ABSTRACT
On 22 May 1916, the five Queen Elizabeth class battleships of the Fifth Battle Squadron (5BS) arrived in the Firth of Forth. On the same day, the Third Battle Cruiser Squadron (3BCS) left for Scapa Flow; there, they would calibrate their guns and adjust the new Directors in Inflexible and Indomitable before, with the squadron flagship Invincible, putting in some much-needed firing practice. Queen Elizabeth herself went straight into dock, the commander of the 5BS, Rear Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas, transferring his flag to the Barham. Thus Beatty now had under his command four of the most powerful battleships then in service. He had been campaigning for this augmentation to the Battle Cruiser Fleet (BCF) since the previous February. Yet, he did not bother to meet with Evan-Thomas, or even to favour him with a copy of the Battle Cruiser Fleet Orders; thus Evan-Thomas was given no insights into the battlecruisers’ actiondoctrine, which was so much freer than that to which he was accustomed in the Grand Fleet.1
