Jutland, the greatest naval battle of the First World War, had all the ingredients to be a great British naval victory, but in the event the result was much less clear-cut. The recently appointed commander of the German High Seas Fleet,Reinhard Scheer, had a policy of making sorties against the British coast and the main British battle fleet, atScapa Flowin the north of Scotland under the command of Admiral Jellico,were unable to intervene. Scheer was determined to break the North Sea dominance by the British. At the end of May, Scheer sortied with the entire High Seas Fleet, expecting that the only serious threat he would meet wasAdmiral Beatty'sbattle cruiser squadron based on the Forth.Intelligence meant the Royal Navy knew he was coming and theBritish Grand Fleetwas already at sea when the High Seas Fleet sailed.
Both fleets sailed in a similar formation, with a scouting squadron of battle cruisers sailing ahead of the main battle fleets. The first phase of the battle came when Admiral Beatty, commanding the British battle cruisers, encountered their German equivalent underAdmiral Hipper and chased them south towards the main
German fleet.
The second phase saw Beatty flee north, pursued by the German Dreadnoughts. So far, both sides thought the battle was going to plan, however both the Indefatigable and the Queen Mary were sunk. Now in the third phase the Germans, thinking themselves involved in a chase that would end with the destruction of the British battle cruisers, found themselves under bombardment fromJellicoe'sbattle fleet, which they had thought to be too far north to intervene.
The heavy British guns quickly forced Scheer to order a retreat, but Scheer made what could have turned into a grievous error, turning back, hoping to pass behind Jellicoe and escape into the Baltic.
However, Jellicoe had slowed down and the German fleet found themselves crossing in front of the British fleet and, in ten minutes of gunfire,suffered twentyseven heavy hits while only inflicting two. Once again Scheer ordered a retreat.
Finally, in the last phase of the battle, in a night of intense fighting, the retreat of the German battleships was covered by their lighter ships, while Jellicoe lost ground after turning away to avoid a potential torpedo attack. The High Seas Fleet eventually making the safety of harbour under cover of darkness.
The Germans lost 11 ships and 2551 men, while the British lost 14 ships and 6049 men.However, many of the surviving German heavy ships had suffered serious damage.
Jutland was the last, and largest, of the great battleship battles. Never again did battle fleets meet in such numbers. While the Royal Navy suffered more losses, the battle effectively ended any threat from the High Seas Fleet, which now knew it could not contest control of the North Sea with the Royal Navy.
The great fleet whichKaiser Wilhelm IIhad been obsessed with, and which had done so much to sour relations between Britain and Germany, had proved to be a blunted weapon. Despite that, the battle disappointed in Britain, where news of a new Trafalgar had been expected and the hard-fought draw at Jutland was not appreciated until much later, while the Kaiser claimed a German victory.
