 On the evening of 22 November 1914 , the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea to support Vice Admiral David Beatty 's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron . The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November . Marlborough and most of the fleet initially remained in port during the German raid on Scarborough , Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 , though the 3rd Battle Squadron was sent to reinforce the British forces in the area . After receiving further information about the possibility of the rest of the German fleet being at sea , Jellicoe gave the order for the fleet to sortie to try to intercept the Germans , though by that time they had already retreated . Vice Admiral Cecil Burney replaced <unk> aboard Marlborough in December ; at that time , Marlborough became the second @-@ in @-@ command flagship for the Grand Fleet . On 25 December , the fleet sortied for a sweep in the North Sea , which concluded on 27 December without event . Marlborough and the rest of the fleet conducted gunnery drills during 10 – 13 January 1915 west of the <unk> and <unk> . On the evening of 23 January , the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty 's Battlecruiser Fleet but the rest of the fleet did not become engaged in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day . 
