The Admiral paid a fine tribute to the German naval men:  “The enemy,” he said, “fought with the gallantry that was expected of him.  We particularly admired the conduct of those on board a disabled German light cruiser which passed down the British line shortly after the deployment under a heavy fire, which was returned by the only gun left in action.  The conduct of the officers and men war entirely beyond praise.  On all sides it is reported that the glorious traditions of the past were most worthily upheld; whether in the heavy ships, cruisers, light cruisers, or destroyers, the same admirable spirit prevailed.  The officers and men were cool and determined, with a cheeriness that would have carried them through anything.  The heroism of the wounded was the ‘admiration’ of all.  I cannot adequately express the pride with which the spirit of the fleet filled me.”

At daylight on the 1st of June the British battle fleet, being southward of Horn Reef, turned northward in search of the enemy vessels.  The visibility early on the first of June was three to four miles less than on May 31st, and the torpedo-boat destroyers, being out of visual touch, did not rejoin the fleet until 9 A.M.  The British fleet remained in the proximity of the battlefield and near the line of approach to the German ports until 11 A.M., in spite of the disadvantage of long distances from fleet bases and the danger incurred in waters adjacent to the enemy’s coasts from submarines and torpedo craft.

The enemy, however, made no sign, and the admiral was reluctantly compelled to the conclusion that the High Sea Fleet had returned into port.  Subsequent events proved this assumption to have been correct.  The British position must have been known to the enemy, as at 4 A.M. the fleet engaged a Zeppelin about five minutes, during which time she had ample opportunity to note and subsequently report the position and course of the British fleet.

The Germans at first claimed a victory for their fleet.  The test, of course, was the outcome of the battle.  The fact that the German fleet retreated and nevermore ventured forth from beneath the protecting guns and mine fields around Helgoland, demonstrates beyond dispute that the British were entitled to the triumph.  The German official report makes the best presentation of the German case.  It follows in full: 

The High Sea Fleet, consisting of three battleship squadrons, five battle cruisers, and a large number of small cruisers, with several destroyer flotillas, was cruising in the Skagerrak on May 31 for the purpose, as on earlier occasions, of offering battle to the British fleet.  The vanguard of the small cruisers at 4.30 o’clock in the afternoon (German time) suddenly encountered ninety miles west of Hanstholm, (a cape on the northwest coast of Jutland), a group of eight of the newest cruisers of the Calliope class and fifteen or twenty of the most modern destroyers.