The Royal Navy had established a blockade of the North Sea at the start of the war and the German Hochseeflotte could not match the larger Grand Fleet. The German plan was to use the threat of an attack by their battlecruisers on British ports to lure the British battlecruisers into a trap where they could be defeated by a superior force of battleships without encountering the rest of the Grand Fleet. Aware of all German naval movements, the British fleet sortied to support their battlecruisers and bring the German fleet to battle. [1]
In the event, although more British ships were sunk or damaged, the overall strategic situation was unchanged.
Summary
Ships present
Warships by number and size of main armament
Royal Navy
Imperial German Navy
Dreadnoughts
28 in total
8 × 15-inch
2 × Revenge class (28,000 tons displacement, 21 knots top speed)
26 × light cruisers 79 × destroyers (including one destroyer-minelayer)
11 × light cruisers 61 × torpedo boats
British capital ships carried a larger weight of broadside—332,360 lb (150.76 t) compared to 134,216 lb (60.879 t)—than the German ones.[2]
The German Navy's torpedo boats were of similar size and function to the destroyers in the Royal Navy, and are often referred to as such.[citation needed]
Admiral Sir John R. JellicoeThe dreadnoughts King George V, Thunderer, Monarch, and Conqueror of the 2nd Battle Squadron in 1914Battleship King George V, at anchorThe battleship Agincourt was originally under construction in UK for the Brazilian Navy but then bought by the Ottoman Empire; at the start of the war it was taken into service with the Royal Navy.
Grand Fleet
Began sortie from Scapa Flow 9.30pm 28 May[4]
The Grand Fleet[5][6] was the main body of the British Home Fleets in 1916, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth in Scotland.[c]
The Faulknor-class flotilla leader (a larger destroyer) Tipperary was sunk on the night of 31 May–1 June taking 150 crew and flotilla captain John WintourAcasta-class destroyer Spitfire after having been rammed by the German battleship Nassau during the Battle of JutlandFaulknor-class flotilla leader Broke at speedDestroyer AmbuscadeC-class (Cambrian subclass) light cruiser CastorThe bow and stern of the battlecruiser Invincible standing upright on the bed of the North Sea after exploding during the Battle of Jutland. Rear Admiral Hood and her captain were killed along with the crew.
Rear Admimral Hood, commander of the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron, was killed during the battle along with all but six of the crew when HMS Invincible exploded
This squadron, temporarily attached to the Grand Fleet from the Battle Cruiser Fleet, was stationed ahead of the main body, with the intention that it join Beatty when the action began.
Rear-Admiral The Hon. Horace Hood, (KIA)
VAdm Sir David R. BeattyBattlecruiser Lion, VAdm Beatty's flagship, heavily damaged at the Battle of JutlandBattlecruiser Queen Mary exploding, 31 May 1916
This force of high-speed ships was subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, but operated independently as an advanced guard, intended to reconnoiter the enemy fleet and to engage enemy scouting forces. At its core were six battlecruisers, accompanied by 13 light cruisers, and escorted by 18 destroyers and an early aircraft carrier.
[r]
Sortied from Firth of Forth soon after 6.00pm 30 May[4]
Vice-Admiral Sir David Richard Beatty in HMS Lion
HMS Morris: Lt Cdr Edward Sidney Graham (from 10th D.F.)
5th Battle Squadron
RAdm Hugh Evan-ThomasThe Queen-Elzaabeth-class battleship Barham, Rear Admiral Evan-Thomas's flagship, at Scapa Flow in 1917
The 5th Battle Squadron was a special unit of fast Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, intended to act as the vanguard of the main battle line. At the Battle of Jutland, it operated with the Battlecruiser Fleet, and was escorted by the 1st Destroyer Flotilla.[w]
Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas
Sortied from Firth of Forth with the Battle Cruiser Fleet soon after 6.00pm 30 May
Vizeadmiral Franz HipperThe battlecruiser Lützow, Vizeadmiral Hipper's flagshipBattlecruiser Derfflinger firing a full broadsideSeydlitz took a tremendous amount of damage during the battle. It was able to detach from the battle but was on point of sinking when pump steamers saved it
It is perhaps significant that all [British World War I] losses in big ships (Audacious, Indefatigable, Invincible, Queen Mary and Vanguard) were finally due to internal explosions, whereas no large German ships were lost from this cause.
— H.M. Le Fleming, Warships of World War I (1961), p. 37
During the battle the Germans used the Zeppelin airships of the Naval Airship Section (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung) for scouting, although in the prevailing overcast conditions they were not particularly successful.
The commander of the Naval Airship Section was KorvettenkapitänPeter Strasser, and they flew from bases at Nordholz and Hage in north-west Germany and Tondern (then part of Schleswig; the town became part of Denmark in 1920).
Sortied on 31 May
L.9: KptzS August Stelling (Army Officer, on the inactive list)
^Canada was being built for the Chilean Navy but purchased for the Royal Navy at the start of the war.
^ In the First World War, German officers ranks were slightly higher in status: both Kapitän zur See and Fregattenkapitän were considered equivalent to a Captain in the Royal Navy; Korvettenkapitän was equivalent to a RN Commander; and Kapitänleutnant and Oberleutnant zur See to an RN Lieutenant (there was no German equivalent of a RN Lieutenant-Commander).[3] To avoid ambiguities (e.g. "Capt" could mean Kapitän zur See or Fregattenkapitän), the NATO system is employed.
^2nd Battle Squadron, 1st Cruiser Squadron and most of the 11th Destroyer Flotilla were at Invergordon, the remainder at Scapa Flow.
^The 2nd Cruiser Squadron had just absorbed Minotaur, Hampshire and Donegal from the disbanded 7th Cruiser Squadron on 30 May 1916. Did not sail: HMS Achilles (Captain F. M. Leake) which was in dock, and HMS Donegal (Capt. W. H. D'Oyly) which was on convoy escort duties in the Atlantic
^The Navy List over 1914–1923, and the London Gazette in 1916 (announcing his CB)[citation needed] give his name as "Cloudesley Shovel" but earlier and later editions of the Navy List, his service record, and some editions of the London Gazette give it "Cloudesly Shovel" and the probate records for England and Wales have "Cloudesley Shovell"[citation needed]. His obituary in The Times[7] gives his name as Arthur Cloudesley Shovel Hughes-D'Aeth
^These did not form part of the line of battle; Abdiel was attached for tactical minelaying and Oak as a tender to the flagship. In addition the seaplane carrier HMS Campania: Capt Oliver Schwann sailed from Scapa Flow at 0130 hrs, 31 May, but was too slow to catch the fleet and was ordered to return at 04:30 hrs 31 May; and the kite balloon tender HMS Menelaus, Cdr C. W. N. McCulloch, did not sail[citation needed]
^all I-class destroyers, except Ophelia, attached from 4th Destroyer Flotilla.
^Also known at different times during the war as Cruiser Force A, and the Battle Cruiser Force. At the time of Jutland, British battle cruisers were organized in three squadrons of three ships each, plus a fleet flagship. One of these Squadrons, the 3rd, was temporarily detached to the main body of the Grand Fleet. In addition there were three light cruiser squadrons and the 13th Destroyer Flotilla assigned (augmented at Jutland by additional attached destroyers). The Battle Cruiser Fleet was based at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, Scotland.
^HMAS Australia, the usual flagship of Rear Admiral Pakenham, was in dock at HMNB Devonport following repairs from a collision with New Zealand in April
^The 9th Destroyer Flotilla was part of the Harwich Force; this group of six destroyers were attached to the Battle Cruiser Fleet at the time of Jutland, and sailed under this designation with the organization given below.[12]
^HMS Queen Elizabeth: Capt. G. P. W. Hope was being overhauled at Rosyth and did not sail
^ Did not sail: SMS König Albert: KptzS Thorbecke (condenser breakdown), SMS Bayern: KptzS Max Hahn (new construction, working up at Kiel), tender SMS T.39.
^ Did not sail: SMS Berlin: FKpt Hildebrand, at Wilhelmshaven; and SMS Brummer: KptzS Wilhelm Schulz, at Kiel.
^Flagship of the Leader of U-Boats: ‘‘KptzS’’ Hermann Bauer, attached to the 4th Scouting Group for tactical purposes.
^German torpedo boat flotillas typically comprised two half-flotillas of five vessels each, plus an additional vessel for the flotilla commander. The boats were given numbers sequentially based on the order in which they were built. In addition, each boat had an initial letter denoting its builder: V for the Vulcan works at Stettin, S for the Schichau Works at Elbing in East Prussia, B for the Blohm und Voss Works at Hamburg, and G for Krupp's Germania Works at Kiel. All but one of the boats that fought at Jutland belonged to the number series than began with SMS V1 in 1911 (only SMS V189 belonged to the earlier series). Boats numbered 1-24 were of the 1911 Type[17] and served in the 5th and 7th Flotillas; boats numbered in the range 25-95 were of the 1913 Type[18] and served in the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th Flotillas. The vessels in the 2nd Flotilla were of a special large type built in 1914-15 and designated Torpedobootzerstörer ("torpedo boat destroyers")
.[19]
^ Attached to the 4th Scouting Group for tactical purposes.
^Did not sail: 2nd Half-Flotilla (2. halbsflottille), consisting of SMS G192: OLtzS Mewis, SMS G195: KptLt Mickel, SMS G196: KptLt Frhr von Seld, SMS G193: KptLt Oswald Paul and SMS S165: OLtzS Johannes-Henning Schneider, all under the command of FKpt Hans Kolbe.
^Did not sail: SMS V190: Lt(Reserve) Bon-Ed, and SMS G197: KptLt Crelinger.
^Did not sail: SMS V74: KptLt Günther Ehrlich, and SMS G85: KptLt Hans Herbert Stobwasser.
^ Groos, Jutland Dispatches, Anlage 6./7. states KptLt Otto Karlowa in SMS S54 was the leader of the 6th Half-Flotilla on 30 May 1916; however from the narrative (Groos, Jutland Dispatches, p.304) it is clear that Riedel in V48 led the half-flotilla during the battle until the vessel was sunk in action and he was killed; the Second World War destroyer Z6 was named in Riedel's honor.[20]
^SMS G172 did not sail as was refitting, SMS V186 sailed, but returned to port prior to action.
^Raeder later became head of the German navy of the Weimar Republic and then Nazi Germany. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946
^Did not sail: SMS Graudenz: KptLt Beucer, under repair at Wilhelmshaven, and SMS Stralsund: ‘‘KptzS’’ Weniger, in dock at Kiel.
^ Attached to the 2nd Scouting Group for tactical purposes.
^Did not sail: SMS S49: KptLt Bauftaedt and SMS V43: KptLt Carl.
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