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    All About History - The Battle of Jutland

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    The Battle of Jutland was a major naval battle between British and German fleets in World War 1. The battle resulted in a strategic victory for Britain. While Germany inflicted more losses initially by damaging British battlecruisers, the British Grand Fleet remained intact and able to continue its blockade of German ships. Though tactically more successful, Germany's navy failed to break the British blockade and suffered a strategic defeat, as Britain maintained naval dominance for the rest of the war.

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    All About History - The Battle of Jutland

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    The Battle of Jutland was a major naval battle between British and German fleets in World War 1. The battle resulted in a strategic victory for Britain. While Germany inflicted more losses initially by damaging British battlecruisers, the British Grand Fleet remained intact and able to continue its blockade of German ships. Though tactically more successful, Germany's navy failed to break the British blockade and suffered a strategic defeat, as Britain maintained naval dominance for the rest of the war.

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    The battle of Jutland in a major marine battle during WWI.

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    The Battle of Jutland was a major naval battle between British and German fleets in World War 1. The battle resulted in a strategic victory for Britain. While Germany inflicted more losses initially by damaging British battlecruisers, the British Grand Fleet remained intact and able to continue its blockade of German ships. Though tactically more successful, Germany's navy failed to break the British blockade and suffered a strategic defeat, as Britain maintained naval dominance for the rest of the war.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    67 views2 pages

    All About History - The Battle of Jutland

    Uploaded by

    128931095123
    The Battle of Jutland was a major naval battle between British and German fleets in World War 1. The battle resulted in a strategic victory for Britain. While Germany inflicted more losses initially by damaging British battlecruisers, the British Grand Fleet remained intact and able to continue its blockade of German ships. Though tactically more successful, Germany's navy failed to break the British blockade and suffered a strategic defeat, as Britain maintained naval dominance for the rest of the war.

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    of 2

    The First World War

    THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND


    A strategic victory for the British WED 31 MAY 1916

    Jellicoe and Beatty

    Naval historian Andrew Gordon has


    characterized Beatty as an aggressive
    “ratcatcher”, prepared to take risks, and
    decentralize authority to subordinates who had
    to use their initiative, and Jellicoe as a
    “regulator”; a risk-averse, bureaucratic, micro-
    managing commander, the product of a pre-war
    culture of complacency. After Jutland, Jellicoe
    (above) moved up to become First Sea Lord, the
    professional head of the Royal Navy. Beatty
    replaced him in command of the Grand Fleet.
    ABOVE: The British fleet before the Battle

    F
    or years before 1914, there had been of Jutland.
    expectations of a “New Trafalgar”, a
    RIGHT: Commander of the cruiser squadron, Vice-
    decisive clash in the North Sea between Admiral Franz Ritter von Hipper.
    the British and German battlefleets. In reality,
    FAR RIGHT: Admiral Reinhard Scheer.
    although both navies wanted battle, both
    BELOW RIGHT: The British battle cruiser HMS
    behaved with caution. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, Queen Mary explodes, after the chamber of the ship
    the Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand is hit.
    Fleet, was, in Churchill’s later words, “the only
    man on either side who could lose the war in an He sent out Vice-Admiral Hipper’s battlecruisers
    afternoon”. The British had the upper hand in (ships that were as heavily armed as battleships,
    the surface war, and to retain it merely needed but faster, having less armoured protection)
    to keep the Fleet intact so that it could blockade towards the Skagerrak, the straits separating
    Germany and bottle up the German navy. Norway from Denmark. The plan was to lure the
    However, it was hoped to ambush the German British into action by offering up an apparently
    High Seas Fleet and thus bring on a battle with unsupported target, but then to bring his
    the odds stacked in the Royal Navy’s favour. battleships into action.
    The Germans, with fewer ships, had a very Room 40, the British Admiralty’s decoding
    similar strategy, of seeking to defeat fragments section, was able to read German signal traffic,
    of the British fleet and gradually wear down its and thus warned, the Grand Fleet set sail
    strength. Neither side was prepared to risk its four hours before Scheer. However, a mistake
    precious dreadnoughts in a major fleet action. resulted in Jellicoe being led to believe that the
    Nearly two years of the two fleets tiptoeing main German fleet was still in harbour at 12.30
    around each other and engaging in minor p.m. As a result, he failed to make haste.
    clashes came to an end on 31 May 1916. Vice- Vice-Admiral David Beatty’s Battlecruiser
    Admiral Reinhard Scheer, appointed in early Fleet of six battlecruisers made contact with
    1916, continued with the basic strategy, but the destroyers supporting Hipper’s fleet of
    brought more vigour to the German campaign. five battlecruisers at 2.20 p.m. The German

    82
    The Battle of Jutland

    battlecruisers manoeuvred to the south-east and him. Although a third British battlecruiser, victorious and the British were disappointed.
    headed towards Scheer’s battlefleet, followed by Invincible, was sunk, it was the Germans’ turn But strategically, which is what mattered, the
    Beatty. The British got much the worse of the to disengage, only to turn back, and run the British were the clear victors. The Germans had
    subsequent action. HMS Indefatigable and HMS gauntlet of British fire. The second withdrawal failed to inflict a decisive defeat on the Grand
    Queen Mary both exploded and sank, and three was covered by a salvo of torpedoes fired by Fleet; the German navy was as securely bottled
    other ships were damaged. Although pummelled light vessels. Controversially, Jellicoe ordered up in the North Sea as before; and Jellicoe’s
    by British guns (Von der Tann had two turrets the fleet to turn away from the torpedoes, thus fleet remained substantially intact, the ultimate
    put out of action), none of Hipper’s ships were allowing the German ships to escape. guarantor of the security of the British Isles.
    sunk. Had not an error delayed four fast British Tactically, the Germans were more successful
    battleships into coming into action, the result at Jutland, as the British called the battle: ABOVE LEFT: A German warship firing.
    could have been very different. for the loss of one battlecruiser (Lützow), one
    ABOVE RIGHT: “Situation in the morning, 9.17
    Around 4.30 p.m., Scheer’s battleships old battleship, four light cruisers and five hrs.” A contemporary painting by Claus Bergen,
    showing the sea battle at Skagerrak.
    came in sight and Beatty disengaged, with destroyers, they had inflicted losses of three
    the Germans following up. Unexpectedly, battlecruisers, four armoured cruisers and eight BELOW: Admiral Beatty’s battle cruiser squadron
    regarded themselves as the élite of the Royal Navy,
    Scheer found Jellicoe’s battleships waiting for destroyers. In morale terms, the Germans felt but had mixed fortunes at the Battle of Jutland.

    83

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