Order of battle at Jutland Pentland Firth (between the Orkneys and the Scottish mainland): During the battle the Germans used the Zeppelin airships of the Naval Airship Section "(Marine Luftschiff Abteilung)" for scouting, although in the prevailing overcast conditions they were not particularly successful. The commander of the Naval Airship Section was Lt Cdr Peter Strasser, and they flew from bases at Nordholz and Hage in north-west Germany and Tondern (then part of Schleswig; the town became part of Denmark in 1920). Sortied on 31 May Sortied on 1 June Did not sortie during the Battle of Jutland Abbreviations for Officers’ Ranks (German ranks translated
Battle of Jutland him west of the mouth of the Skagerrak off the coast of Jutland and wait for the Germans to appear or for their intentions to become clear. The planned position would give him the widest range of responses to likely German moves. The principle of concentration of force was fundamental to the fleet tactics of this time (as in earlier periods). Tactical doctrine called for a fleet approaching battle to be in a compact formation of parallel columns, allowing relatively easy manoeuvring, and giving shortened sight lines within the formation, which simplified the passing of the signals necessary for command