Battle of the Denmark Strait Beatty, likewise, felt he needed to engage German Admiral Franz Hipper's battlecruisers with his own forces instead of drawing the Germans toward Admiral John Jellicoe and the British Grand Fleet. Holland, like Beatty, possessed superiority in the number of heavy ships he possessed, yet he was encumbered by inferiority in fighting effectiveness of those units. Moreover, Holland's deployment of his units compared to Beatty's deployment at Jutland. Beatty and Holland both attacked while German units were well before the beam. As a result, the midships and after turrets of Beatty's ships could barely fire on the enemy; Holland's ships could
Night action at the Battle of Jutland battleships ( having returned to port damaged after taking part in the initial battlecruiser action), took up a position between the two separating halves. At 2203 the 5th Battle Squadron reversed course for five minutes so as to fall back closer to "Marlborough". The battlecruisers commanded by Beatty were stationed fifteen miles WSW of "Iron Duke", which it was anticipated would put them in a good position to intercept German ships. Their position meant that at approximately 2130–2200 they were positioned unbeknownst to either side eight miles ahead of and leading the German battlefleet. The British fleet included smaller vessels