 A delayed departure of the German fleet for its sortie ( which had been redirected to the Skagerrak ) and the failure of five U @-@ boats to receive the coded message warning of the British advance caused Scheer 's anticipated ambush to be a " complete and disappointing failure " . Although U @-@ 70 had received the advance warning of the coded message , her crew did not ever see any part of the fleet . The failure of the submarine ambush to sink any British capital ships allowed the full Grand Fleet to engage the numerically inferior High Seas Fleet in the Battle of Jutland , which took place 31 May – 1 June . 
