3. About twenty light cruisers and 160 destroyers, divided between the advance force and the main body.
The German strength comprised:
1. An advance force under Vice Admiral Hipper, consisting of five battle cruisers, (three Derfflingers of probably 27 knots speed, each carrying eight 12-inch guns, and two Moltkes of probably 28 knots speed, each carrying ten 11-inch guns.)
The fleet speed of this advance force was 27 knots.
2. The main body of the German High Seas Fleet, under Admiral Scheer, consisting of sixteen dreadnoughts and six predreadnought battleships.
The fleet speed of this main body was 17 knots, because the German dreadnoughts had been eked out with predreadnought battleships of less speed. Four dreadnoughts carried twelve 11-inch guns each, four twelve 12-inch guns each, the rest ten 12-inch guns each. The six old German battleships were very inferior, carrying only four heavy guns each.
3. About twenty light cruisers and eighty or ninety destroyers, divided between the advance force and the main body.
The above-described makeup of the opposing fleets must be kept in mind when studying the course of the action. The day of the battle was cloudy, but the sun shone through the clouds most of the time. At no time was there anything approaching a sea. Visibility was reported as good in the first stages of the action, but late in the afternoon, there being little wind, mist and smoke hung heavy over the surface of the sea. These conditions must also be remembered.
DISPOSITION OF BRITISH FLEET