Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command

by Andrew Gordon

A wish to engage at a distance implied a shyness of close quarters; and gallant Victorians, like Admiral Sir John Commerell VC, “would have scorned [to do so] unless obliged”.41 But there were also persuasive practical reasons why there was little point in thinking in terms of long ranges. Accurate range-finding was still beyond technical reach.42 And the elevation of the gun could not be usefully calibrated, even had ranges been available, while the chemical composition of the powder remained erratic. None of this mattered at point-blank, the attraction of which was that the shell – by definition flying on a flat trajectory – would hit as long as the gun was pointing at the target.