 The "Helgoland"-class ships, along with the , , and es steamed in distant support of Franz von Hipper's battlecruisers.Friedrich von Ingenohl, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, decided to take up station approximately in the center of the North Sea, about 130 miles east of Scarborough.The Royal Navy, which had recently received the German code books captured from the beached cruiser , was aware that an operation was taking place, but was not sure where the Germans would strike.