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Originally Posted by Raptor1
How, exactly, was Wilhelm related to this?
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After Heligoland Wilhelm **** his pants, and took up the firm belief that the HSF was doomed if it left port. So he virtually banned its use. Which was pretty funny considering German media claimed that Jellicoe was a coward, whom never left Scapa Flow.
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AFAIK Wilhelm relied heavily on his generals for advice in the war matters, so the blame should probably fall squarely Tirpitz
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It's too bad he did listen to them. Otherwise he might have not have opted to construct one of the biggest strategic blunders in history. The High Seas Fleet.
I'm actually a
fan of the HSF, but it's a subjective choice based on my liking for the KM's ship design.
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Oh, and don't forget the British had the same attitude
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Jellicoe kept the Grand Fleet at Sea constantly, and Beatty
obsessivley hunted Sheer whenever rumors of his presense were about. Jellicoe was cautious but he was by no means a believer of the "Fleet in Being" concept.
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EDIT: Oh, just read that after the Battle of Heligoland Bight the Kaiser decided that the fleet should hold back so as to not sustain severe losses, so you're probably right (In the fact that it was Wilhelm's decision not to employ the HSF more aggressively, that is)
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He did lift the ban on its use after Dogger Bank. The Scouting Force couldn't operate safely without the HSF on immediate standby. Then Wilhelm, ever the self-contradictory, put the ban right back on the fleet after Jutland.
Anyway i've decided to experiment with a more aggressive strategy. It's paid off so far. I used the scouting force to ruin a large DD/CL patrol group in the channel. Only narrowly avoiding Beatty the next morning. Using Zeppelin scouting and minelaying I was able to corner a Monitor Fleet at Dover and annhiliate it with the HSF. I've lost lots of destroyers though. I can only hope i'm slowly wearing down the channel's defenses.