Night action at the Battle of Jutland Hipper succeed in sinking two British battlecruisers during the chase. Once the German fleet came in sight, the British ships reversed course, now intending to lead the German fleet in pursuit of them back towards the main British fleet. Despite minimal information, Admiral John Jellicoe managed to deploy his ships to good advantage across the path of the approaching German fleet, so that some success was gained in the short battle before the Germans in turn reversed course and withdrew. Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer was now in a difficult position, because his smaller force was cut off from Germany by the
Erich Raeder pre Grand Admiral at Jutland, and was forced mid-way in the battle to transfer from to the as a result of damage to Hipper's flagship, which led Hipper to praise his Chief of Staff for the way he kept his cool and went back to work despite all of the stresses of combat and the transfer. Other officers were more critical of Raeder at Jutland, arguing that his repeated advice to Hipper that the battlecruisers should keep "charging" the Grand Fleet and that the battle should not be broken off was not rational as to continue the battle against the numerically superior Grand