They got pretty intense on the home front, too.
The RAF lost around 40 aircraft, if memory serves - but achieved nothing of substance for it;
The RN maintained a number of patrols in the Channel but for some reason nothing substantial was accomplished by them either, and;
The British coast artillery, whose reason for being was engaging and driving off or sinking heavy surface warships, and which had batteries that bore on the Channel and were more than capable of dealing with German capital ships, achieved nothing.
There were weather conditions that mitigated against the full and effective employment of some or all of these instruments of war, and it seemed the British found environmental factors played a more significant role than the new technology would initially have allowed them to play. Potential German naval threats against the North Atlantic, and a relocation of scarce resources for use against those threats, further lessened the odds against the Germans. Interestingly, the most effective British weapon used against the German capital ships was an entirely passive one, and an old one - horned mines.
The whole situation caused acute embarrassment in Parliament for the ruling party.
The RN's Fleet Air Arm 825 Sqn, and LCDR Esmonde, set new standards for bravery and devotion to duty that day as well. A memorable photo snapped by a crewman on one of the German ships showed one of the Swordfish that attempted a torpedo attack on his ship passing nearby with flames clearly visible around the cockpit. en route to ditching.
The various summaries of the post-action review ordered by Churchill make for interesting reading.
