Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomizer
Scheer knew that no Atlantic operations were possible for his regular surface warships. Only armed merchant cruisers and U-Boats could interdict Britain's sea lines of communications. This is why the oft-quoted Churchill pronouncement that "Jellicoe is the only man who could lose the War in an afternoon" is merely dramatic Churchillian hyperbole endlessly parroted, often by people who should know better.
Anyway, nice pics.
-C
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Was it hyperbole? A point I made by, I believe, Jackie Fisher was that you go to war with the Navy you have, any anything you can build (which isn't much, battleships take years to build). If you lose an entire corps and 300,000 men son the Western Front, in 3 months you can replace them.
Think about a situation where at Jutland the Grand Fleet had suffered a profound disaster. Imagine a situation where four of Beatty's six battlecruisers had been destroyed, Beatty himself killed, Jellicoe was unable to form his dreadnoughts into a single battle-line and "cross the T", suffered terrible torpedo attacks and lost 10 dreadnoughts as well as 4 battlecruisers.
That would put Britain and Germany at around parity. It's highly questionable whether the Royal Navy could have maintained its "distant blockade" strategy without the immense superiority it enjoyed over the High Seas Fleet. Yes, the German submarine and anti-convoy effort was important. But even more important was the British blockade of German trade, the "turnip winter" of 1916, the deprivation that was so severe that it resulted in a revolution in 1918 and the toppling of the House of Hohenzollern.
If Jellicoe had ever suffered a disaster at a battle, it would have occurred in or around a single day, and it's possible that from them on Britain would;
(1) No longer be able to enforce its blockade of Germany
(2) Not have the resources to stop the German sub menace
As Beatty himself said later, "When you're winning, risk nothing". And the Brits were winning. But loss of naval superiority could have had profound effects on the war, the Entente only just barely won the war as it is. It was a "close run thing".
Late here so I will reply to the substantive other elements tomorrow, thanks indeed for the detailed responses. Good night!