Comments by "" (@VersusARCH) on "Last Ride of the High Seas Fleet - Battle of Texel 1918" video.

Look. Even the fanatical Japanese at the Leyte Gulf retreated when odds became too great. Your projected battle is far more devastating than it would have been. Tsushima was such a battle because the Russians had no choice but to fight it out to Vladivostok or surrender/go into internment and the Japanese ships were significantly faster. Surigao Strait was a fanatical sacrifice by Nishimura but as soon as he was out of action captains of his remaining ships decided to retreat, and so did Shima. Germans had a safe place to retreat to and would have used the option when it became too hot - Jutland-style. They would have accepted a line battle for longer this time as it was a battle for honor and there would be more casualties sure (not least because of Beatty's agressiveness which would surely be greeted with some torpedo hits by German destroyers as they covered the retreat) but remember - Hipper was in charge of the High Seas Fleet and his command would be a repeat of the "death ride" he performed at climax at Jutland but on a grand scale - followed by retreat and abandonment of crippled ships (Dogger Bank style).
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@StonedDragons That is not realistic. The Germans would have always made sure their line of retreat is left open. They had scout planes, light cruisers, destroyers and zeppelins, smoke could be seen from afar. Never during the whole WW1 did that happen.
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@StonedDragons The German ships don't have to be faster than the British in order to avoid being cut off. The British Grand Fleet was a few knots faster but it would not enable them to cut the High Seas Fleet from Wilhelmshaffen. The Germans would have to be totally blind and utterly stupid to allow that to happen. That they were not.
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