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 route, and his general course would still allow him to intercept. The British moved into night formation at 2117. Sunset had been at 2000, with full darkness by 2100. The ships were travelling approximately SSE with the battleships in four columns one mile apart which were intended to travel parallel courses in a compact block giving minimum opportunity for surprise torpedo attack. The western column comprised the Second Battle Squadron of eight ships commanded by Martyn Jerram. The next column one mile to the east was the Fourth Battle Squadron led by , Jellicoe's flagship. Vice-Admiral Doveton Sturdee on commanding