Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland, known in Germany as the Battle of the Skagerrak (Skagerrakschlacht), was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. It was fought on 31 May–1 June 1916, in the North Sea near Jutland, the mainland of Denmark. The combatants were the Kaiserliche Marine's High Seas Fleet, commanded by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, and the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe.

Background

Naval tactics in 1916

The general idea was that a fleet approaching battle should be in parallel columns moving in line ahead, as in this formation a fleet could maneuver with relative ease. Several short columns could change their heading faster than a single long column while maintaining formation. Also signals made with flags or searchlights from the flagship (usually placed at the head of the center column) could be seen by many ships. In a single column it would often take 10 minutes or more for a signal to be passed from the flagship at the front of the column to the last ship at the end, since smoke from the funnels often made it impossible to identify signals on ships behind the one directly ahead or behind, so every ship had to repeat the signal for the following one to understand. The time required for this was often doubled as most signals had to be confirmed by every ship before they could be executed.

Related Topics:
Flag - Searchlight

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For the actual battle the fleet would deploy into a single column by the leading ships of the columns turning 90 degrees to port or starboard, the remaining ships following their leaders in succession, the column being formed at right angles to the original line of advance. To form the column into the right direction the fleet had to know from which direction the enemy was approaching before he could be seen by the battleships, as this maneuver took longer than two fleets heading towards each other at high speed needed to come within fighting range. It was the task of the scouting forces, consisting of battlecruisers and cruisers, to find the enemy and report from where he approached in time and if possible deny the enemy's scouting force to obtain the same information.

Related Topics:
Battleship - Battlecruiser - Cruiser

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Ideally the line of battleships would cross the path of the enemy column so that the maximum number of guns could be brought to bear, while the enemy could only fire with the front turrets of the leading ships. Carrying out this classic maneuver of "crossing the T" was largely a matter of luck; more likely would be a heavy exchange between two fleets on roughly parallel courses.

Related Topics:
Gun - Turret - Crossing the T

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German plan

The German naval strategy, according to Scheer, was:

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:to damage the English Fleet by offensive raids against the naval forces engaged in watching and blockading the German Bight, as well as by mine-laying on the British coast and submarine attack, whenever possible. After an equality of strength had been realised as a result of these operations, and all our forces had been got ready and concentrated, an attempt was to be made with our Fleet to seek battle under circumstances unfavourable to the enemy.

Related Topics:
German Bight - Mine - Submarine

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Since in 1916 the High Seas Fleet had only 18 battleships to the Grand Fleet's 33 and the Germans were falling increasingly further behind as the war progressed, there was no chance of defeating the British in a head-to-head clash of battleships. Instead, they planned to divide and conquer: by staging raids into the North Sea they would lure out small British squadrons which could then be attacked and destroyed. The plan for May 1916 was to station a large number of U-boats off the British naval bases and lure Beatty's battlecruiser squadrons out by sending a fleet under Hipper to raid the coast of Sunderland. After attrition from the submarines the British would be drawn by Hipper towards the German dreadnoughts under Scheer and destroyed.

Related Topics:
U-boat - Sunderland

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British response

The British intercepted and decrypted a German signal on 28 May ordering all ships to be ready to put to sea on the 30th. Further signals were intercepted and although they were not decrypted it was clear that a major operation was likely. The Grand Fleet of twenty-four dreadnoughts and three battlecruisers left Scapa Flow under Jellicoe before Hipper left the Jade Estuary on 30 May. Beatty's force of four dreadnoughts and six battlecruisers left the Firth of Forth on the same day, and Jellicoe's intention was to rendezvous ninety miles (145 km) west of the Skagerrak off the coast of Jutland and wait for the Germans.

Related Topics:
28 May - Dreadnoughts - Battlecruiser - Scapa Flow - Jade Estuary - 30 May - Firth of Forth - Skagerrak - Jutland

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The fleets

During the battle the actual force under Jellicoe was twenty-eight dreadnoughts and nine battlecruisers, while Scheer had sixteen dreadnoughts, five battlecruisers and six obsolete pre-dreadnoughts. The British were superior in lighter vessels as well. In terms of weight of broadside the British had an advantage of 332,360 lb (151 tonnes) against 134,216 lb (61 t).

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This British superiority was countered by certain technical factors: German gunnery was more accurate, in part because the British had adopted an inferior firing control design; German ships had thicker armour against torpedo attack and more water-tight doors; German armour-piercing shells were more effective than the British shells; and, vitally important, the British cordite propellant was oversensitive, and their magazines were not well protected. The British also suffered from exceptionally poor communication between their ships.

Related Topics:
Gun - Firing control - Armour - Water-tight door - Armour-piercing shells - Cordite - Propellant - Magazine

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