Jutland! Who did win?
Disclaimer: the action is, essentially, written from a British perspective. I would welcome other view points readily… This has always fascinated me!
The Battle of Jutland (Skagerrak)
One of the greatest sea battles of all time which still leaves people arguing – who won…?
During the build up to WW1 one arms race came to dominate all others. Britain had, for many centuries recognised the value of controlling the seas and had fought off the Spanish, Dutch and French in pursuit of that goal. Two dangers lay on the horizon Germany and America. Both threats and both building up fleets that would rival the legendary Royal Navy.
Both Britain and America had, at the turn of the century hit upon the idea of the all big gun battleship and a race began to build the first one, HMS Dreadnought was born and was so revolutionary that she gave name to a new class of warship.
At a stroke all previous battleships were made obsolete. In a similar way HMS Warrior rewrote warship design, Britain had made useless the bulk of her battle fleet. Suddenly the odds were even...
Britain and Germany set about constructing a battle line which would be awesome in firepower. America, safe in isolation pursued a similar policy.
Britain, under Admiral Fisher’s keen, if at times flawed, leadership also developed another class of warship, the battlecruiser. The first one launched – HMS Invincible had a potentially similar effect with the cruiser. Indeed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands (a revenge for the Battle of Coronel), British battlecruisers did what they were designed to do, hunt down cruisers and wipe them out with superior firepower. Fisher’s dream was vindicated – or so it seemed…
Both fleets were fairly well matched, ship for ship, but the Royal Navy was larger. German ships tended to have thicker armour but mounted less powerful guns.
By the time WW1 started Fisher had departed the scene. Other characters were to play a part. At Jutland, four stood out (with supporting people, for example Hood).
Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe
Born in 1859, Jellicoe was Britain's best-known Admiral at the start of the war. By the time of Jutland he had control of the Grand Fleet. A cautious man, he worked with Fisher in modernising the navy prior to 1914 and was seen as Fisher’s natural successor. He was criticised heavily for the battle, unfairly in my humble judgment. His deployment of the fleet into battle was flawless and he outmanoeuvred Scheer twice, as we shall see later. In the end he was poorly served by both equipment and other officers.
For further reading, here’s a good source.
Sir David Beatty
At Jutland, Beatty commanded the British Battlecruisers had had the most powerful battle squadron assigned to his control too, the 5th Battle Squadron, made up of the brand new Queen Elizabeth fast battleships.
Winner of a previous battle, the Dogger Bank , Beatty was a confident commander who was unlucky not to inflict severe damage to the Germans battlecruisers.
A complete contrast Jellicoe, Beatty was a dashing man who was not afraid to take risks. Extremely popular, he ended up replacing Jellicoe in command of the Grand Fleet. Despite taking heavy losses he did what was asked of him – deliver the High Seas Fleet to the Royal Navy.
For further reading, a good start is here.
Reinhardt Scheer
Scheer, like his contemporise, was born midway through the 19th century (1863). He was a firm believer in the use of submarines and became well known in the strategic use of these still unproven craft. He often lured British surface units into areas where submarines were operating, this met with some success.
He intended to try and reduce the disparity in numbers and then deliver a knock out blow in a decisive action. He was considerably more aggressive than his predecessor, Hugo von Pohl, and was appointed commander of the High Seas Fleet in January, 1916
For further reading, a good start is here.
Franz Von Hipper
Born in the same year as Scheer, Hipper was incharge of the scouting element of the High Seas Fleet. He was, as a result placed in command of the German battlecruisers.
By this time Hipper had acquired the nickname ‘baby killer’ for his raids on Scarborough. These raids stung the British and the result was, eventually, the Battle of the Dogger Bank. Here he met and was defeated by Beatty.
An almost calamitous battle, this turned into a silver lining as design flaws (which both fleets shared, paradoxically) were picked up and solved. The result was bitter for the British in the end…
Like Beatty, Hipper’s role in this battle was to deliver part of the Grand Fleet into the arms of the Scheer. This he managed with aplomb. His performance was excellent in this battle.
The Battle itself…
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The Grand Fleet was based at Scapa Flow, in the Orkneys; this enabled Germany to be blockaded. Beatty’s battlecruiser squadron was based in the Firth of Forth to protect the eastern coast of England from German raids. The date is May 30th, 1916.
Scheer’s plan was to bring out parts of the Royal Navy and crush them in detail. Hipper was sent into the Skagerrak and threatened patrols in the area. Radio traffic alerted the British to this development. Beatty sailed forth, Jellicoe followed. The pieces were being manoeuvred into position for a meeting that was rather unexpected by both sides.
Scheer has planted many submarines outside the British bases but in the end they were for nought and both British fleets slipped out of harbour unmolested - crucially, Scheer was not aware that the entire Grand Fleet had set sail. To compliment this, though, the Admiralty sent word to Jellicoe that the High Seas Fleet was still at harbour in Willhelmshaven. The result of this error was to undermine Jellicoe’s faith in intelligence and also to underestimate German strength. He stationed the fleet to cover Beatty rather than sail directly to battle.
The Battle itself started off as a meeting engagement. Light forces on both sides fired and called in reinforcements. Both Hipper and Beatty could not believe their luck. Beatty, ever the hasty commander, raced ahead of the 5th Battle Squadron to engage the German Battlecruisers. The German’s had the advantage of the light and the Lion, Princess Royal and Tiger had been hit. Due to errors, one German battlecruiser, Von Der Tann was unengaged for over 10 minutes.
One hit struck Lion’s midships ‘Q’ turret and it was quickly flooded to prevent a catrastrophic explosion. The British were about to learn the dangers of using battlecruisers, something the Germans had already done…
Within a few minutes 2 shells from Von der Tann struck Indefagitable. A huge orange flame ripped the ship apart. Everyone was stunned. At about this time, the 5th Battle Squadron arrived and started to hit the German force, but to no avail. Concentrated fire on the Queen Mary caused a result that was not too unfamiliar. Cordite had set off the magazines and, like Indefagitable, the Queen Mary was no more.
Destroyers, so often forgotten participants in many battles were also skirmishing. One managed to torpedo the Seydlitz. There was little discernable effect.
Hipper was playing his hand brilliantly. He was defeating a much more powerful force AND luring them into Scheer, who was steaming north to intercept.
Out of the haze that often covers the North Sea, British units began to notice the long battle line of the High Seas Fleet. Beatty signalled for his fleet to turn north – towards Jellicoe. Alas, no one bothered to tell the 5th Battle Squadron
Now this was the most powerful squadron afloat in the world at that time. Armed with the brand new 15” guns (which are widely regarded as some of the best ever mounted on a battleship), these ships blindly carried on until they too came up to Scheer’s force.
Wheeling north, they were subjected to a barrage of shots, one was hit and the steering was jammed. One of the newest ships of the Royal Navy, HMS Warspite, was, alone, facing the entire German fleet, 9 miles long. In an incident that became famously known as ‘Windy Corner’ her crew fought valiantly to release the rudder as shells poured down on her. She was hit thirteen times, after two turns, she managed to steer away from the fleet.
At this time remaining Beatty’s surviving battlecruisers were reinforced with those from Jellicoe’s fleet. Hood was in command of three battlecruisers – the Invincibles. They carried on the duel with Hipper’s battlecruisers and the Invincible managed to hit the Lutzow 8 times. The odds were shifting… Suddenly the Invincible, like other ships, broke in two. Her magazines exploded and an orange flame shot into the air. Hood was one of those killed. Many British ships did not realise what had happened and as they sailed past many cheered thinking it was one of the enemy. Lutzow could not keep up and Hipper transferred his flag at this time.
His timely, if fatal, arrival gave Jellicoe the time he needed to deploy the fleet. A box of ships began to string themselves out into a line only 5 miles long. Scheer was still not fully aware of what was out there. The advantage was with the Royal Navy now. In this deployment Jellicoe managed to achieve every admiral’s dream – the crossing of the ‘t.’ His battle line blossomed and shell began falling on the shocked lead units of the High Seas Fleet. Scheer, only had one option – one of the hardest manouveres was attempted and achieved with aplomb. The entire German battle fleet broke off behind a smoke screen. Only one unit, the Falmouth, noticed this manoeuvre but didn’t report it.
Jellicoe had lost his prize…
About 10 minutes later, Jellicoe changed course to pursue. Astonishingly he achieved that most prized of positions again. Crossing one’s ‘t’’ is a nightmare for any admiral at that time. Scheer desperately ordered his battlecruisers to charge while the rest of the battle fleet broke off.
Supported by destroyers Hipper charged and then broke off. The cautious Jellicoe, facing destroyers in poor light withdrew slightly.
Evening was approaching and night fighting was the last thing he wanted. He organised his fleet with the cruisers and destroyers at the back and stationed it to resume battle the next day.
Scheer, had few options. Stay for the next day and his fleet would surely be annihilated… A night time break for home was the only option available to him.
Scheer dashed through the rear of Jellicoe’s lines. Destroyers and cruisers were no match for battleships. Crucially Jellicoe was not informed until it was too late. Scheer brilliantly broke through and raced for home. Only one major unit was lost in this dash – the Pommern, but this was a ‘pre dreadnought.’ Eventually the Lutzow sunk too and the Seydltiz, severely damaged, settled on the bottom of the harbour. She was raised and carried on serving the HSF until after WW1.
Seydlitz after the battle.
One curious aspect of the battle consists of the aftermath. Germany was quick to claim a victory (after all they had caused more casualties) and released a communiqué to that effect. As Jellicoe hadn’t written a report on the battle, the Admiralty released the communiqué, a shocking decision and one that devalued the British achievements. After all, they held the battlefield and Germany never risked a sea battle on this scale again. The mutiny of the HSF was a crucial factor in the fall of the Kaiser.
Further reading:
Kipling's account for the Telegraph
Jellicoe's account of the battle
Scheer's account of the battle
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Originally Posted by Ahlerich
