The Battle of Jutland (May 31 - June 1, 1916) - The largest naval battle fought in the North Sea during the First World War, where the British and German fleets met in a general battle.
The largest naval battle
The great battles of the First World War, which claimed millions of lives, took place on land. The Marne, Verdun, the Brusilov breakthrough determined the fate of this war. However, there is one battle in the history of the First World War that stands out. This is the Jutland Naval Battle, commonly referred to as the Battle of Jutland for short. This is the only major battle of the fleets during the war; moreover, it was and remains the largest naval battle in world history.
At the same time, the Battle of Jutland itself was of considerable importance and seriously influenced the course of the war. So, its consequence was the unlimited submarine war declared by Germany at the beginning of 1917, which, in turn, led to the entry of the United States into the war. The consequences of this are well known.
Background
At the beginning of the war, the British fleet blocked the exit from the North Sea, interrupting the sea supplies to Germany of raw materials and food. The main military operations at sea consisted in the attempts of the German fleet to break the blockade, and the British one to prevent this breakthrough. In 1916, the German fleet tried to break the blockade with the main forces, which led to its collision with the main forces of the British fleet near the Jutland Peninsula.
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War plan at sea
The plan of the commander of the German High Seas Fleet, Admiral Scheer, proceeding from the plan of war at sea, was to use demonstrative actions of battle cruisers in the Skagerrak to cause one of the large formations of ships of the British fleet to go out to sea, and then intercept and destroy it with the main forces. To avoid a meeting with the entire British fleet at its bases, 22 German submarines were previously deployed in positions with the task of reconnaissance and weakening of the enemy when his ships left the bases.
But the German submarines were unable to fulfill their task. On May 30, the British command learned from the intercepted radio messages about the impending exit to the sea of the German fleet. This enabled the commander of the British Grand Fleet, Admiral Jellicoe, to take the necessary countermeasures. According to his plan, the main forces of the English fleet were to enter the Skagerrak Strait to meet the enemy and destroy him in a general battle.
1) Admiral Reinhard Scheer; 2) Admiral John Rushourt Jellicoe
Balance of forces
The British fleet consisted of 28 battleships, 9 battle cruisers, 8 armored cruisers, 26 light cruisers and 79 destroyers; German - 22 battleships, 5 battle cruisers, 11 light cruisers and 61 destroyers. The British had a significant superiority in forces. The weight of the side salvo of their ships was almost 2.5 times greater than that of the German ships. The British battleships also outnumbered the German battleships in speed, but were inferior to them in armor and survivability.
The course of the battle
The German fleet began deployment at dawn on 31 May. The first to go to sea was the vanguard formation of Admiral Hipper, which consisted of battle cruisers, which were escorting light cruisers and destroyers. Behind him, at a distance of 50 miles, were the main forces of the German fleet. Hipper's compound was to show up off the coast of southern Norway before dark, then cruise to Skagerrak throughout the night and join the main force by noon the next day. But at about 2 pm Hipper's ships saw the vanguard of the British fleet in front of them.
The Jutland naval battle began at 14:30. On May 31, with the battle of the vanguards of the battle cruisers, during which the Germans were able to sink 2 battle cruisers, which exploded and sank - mainly due to insufficient protection of the battle cellars and the crew's careless handling of cordite. The Germans were also able to direct the English vanguard to their main forces. Due to the lack of intelligence, the commanders of the fleets did not know the actual situation.
The main stage of the battle
The English vanguard, finding itself in front of the main forces of the German fleet, began to withdraw, and the German fleet, pursuing it, did not know about the presence of the entire English fleet at sea, and soon found itself in front of its main forces. The main stage of the battle began at 15:48. at a distance of about 80 cables. The opponents opened fire almost simultaneously. But in the British squadron under the command of Beatty, due to poorly organized communication in the distribution of targets between the ships, confusion occurred, as a result of which the German cruiser Derflinger was out of fire and could fire on British ships with impunity.
The position of the British was further complicated by the fact that, having incorrectly determined the initial distance of the battle, they could not aim for a long time, and their first shells fell with long flights. German ships, which were in a more advantageous position, were able to take aim fairly quickly. This led to the fact that at the first stage the losses of the British were much more serious.
Departure of the squadron. The pursuit
Soon the German battleships of the main force entered the battle, and Beatty began to withdraw the squadron. Hipper, not even waiting for the connection with the main forces, rushes in pursuit. Beatty, however, was able to break away. Meanwhile, the main forces of the two mighty fleets, hardly knowing it, were approaching each other. Scheer had never imagined that the entire Grand Fleet had gone out to sea. Of course, the Germans were not ready for a clash with the entire British fleet.
In pursuit of the Beatty compound that was retreating to the north, the German High Seas Fleet at 18:20. came into combat contact with the main forces of the British fleet. The British opened intense fire from a distance of 60 - 65 cables. Only when he was under fire from the Grand Fleet, Admiral Scheer realized that he had entered the battle with the main forces of the enemy.
Withdrawal of the German fleet from the battle
In view of the obvious superiority of the British in forces, Admiral Scheer refused to fight and at 18:35. I left the battle by turning 180º and headed south-west. The turn of the German battleships and their withdrawal from the battle was covered with a smoke screen. By the end of May 31, the German fleet was able to break away from the enemy. The subsequent night battle between the fleets was already in the nature of random and disorganized skirmishes of individual ships.
Losses
Losses in the Jutland battle were 3 battle cruisers and 3 armored cruisers, 8 destroyers, about 6,800 people killed, wounded and captured, the Germans lost 1 battle cruiser, 1 outdated battleship, 4 light cruisers and 5 destroyers, about 3,100 people were killed and wounded …
Effects. Results. Analysis
In the Jutland naval battle, the fleets of both sides did not complete their tasks. But England was able to maintain a dominant position at sea, and the German battleship stopped taking active steps. Nevertheless, both sides declared what had happened their own victory: Germany in connection with significant losses of the British fleet, and Great Britain in connection with the apparent inability of the German fleet to break the British blockade. Overall, this battle worsened Germany's position. It became obvious that in open sea battles the German fleet could not compete on equal terms with the English. The High Seas Fleet did not actually take part in hostilities anymore.
The opponents adhered to the outdated linear tactics. The cumbersome wake columns turned out to be inconvenient for the conduct of combat, they made it difficult to massively use fire weapons and fettered the initiative of the squadron commanders. The battle showed an increased role in the battle of light forces, but they did not have the proper organization of interaction. For the first time, daytime torpedo attacks were widely used, but they were carried out by single torpedoes, from long distances, without the support of the attacking ships by other forces and were ineffective. This battle showed a great dependence of the course and outcome of the fleet's combat operations on the state of reconnaissance, flexibility and firmness of control of the main forces of the fleet. It also marked the final collapse of the idea of a "general naval battle" as the main way to achieve the goal of armed struggle at sea.
A. Domanin