Jutland Campaign: Battle in the Skagerrak

In the past couple of weeks we have been fighting a Jutland campaign umpired by PeterW & Mike.
Germans: Jim, SteveD & PeterC.
British: Dale, Mark & Chris.
PeterW, Dale & SteveJ are in Canberra participating by email & Zoom.

Each has to plot sorties over a 3 month period to rack up VPs by bombarding, sinking commercial shipping or sinking warships.  The sorties are plotted on a hex map of the north sea with hidden movement adjudicated by the umpire. This account of events to date is limited by being written by Admiral Scheer who is ignorant of much of the British manoeuvres & reluctant to disclose too much about the German's.

The first German sortie was a  successful light ship raid on the British fishing on Dogger Bank.

In their second sortie the High Seas Fleet put to sea, but turned back after ascertaining that the Grand Fleet was at sea & they were in danger of being cut off from base.  The Germans think they might have had a minor success in luring some British warships onto a minefield. 

The third German sortie was a raid on the shipping in the Skagerrak & this lead to a battle to be fought on the table top (using our home grown Dreadnought rules).  

The table at the start of the battle.  North is along the table towards the right of the camera location.  The dice & sticks indicate campaign hexes which are 24 battle hexes across = 24 Nmiles.  The Germans have 3 battlecruisers & 2 DD flotillas marauding shipping in the near hex & at 1700H an unidentified British force has appeared on the NW side of the hex.  

The British force was a squadron of Beatty's battlecruisers.  The Brits got first move & moved into sight & into range of the Germans to fire first.  Despite the extreme range Oakie immediately ranged in on all 3 German ships & hit them hard before they could reply.

Hipper did battle turn away & ran NE trailing smoke.

But Hipper was not alone.  He was joined in the adjacent hex by his other 2 battlecruisers & 2DD flotillas returned to the fray.  At the same time the High Seas Fleet came into sight from the SE.
Beatty's battleship squadron was now also in sight behind his battlecruisers as well as a flock of light flotillas to the south.  But now it was the British turn to lay smoke & run for it with the High Seas Fleet in pursuit, though the Tiger took some heavy hits  before it hot away.

The German's pursuit of Beatty took a sudden nasty turn when they saw the Grand Fleet on the horizon.  

Both fleets had advancing on each other in columns abreast & both side turned to the south to form a line of battle.

The two fleets steamed south exchanging fire at long to medium range.  At 1900H battle time we called a halt for the night.  We will continue next week.

At this stage the Germans have lost no ships, with 10 damaged, none critically.  The British have lost 1 ships sunk (old dreadnought Temaraire) & 10 ships damaged, 3 of them so badly they have been pulled out of the line.