Chengqian was in the dark, and neither Hipper nor Tirpitz, who were commanding from the rear, knew either. At the time, Feng Chengqian could only speculate that Jellicoe had likely gone to rendezvous with Hamilton.

The result was that while the Grand Fleet sailed south along the coastline of Great Britain, the High Seas Fleet sailed north along the Norwegian coast on the other side of the North Sea. These two routes could never converge. Two days later, the High Seas Fleet bypassed the Faroe Islands and entered the North Atlantic.

That evening, the High Seas Fleet reached the North Atlantic shipping lanes and dispatched over a dozen light cruisers, while another dozen light cruisers, originally tasked with commerce raiding, were searching the surrounding areas. The first target Feng Chengqian sought was not the new fleet that had left New York on May 5, but the Grand Fleet that had departed Scapa Flow on the same day. Feng Chengqian hoped for an early encounter with the Grand Fleet. Unfortunately, after twenty-four hours of searching, the High Seas Fleet came up empty-handed.

By then, Feng Chengqian realized something was wrong. The Grand Fleet had departed from Scapa Flow and could enter the North Atlantic by rounding the Shetland Islands. Even if the Grand Fleet cruised at only ten knots, and the High Seas Fleet had maintained sixteen knots since departure, they should have encountered each other by the afternoon of May 8. Clearly, something was amiss.

While eating dinner, it suddenly struck Feng Chengqian that it was unlikely Jellicoe had gone to rendezvous with Hamilton. The reason was simple: if Jellicoe had truly intended to meet Hamilton, he should have departed before May 5 so that he could rendezvous in the central North Atlantic and return to Scapa Flow together. Jellicoe chose to depart in the early hours of May 5, only after receiving word that the High Seas Fleet had sortied, making it unlikely he was heading to intercept or meet Hamilton. The Grand Fleet’s cruising speed was not high, and its sustained high-speed capability was not necessarily better than the High Seas Fleet’s. Given he had departed nearly ten hours after the High Seas Fleet, even at full speed, it was unlikely Jellicoe could have outpaced it.

Clearly, this contradicted the current situation. Or, if Jellicoe had no intention of meeting Hamilton and his purpose for sortieing was to intercept the High Seas Fleet, they should have met before the High Seas Fleet left the North Sea. Conversely, if his goal was to meet the new fleet, he should have been within the search range of the High Seas Fleet by now. The reality was that neither scenario had occurred.

Jellicoe had neither intercepted the High Seas Fleet nor met the new fleet. What had he done? Feng Chengqian was deeply puzzled and could not figure it out. However, one thing was certain: the Grand Fleet was still active at sea and had not returned to Scapa Flow, and the new fleet led by Hamilton had already left New York and was sailing across the Atlantic.

On the morning of May 9, Feng Chengqian received a crucial telegram from Hipper. The new fleet had appeared in the waters south of the Bahamas, was sailing toward Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and had seized all merchant ships encountered along the way. The vessel that discovered the new fleet was an Imperial cargo ship flying the Norwegian flag.

The fact that the new fleet had not crossed the North Atlantic but had instead gone to the Caribbean made Feng Chengqian realize that Jellicoe had likely not left the North Sea—or at least had not entered the North Atlantic via the Shetlands—but had instead gone to the English Channel, still planning to rendezvous with Hamilton.

This created a problem. If the High Seas Fleet followed them south, it would certainly be unable to reach the Azores, as it did not carry enough fuel to return to Wilhelmshaven after reaching the islands. The issue was that if this opportunity were missed, the new fleet would return to the British mainland. Feng Chengqian did not want to give up, so he had to solve this problem. He had only two options: arrange for oil tankers to refuel the fleet at sea, or, on the return voyage, head to the Bay of Biscay and enter the North Sea via the English Channel, shortening the journey by over a thousand nautical miles.

On the afternoon of May 9, Feng Chengqian sent a telegram to Hipper, ordering all ships operating in the North Atlantic to head toward the Azores, and instructing those commerce-raiding warships to proceed to the Azores after capturing enemy oil tankers. If necessary, the High Seas Fleet would have to perform an at-sea refueling near the Azores.

However, Feng Chengqian did not intend to go to the Azores to intercept the new fleet, because he knew Hamilton might not return to Britain via the Azores, and Jellicoe, who had vanished into the ocean, might not go there either—nor would he let the High Seas Fleet, which had already penetrated the North Atlantic, go unscathed. Of course, the new fleet was not Feng Chengqian’s primary target. If possible, he still hoped to settle the score with Jellicoe.

At this moment, Feng Chengqian saw an opportunity. The new fleet’s detour to the Caribbean meant it could not quickly return to the British mainland, delaying its rendezvous with Jellicoe’s Grand Fleet by at least several days. During this interval, Jellicoe had two choices: keep the Grand Fleet near the British mainland after passing through the English Channel and wait for definitive intelligence before acting, or bypass the British Isles to search for the High Seas Fleet in the North Atlantic.

Clearly, it was highly probable that Jellicoe would choose the former. If Jellicoe had intended to fight a decisive battle with the High Seas Fleet, he would not have gone to the English Channel but would have headed straight for Norway or the Faroe Islands. This meant that Jellicoe was still near the British mainland.

Thus, Feng Chengqian had gained a precious opportunity to engage the Grand Fleet in a solitary battle.