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.

The battlecruiser action

The German submarines were completely ineffective; they did not sink a single ship and provided no useful information as scouts. Jellicoe's ships proceeded to his rendezvous undamaged but misled by Admiralty intelligence that the Germans were nine hours later than they actually were.

Related Topics:
Scout - Admiralty - Intelligence

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At 14:20 on 31 May, scouts from Beatty's force reported enemy ships to the south-east; British light units, investigating a neutral Danish steamer which was sailing between the two fleets, were finding German scouts engaged in the same mission. Beatty moved to cut the German ships off from their base. The first shots of the battle were fired when Galatea of the British 1st Light Cruiser Squadron mistook two German destroyers for cruisers and engaged them. Galatea was subsequently hit at extreme range by her German counterpart, Elbing, of Rear Admiral Bodicker's Scouting Group II.

Related Topics:
31 May - Steamer - ''Galatea'' - Cruiser Squadron - Destroyer - ''Elbing''

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At 15:30, Beatty sighted Hipper's cruisers moving north-west (position 1 on map). Hipper promptly turned away to lead Beatty towards Scheer. Beatty, some three miles (5 km) from Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas's 5th Battle Squadron, turned to the enemy and signaled by flag for the 5th Battle Squadron to follow. Given the distance and visibility, the 5th could not read the flag signals; and as Beatty made no effort to communicate via light signal or radio telegraph, the 5th continued on its original course for several minutes. At 15:45, after having the German ships within range for over ten minutes, and with both fleets roughly parallel at 15,000 yards (14 km), Beatty opened fire simultaneously with Hipper (position 2). Thus began the opening phase of the fleet action, known as the "Run to the South".

Related Topics:
Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas - 5th Battle Squadron - Light signal - Radio telegraph

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Instead of engaging in a line, one British ship engaged with one German, a mistake on the British part. Derfflinger was left unengaged and free to fire without disruption while Lützow drew fire from two battlecruisers. The Germans drew first blood. Hipper's five battlecruisers promptly registered hits on three of the six British battlecruisers; nearly 10 minutes passed before the British managed to score their first hit. The first near-disaster of the battle occurred when a 12 inch (305 mm) salvo from Lützow wrecked "Q" turret of Beatty's flagship Lion. Dozens of crewmen were instantly killed, but a far larger catastrophe was averted when Major Francis Harvey of the Royal Marines, the mortally wounded turret commander, ordered the magazine doors shut and the magazine flooded, thereby preventing the fickle propellant from setting off a massive explosion. Lion was saved, but Indefatigable was not so lucky. At 16:00 she was smashed aft by three 11 inch (279 mm) shells from Von der Tann, causing damage sufficient to knock her out of line; but not realizing this, Von der Tann landed another 11 inch (279 mm) salvo on one of her 12 inch (305 mm) turrets at near-maximum range. The plunging shells easily pierced the armour, and, with no time for the heroics that saved Lion, Indefatigable was ripped apart by a magazine explosion, sinking in moments with all but two of her crew of 1,019 officers and men (position 3).

Related Topics:
''Derfflinger'' - ''Lützow'' - Flagship - ''Lion'' - Francis Harvey - ''Indefatigable'' - ''Von der Tann''

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The odds had been evened to Hipper's benefit, but not for long. Evan-Thomas had finally brought up his squadron of four "super-dreadnoughts" — fast warships of the Queen Elizabeth class armed with 15 inch (381 mm) guns. With 15 inch (381 mm) shells landing on his ships and unable to respond effectively at long range with his smaller guns, Hipper was in a tight spot; but he knew Scheer's main body was fast approaching and his baiting mission was close to completion. The battlecruiser action intensified again: at 16:25 Queen Mary was hit by what may have been a combined salvo from Derfflinger and Seydlitz, and she too disintegrated in a magazine explosion with all but nine of her 1,275 man crew lost. Viewing this debacle, Beatty noted "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today" to his flag captain (position 4).

Related Topics:
''Queen Elizabeth'' class - ''Queen Mary'' - ''Derfflinger'' - ''Seydlitz'' - Flag captain

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At about 16:30, the Southampton of Beatty's 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron led by Commodore William Goodenough sighted the main body of Scheer's High Seas Fleet, dodging numerous heavy-caliber salvos to report the detailed strength of the Germans: sixteen dreadnoughts with six older battleships. Simultaneously a destroyer action raged between the battlecruiser fleets as British destroyers meleed with their German counterparts and managed to put a torpedo in Seydlitz. The destroyer Nestor, under the command of Captain Bingham, sank two German torpedo boats, the V-27 and the V-29, before she and another destroyer, the Nomad, were hit and abandoned as Scheer's dreadnoughts sped by. Beatty decided to head north to draw the Germans towards Jellicoe and broke contact with the Germans at about 16.45 (position 5). Beatty's move towards Jellicoe is called the "Run to the North." Because Beatty once again failed to signal his intentions adequately, the super-dreadnoughts of the 5th Battle Squadron found themselves lagging behind the battlecruisers and heading directly into the mass of the High Seas Fleet. For a period they had to fend off the lead German dreadnoughts and Hipper's battlecruisers on their own. Malaya sustained heavy casualties in the process, but the 15 inch (381 mm) fire of the British ships remained effective, causing severe damage to the German battlecruisers (position 6).

Related Topics:
''Southampton'' - Light Cruiser - Torpedo boat - ''Malaya''

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Jellicoe was now aware that full fleet engagement was nearing, but had insufficient data on the position and course of the Germans. Rear Admiral Horace Hood's 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was ordered to speed ahead to assist Beatty, while Rear-Admiral Arbuthnot's 1st Cruiser Squadron patrolled the van of the main body for eventual deployment of Jellicoe's dreadnought columns. Around 17:30 the cruiser Black Prince of Arbuthnot's squadron, bearing southeast, came within view of Beatty's leading 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron, establishing the first visual link between the converging bodies of the Grand Fleet. Simultaneously the signals cruiser Chester, steaming behind Hood's battlecruisers, was intercepted by the van of the German scouting forces under Rear-Admiral Bodicker. Heavily outnumbered by Bodicker's four cruisers, Chester was pounded before being relieved by Hood's heavy units which swung back westward for that purpose. Hood's flagship Invincible disabled Wiesbaden as Bodicker's other ships fled toward Hipper and Scheer, mistakenly believing Hood was leading a larger force of British capital ships from the north and east. Another destroyer action ensued as German torpedo boats attempted to blunt the arrival of this new formation.

Related Topics:
Rear Admiral - Horace Hood - Cruiser - ''Black Prince'' - ''Invincible''

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