ABOUT THE AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS MARK STILLE (Command er, United States Navy, retired) received his BAin history fro m the University of Mary land and also holds an MA from the Naval War College. He has worked in the int elligence community for 30 years , including tours on the faculty of the Naval War College, on the Joint Staff and on US Navy ships. He is currently a senior ana lyst working in the Washington DC area. He is the author of numerous Osprey t itles, focusing on naval history in the Pacific, and also of sever al wa rgames .
IAN PALMER is a high ly experienced digita l artist. A graduate in 3D des ign, he cu rrentl y works as Art Direct or for a leading UK games developer. Besides his art ist ic int erest s he is also a keen musicia n and moto rcyc list. He lives in Surre y wit h his wife and daughte r, and two cats .
RITISH DREADNOUGHT
GERMANDREADNOUGHT JUTLAND 1916
HOWARD GERRARD studied at t he Wallasey School of I freelance des igner and illustrator for over 20 years. HI of publishers and is an associate member of the Guild won both the Society of British Aerospace Companies Sword Trophy and has illustrated a number of books fe and works in Kent.
MARK STILLE
l
pub lished in C rear Britain in 20 10 by Os prey Publish ing,
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lishers. :IP catalogue record fo r this book is available from the British Library. 'I
ISBN: 9781 84908 167 2
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by Sand ra Sho trcr
CONTENTS
(set in fTC Co nduit and Ado be Garamo nd )5
by Boun fo rd.com
;i nat ed by PD Q Digital Med ia Solut ions ted in C hina through Bookbui lders II 12 13 14
Introduction
4
Chro nology
8
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
rey Publ ish ing is suppo rting the Woo d land Tru st, the UK's leadin g woo dland .ervarion charity, by funding the dedicatio n o f trees.
Design and Development
10
The Strategic Situation
28
Technical Specifications
34
The Combatants
46
Combat
S3
Statistics and Analysis
71
Aftermath
76
Further Reading
78
Index
80
no wl edg em ent s
author wou ld like
10
thank th e sraff of the Naval H istory and Heritage
imand Photographi c Sect ion (forme rly the US Naval H istor ical Center) for . assistance in procuring the photographs used in this book. Special thanks go (eirh Allen and friends who graciously reviewed the (ext and clarified many nical poi n ts fo r the autho r. icat io n
boo k is ded icated to Bill Karwacki
Conqueror was a powerf ul ship
with a balanced , impressive appearance . Shown here before the war, her foremast was shortened and the torpedo nets removed before Jutl and. She served in the Grand Fleet throughout the war and was scrapped in 1923.
INTRODUCTION squad rons of eight ships each along with two fleet flagships and four reserve battle ships. T his dram atic Ge rma n decision to challenge Britain's naval supremacy Since 1805 , the Royal Navy had reigned supreme on the world's oceans. Though th is supremacy was challenged at tim es, by the turn of the 20th century the Royal Navy was f.1cing its most serious challenge in some 100 years. T his challenge came in th e form of a united Germa ny and its growin g industrial strength. As the two most powerful industrial powers in Euro pe, Germany and Britain were engaged in trade com petition; by the turn of the century thi s com petition was beginning to take a more alarmi ng turn in the form of a naval rivalry. With its global empire and worldwide tradin g int erests, Britain needed a large navy to maintain its position and power. What concerned the British was the developm ent of a sizeable navy by a continental power with no naval tradition and, seemingly, no need for such a force. T he reasons why Germany became a mar itime power remain controversial even tod ay. Many in Germany felt that a great power, as German y was becomi ng, had to possess a stro ng navy to bolster its statu s and to support and defend its trading int erests. T here is also evidence that the drive for a powerful navy had its root s in Ge rma n internal politics. When the Stat e Secretary of the Im perial Naval Offic e, Admiral Alfred von Tirpirz, began to agitate for a large navy he found fertile ground and a large degree of support.
not only put the Royal Navy on noti ce, but changed the direction of British foreign policy. In order to maintain its com mandi ng naval position and contai n Germany, the British abando ned th eir po licy of isolation. From 190 2 to 1907 , agreeme nts were reached with Japan, France and Russia. T hus, when an event in Euro pe set off the powder keg between the two opposing power blocks, the British were virtually ensured of being dragged in against Ger ma ny.T his consequence was the tru e legacy of T irpirz's desire to build a large fleer. As T irpirz's dr eam of a large Ger man Navy was gaining favour in his homel and , the Royal Navy was undergoing a transform ation , led by the cont roversial First Sea Lord , Admiral of th e Fleet Sir John Fisher. As the Royal Navy's leader from 1904 to 1910 , Fisher oversaw its transfo rm at ion from the com placency of the world's dominant peacetime navy, to a force ready to conduct mod ern war. He dir ected that large numbers of obsolete warships be scrapped and that the fleet be concentrated in home waters to oppose the growing German fleet. T he most dramatic of Fisher's plans was the int roduction of a new type of warsh ip based on his conc epts of an all-big-g un warship. T his ship, nam ed Dreadnought, was so revolut ion ary that Bell erophon wa s a virt ual
repeat of Dreod nought. Armour wa s act ually weaker,
In 1897, Tirpitz outlined a plan to increase the size of the German Navy to provide political and military leverage against Ge rmany's most dangerou s enem y, Britain. The goal for 1905 was to possess a fleet of 19 battleship s. T his force was the so-called 'risk fleet' - a fleet powerful eno ugh to act as a deter rent against a Briti sh attack, by threatening the Royal Navy with such severe losses that it wo uld lose its maritime supremacy. If the British were allayed by Germa n promises that this fleet was purely defensive, there was no doubt about th e purpose of the Second Ger man Naval Law of June 1900. T he law pro vid ed for a fleet of 38 battl eships, organized into four
but one impro vement was to move the for emast in front of th e forw ard smokestack, reducing smoke interference in th e gunn ery control posit ion. She ser ved the ~l
ent ire war ass igned to the Grand Fleet and was sold for scrap in 1922 .
5
Naval balanc e, August 1914 Britain
Germany
Dreadnoughts
it m ad e ever y o the r battl esh ip obsolete. II was also a
cha nces th at an enemy would be b rou ght to battle. By th e 20 th century, however,
controversial mo ve in Britain, as it wip ed awa y the Royal
new naval technologies had m ad e a close blockad e too da ngerous. T he introduction
Navy's existi n g adva ntage in battl eships and levelled th e
of m in es an d to rpedoes aboard submarines , to rpe do boats and destroyers m ade it too
playing field , th us providing th e
erma ns with a chance to
dangero us to m aintain large units close to ene my nava l bases. Briefly, the Royal Navy co nsidere d th e use of an 'observational blockade' centred on a point in th e No rt h Sea
In s ervice:
22
15
catch up . T he advent of Dreadnought was followed by Fisher's
Under construction:
13
5
pet project, the bartl ecru iser, whi ch co m b ine d th e hitt ing
halfway between Ge rmany and Britain , b ut even th is was d ismisse d as im practical.
power of a bat tleship and the spee d of a cru iser. T he cos t of
W hen th e Brit ish d eclared war o n Germa ny in Aug ust 191 4, th ey put in p lace a
thi s com bination was a relative lack of armou red p rot ection ,
distant blockade w ith th e aim of co ntrolling th e exits from the North Sea. T he G rand
Battlecruisers In ser vice:
9
3
Under constru ction:
1
3
Pre-dreadnoughts
40
22
wh ich Fisher, in co rrectly, believed cou ld be com pensated for
Fleet was cha rged to co nduct freq ue nt sweeps in to the No rt h Sea to keep the Germa n
with superior speed . T he result of Fisher's revolu tio n was that
fleet in port an d to assert co ntro l of th e wa te rs. T he C ha n nel Fleet , based aro und a
th e stre ng th of any navy was now m easured in te rm s of the
number of p re-dread nou ghts, bloc ked th e English C ha n ne l. C ru isers pat roll ed th e
number of dr eadnou gh ts it po ssessed . All battl eships des igned
area fro m th e She tlands to th e N o rwegian coas t.
befo re Dreadnought we re consid ered as 'pre- dread n ough ts' and we re no lon ger fit for duties wi th th e m ain battle fleet.
T he G erm an s were co unting o n th e British to try to impose a close block ad e of th e Heli goland Bight. T he intention was that if the Royal N avy app eared close to Ge rma n
Fishe r was willing to take th e risk of radi cally changing th e naval balance with the
bases, U-boats, torped o craft and extens ive m in e ba rra ges wou ld infli ct losses on th e
introduction of Dreadnought because he calculated th at British sh ipyards could out-
numerically superior Briti sh unti l the Germa n heavy uni ts co uld engage th e G rand
build any rival. Fishe r was cor rect in thi s belief. By th e start of th e wa r in August 191 4 ,
Fleet at equal streng th. Even if th e Royal N avy did not atte m p t a close blo ckad e, th e
th e Royal N avy had established a firm su per ior ity, as dem on strated by th e table above.
Ge rmans bel ieved tha t th e British wo u ld still co m m it light forces to wa tch th e Hel igoland Bight, and tha t th e Royal N avy wo uld be forced to sup po rt these forces. T h is situation wo u ld still offer the Ge rma ns ample opport u nity to arrrite the Gra nd Fleet unti l th e od ds had been evened . In the event th at th e battleshi ps of th e Gra nd
NAVAL STRATEGY IN 1914
Fleet remai ned n ear Scapa Flow (their ma in naval base) on di sta nt blockad e, th e Ge rmans felt th ey did no t have su fficient strength to attack them at that locatio n.
For both Britain and Germa ny, co ntro l of the North Sea was vital. After all th e d rama
T h is outcome is actually what happen ed whe n wa r began - the Grand Fleet went to
an d expense of th e great naval race between the two countries, the co mmanders of
its blockade sta tion at Scapa Flow and no ligh t un its were commi tted to watch the
both navies expec te d a t itan ic naval clash shortly afte r war was de clared. Yet the
Germa n bases o n th e Hel igoland Bight. T he German naval staff had no pla ns to deal
strategies on bot h sides ensure d th at such a clash between dread nough ts would not
with thi s eventua lity.
occ ur for two years, and th en by accide nt.
T he co m ma nde r of th e G rand Fleet, Admi ral Sir John je llicoe, realized tha t he had
Traditionally, th e Royal N avy preferred to in st itute a close blocka de of its
a signi ficant ad vantage in d read n ou ghts over th e Ge rmans, but was wo rrie d abo ut
o ppo ne nts to ensure that Brit ish sh ip ping was undisturbed , and to ma ximi ze the
wha t he perceived as a critical Ge rma n adva ntage in destroyers, as well as th e mine and U-boat threat . T hese dan gers reinforced his determination not to take th e Grand Fleet too close to Ge rm any's North Sea bases. T he com m ande r o f th e Ge rma n Hi gh Seas
Rheinl and ente red serv ice
in April 1910 and is pict ured
Fleet was under orders from th e Kaiser not to risk th e fleet un less there was th e likelihood of victo ry. Such an op po rt u n ity could on ly exist if the G rand Fleet had
here soon afterwards.
already su ffered attrition o r if th e Ge rma ns found an o pportu n ity to en gage ju st a
At Jut land, she was hit by a
portion of th e Briti sh warsh ips. W ith both sides relu ctant to co m mit thei r m ain fleets
sing le secondary gun round
in any th ing bu t favoura ble circu ms tances, and both sides unli kely to bel ieve th at a
and repa ired in under two weeks. She was later heavily damaged afte r running
given sit ua tion was favo urable anyway, a majo r clash between fleets was go ing to be a m atter of accide nt, not design.
aground off the Finn ish coast in April 1918. The vessel was laid up as an accommodat ion sh ip before being turn ed over to th e Allies in 1920 and
6
scrapped in 1921.
?
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT ADVENT OF THE DREADNOUGHT O n 2 October 190 5, a revolutionary new wars h ip was laid down in Po rts m outh, England . T he ship was launched in an incre dible fo ur months an d was com pleted and ready to com mence sea tr ials in an eq ually remarkable spa n of 365 days. T he ship, name d H MS Dreadnought, was so advanced th at she immediately rendered every \
o the r existing battl eship obso lete. W hat mad e th is shi p so rema rka ble? Most significant, Dreadnoughtwas th e first 'all-big-gun' ship. Previou s battl eships carried an
Accompanying th e advent of the Dreadnoughtwas the introduc tion of Fisher's pet
array of weapons, usua lly a m ain battery of 12in guns supported by several ot her
project, th e battl eship- cru iser. These ship s, eventually know n as bartlecru isers, also
The 13.5in guns aboard
Emperor of Indio, shown here. were formidable weapons.
batteries of lesser size. Because actio ns were conducte d at fairly short ran ges, th e
feat ure d an all-big-g un arm ament and the new steam turb ines. T he princi pal
sma ller guns sup po rt ing th e slow- firing main guns were pe rfectly ade quate for
diffe rence between th em an d a drea dno ught was the provision of a lighter scale of
penetrati ng th e more lightl y armo ured areas of an enemy battleship. Yet as improved
armour pro tection . This red uced weight burden , combined wi th the tur bi nes, gave
a maximum of 23,800 yards.
fire-control proce dures pu shed engageme nt ranges out farther, th e effectiveness of the
t he new ba tt lecruisers a several kno t speed advantage ove r dre ad nought s and all
Awell-trained gun crew could
sma ller guns began to di m in ish . Additiona lly, fire control was actua lly made more
armo ured cru isers of the day. The extra speed, Fisher believed , wo uld act as a measure
fire almost two rounds per
difficult by the imp ossibility of distinguishing th e splashes of th e 12in gun s fro m any
of prot ection . T he batrlecru isers possessed the pace and armament to hunt down
of the ship's othe r guns.
an d destroy the most powerful armo ured cru isers of th e period, whi le their speed
T he mer its of th e all-big-gun ship were obvious not only to th e British. T he Italians
gave them the o ption of wit hdrawing from action against a d read nou gh t with
and th e Ame ricans were also exploring this concept, and th e US Navy had already
superior armame nt . This premise, however, was forgo tte n by bo th sides during the
design ed and been autho rized two all-big-gun battleships earlier in 1905. However,
war, when the bat tlecru iser was for ced to engage ship s eq uipped with heavy
th e Royal Navy under the energetic an d far-sighted Fisher was the first to take action
armament. Give n th e bartlecruiser's inferio r pro tec tion , the results were predictable.
At 20 degreeselevation. they could th row a 1,4001b shell
minute.
with th e constructio n of Dreadnought. Fishe r orde red that the new stea m turbi ne powerplant, still not per fected, was also placed on Dreadnought, giving her a speed of 10
2 1 knots an d making her the fastest battleship in th e wo rld at th e rime,
11
The main st ay German
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
1 ,
dreadnou ght weapon was the 12in gun mounted in double turret s, as seen here on
Dreadnought designs are a fine balance between several competing factors. The
Kaiser before t he out break of
foremo st of these are firepower, protection and propulsion . Each facto r carries with
wa r. The max imum elevation
it weight and cost considerations. In general, British d readno ught designs tended to
of the t urret was 13.5 degrees , whic h gave a
stress firepower. British bat tleships carried larger guns than their German counterparts,
maximum range of 21,0 00
giving th em grea ter firepower. Conversely, Ge rma n battl eship design ers tended to
yards. Aft er Dogger Bank , th e
em phasize protection at th e expense of firepower. A major facto r in the competing
Germans began a progr amm e of inc reasin g the elevat ion of
efforts to provide adequate protection was that after a certa in point in the dreadnought
the ir 12in t urrets to 16
race it was dictated to Royal Navy designers th at an inc rease in beam was not possible
degrees , which tr anslated to
due to the size of existing dry docks to accommod ate the ship s. The Germans had no
a maximum range of 22,300
such restr ictions. T heir battl eship s possessed a greater beam th at in turn allowed for
yards. By Jut land, however,
increased pro tect ive measures, which included greater subd ivision and the inclusion of tor pedo bulkh eads.
only Prinzregent Luitp old had been so modifi ed. The hoists in Germa n tu rret s were fast er than th ose in Brit is h turr ets, so th e rate of fire for German
FIREPOWER
turrets appro ached th ree rounds per m inute.
The mainstay British naval weapon at the start of the dreadno ught era was th e 12in gun, dating back to 1893. In orde r to improve the mu zzle veloc ity, range and penetration of th is weapon , its barrel length had been expanded from 35 calibre to 50
advoca ted tha t cap ital ships sho uld mou nt an all-big-gun arma ment. T he Iro n D uke
calibre. At longer ranges, however, it was found that the latest versions had accura cy
class was th e first to use a Gin gun secon dary armament, and this weapo n becam e
problems. T he high mu zzle velocity also had the effect of increasing wear and tear on
standard on all subsequent design s. The G erm an Navy adopted th e 5.9in gun as their d read no ught secondary arm ament from the start.
the barrel, thus reducing gun life. To solve this problem, the Royal Navy went to the 13.5 in gun beginning with the O rio n class of d readn ou ghts. Most imp ortantl y, this gun provided for a much larger shell with imp roved penetration. The larger shell and increase in bore also permi tt ed a lower m uzzle velocity, which made for much greater accuracy and less barrel wear. T he fin al developm ent of Royal Na vy pre-w ar dreadnought arma ment was the prod uction of a 15in gun. Its combination of reliability and accuracy made it on e of th e best large guns ever developed by the Royal Navy. Because the m uzzle velocity was compara tively low, the barrel life was also o utstanding. T he Ger ma n Navy's first d readn ou ghts used an 11in gun th at possessed a high mu zzle velocity and thu s outstan ding range. It fired a relatively sma ll shell, however,
and part of her 5.9in
introd uced a slightly larger 12in gun. They clung to the 12in shell even as the British
casemate-moun ted second ary
moved on to th e 13.5in and fina lly a 15in shell, preferring the greater rang e and
armame nt . Ostjriesland was
pen etr ation against the higher barrel wear and red uced accuracy.
perhaps th e most well-known
oppo nents, this was not the case for the seconda ry armament. T he Royal Navy used
1-
overhead shot present s a fine view of her main armam ent
which limited its pe netration. In their seco nd class of dreadno ughts, the Germans
Altho ugh Briti sh dr eadnou ghts carried a larger main gun th an th eir Ge rma n
14
OSlfrie sl and in 1920 under American cont rol. This
German dreadnought because of th e series of test s she endured in 1921. After being
4in guns from Dreadnought up through the King George V class. These were m uch
hit by 80 bombs of var ious
criticized for being inadeq uate to dea l with th e growi ng size of torpedo boats and
sizes and 24 she lls, she was
destroyers. T he Royal Navy was un able to get a larger seconda ry armament due to the increased costs of mounting a Gin gun battery, and th e views of Fisher who had
finall y sunk by Colonel Billy Mitchell on 21 July 19 21 by six large bombs.
15
officer provided better solutions. A much superior system, the Argo Clock, was available
FIRE CONTROL
before the war, but was rejected. Event ually, th e Argo system did find its way aboard a
The true measure of a battl eship's effectiveness is not the size and number of its gun s, but its ability to hit its target. At short rang e, a shell follows a flat trajectory, wh ich
few dreadnoughts, and at least four ships were fitted with it at Jutland . T he Royal Navy used a system of centralized fire cont rol, whi ch relied on a cent ral
redu ces the fire-control problem of co mpe nsa ting for th e roll of th e ship while
director, usually fitted in th e fo retop , that enabled all th e ship's guns to be trained, laid
po inting th e gun at th e ta rget. As th e ran ge of guns continued
increase, th e
and fired from a single position. T he training angle and elevation for th e guns were
importance of effective fire co nt rol over great er distan ces was magnified. At lon ger
tran smitted electronically from th e director to each of th e turrets, where th e desired
ranges, the trajectory of the shell increases and a nu mber of factors affect the accuracy
settings were laid automatically by th e control systems in th e turret.
to
of gunnery. By the outbreak of war, the Royal Navy had devised a very elaborate
The Germ an s did not develop such a so phisticated approach to fire control, a
system of fire co nt rol. The basis for long-rang e fire was th e use of a rangefinder to
situa tio n easily explained by the Ge rmans' int ention to fight at relatively sho rt ranges.
measure th e d istanc e from a gun to its target. The sta ndard Briti sh battl eship
H owever, at Jutl and, the German fire control system proved at least as effective as th e
rangefinder was th e 9ft-l on g coinc ide nce rangefinder developed by Barr and Stro ud.
British system. T he Germa ns relied on 9ft lOin range finde rs, which like th ose of th e
It was technicall y capable of providing ranges within 85 yards at 10,000 yards. As was later evidenced at Jutland, however, the accuracy of the rangefinder was much reduced
ad opted a ste reoscopic ran gefinder and introduced a Dumaresq eq u ivalent that
in service due to light refraction and the heating of the rangefinder tube.
British , were mounted on each turret and in th e bridgewo rk. In 190 8, th e Ge rma ns provid ed target deflection. The Ge rma n fire control system was very dependent on
A rangefinder pro vided onl y th e tru e ran ge, howeve r, not the gun ran ge, which
the skill of th e arti llery officer to estim ate range rate. O n Ge rman battl eship s, fire was
need ed to include the distance s of target m ovement and ow n ship's mov em ent.
co ntrolled from the armo ured co nn ing towe r, where th e art illery office r took orde rs
Factoring in all these variables provid ed what is known as the range rate. To do this, the
from th e ship's commanding officer and spo tted th e fall of shot. T he director-po inte r
Royal Navy adopted an analogue computing device (known more commonly as the
system in th e gunne ry co nt rol tower genera ted a training angle for th e turrets, but each turret was laid and fired individually.
Dumaresq, after its inventor) , which helped compute and check the range rate against other data. The range rate information was tran smitted to guns electromechanically by means of a Vickers receiver-transmitter, which eq uipped all ships after Dreadnought. In 1912, th e Admiralty adopted the Dreyer Table to pro vide a fairly com prehe nsive
PR OTECTION
approach to fire control, allowing operators to visually compare ranges reported by
By 1905 , th e state-of-the-a rt battl eship armo ur was Krupp cemente d plate armo ur.
rangefind ers to a continuously evolving estim ate of the range bein g sent to the gun s.
At this tim e, norm al battl e ranges were assessed to be at 6,000 yards, and lon g-ran ge
Unfortunately for the Royal Navy, the Dreyer Tab le was unable to contend with rapid
engagements maybe o ut to 10,000 yards. At both th ese ranges, th e shell of a high-
changes of range rates, and pre-war exercises had demonstrated that a skilled gunnery
velocity gun would strike its target's sides. For this reason, a dreadn ou ght 's arm our was con centrated on its main belt on th e hull. Weight pen alties made it imp ossible to
Collingwood under const ruction befor e her launch on November 1908. She was part of the thi rd 8riti sh class of dreadnoughts, but off ered lit tl e impro vement over
16
Orion show ing her two
Dreodnought. This view
forward 13.Sin gun turrets.
shows her stern torpedo tub e.
Jus t aft of these is t he heavi ly
Both th e Brit ish and Germans
armoured conning tower fr om
thought th at batt leship -
whi ch the ship would fight
launched torpedoes would
and navigate in batt le. The
be pote nt weapons in a
foremast is pos iti oned aft
dreadnought duel, and both
of the smokes tack, showing
retained t hem throughout the
t he obvi ous problems its
war. In practi ce, th ey proved
occupants wou ld enco unte r
utterly ineffective. Also not e
fr om smo ke in many wind
th e recess in th e hull where th e
condit ions.
belt armour would be fitted .
17
extend the main belt over the ship's entire length or up the entire heigh t of the hull,
to overheat when run at high speeds over a sustained period, primarily because of
so it was situa ted along the waterline to guard th e shi p's vital areas. In practice, thi s
difficulties with effective lubricati on. Additionally, vibration at high speeds was a real
di stribution meant that it exte nded from the forward-most turret to th e m ost aft
probl em. T he stea m turbine offered many pot enti al adva ntages (see below), but in
turret, providing protection for the magazine s and propulsion spaces. T he armo ur
1905 it remain ed an unproven technology, o nly being first used o n a ship in 1897. T he Royal Navy's decision to use turbi nes on D readnought was a bold on e.
above th e main belt was tapered and was prim arily int ended to prov ide protection against high-exp losive shells - th e effect of these shells against unarmoured parts of the ship was shown to be devastating in th e Russo-Japanese wa r of 190 4-05. Both British and Ge rma n battl eship s were well protected from heavy shell imp acts
T he introduction of turbines offered consid erab le weight advantages . For example, o n Dreadnoughtthe weight savings amo unte d to some 1,000 ton s d irectl y and indi rectly, we ight th at could be devoted to add it io nal arm ou r or guns. In
at what was con sidered normal battle ranges, but as a matter of course German main
service, th e turbine proved more reliable th an reciprocating machinery and gave th e
belts were thicker tha n British one s. Since it was believed tha t heavy shells wou ld not
ship the abi lity to stea m at higher speeds for lon ger distances. Yet early turbines had
have th e trajectory to strike the ship's hori zontal areas, deck armour was comparatively
problem s du e to th e different ro ta tiona l speed requirem ents of th e turbines and th e
light, sufficient to pro vide prot ectio n against splinte r damage from shells bursting
prop ellers. Tur bines wo rk mo st efficiently at high er rot at ion al speeds co ntrasted to
above. Later, wh en better fire control allowed for great er engagement ranges (10,000
prop eller s th at work better at lower rotati on al spee ds . When th e turb in es we re
yards and beyond) , the trajectory of shells was steeper, wh ich meant that it was the
attached to the propellers by direct drive, th is resu lted in lower top spe ed s and
deck s of the ships being stru ck, not th e sides. Both British and Ge rm an ships lacked
in creased fuel consumption. The introd uction of gear ed turb in es solved th ese
adeq uate deck armo ur against heavy shells. The adve nt of reliabl e tor pedoes and th e threat of m ine s dem anded th at early
problems, but th is solutio n was not used o n dr eadnou ghts until afte r t he wa r. Ano ther problem was appare nt only after the sta rt of th e war, whe n d read no ugh ts
dr eadnought design s provide ade q uate protection below the waterline . For th e tru e
were more frequently run at high speeds. Such usage caused the brass seawa ter pip es
vulnerability of early dread no ughts was not again st she llfire, but against underwater
in the condenser to leak, th us allowing saltwate r int o the feed water. This effect was
dam age. T his was especially tru e with British dr eadnoughts, which lacked ad eq uate
kn own as 'im pingem ent' and remained a problem th rou gh out th e wa r - during th e
protecti on from torpedoes, a fact th at helped shape British tacti cs at Jutl and .
first part of th e wa r, d readn ou ghts of both sides were placed out of action by thi s
D readnought was de signed with o n ly a thin pro tective screen covering her magazines and shell rooms. The first Germ an dr eadnoughts, in contrast, were fitt ed
m ech ani cal failure. In co nt rast to Briti sh sh ips, Ge rma n ships used sma ll-t ube
wit h a co ntin uo us 1.25in anti-torpedo bu lkhead that protected all her vita l belowdeck spaces. In th eir seco nd class of d readnought, th e British enhanced underwater
to extra protection , but Briti sh tur bin es and large-tube boilers proved to be very reliable in serv ice.
protection by extendi ng the screen over all vit al spaces in a com para ble manner to
D ur ing th e war, th e design of later dr eadn ou ghts featured the use of oil fuel in
boil ers and lighter materials. The extra space and weigh t savings cou ld be devot ed
the Germans. Yet from the Co lossus to Iron Duke classes, th e British reverted to
preference to coal. The advantages of oil were obvious. Wh en burned fully, oil provides
the use of screens covering on ly the magazine spaces. T he Queen Elizabeth and
30 per cent more heat per pound tha n coal. Operat ion ally, the use of oil suspended
Februar y 190 6, Dreodnoug ht
Revenge classes we re fitted wit h anti-to rpe do bulges, which were design ed to
th e need to re-coal every few days, a messy pro cedure. Refuellin g with oil, by
revoluti onized naval warfar e.
detonat e th e to rp ed o as far as possibl e from th e sh ip's internal bulkhead s wh ile
com parison, was mu ch faster and easier. Beginning with th e Queen Elizabeth class,
also pro viding protecti on from splinte r dam age. The provision of a bul ge, whe n
all British dreadnou ghts were oil-fired . T he Ge rma ns d id not int rodu ce th eir first oilfired dreadn ought until th e Bayern class.
properly designed, provided a h igh level of protection again st the small torpedo
When launched on 10
There were several weakn esses to her design, but her overall capabilities made previous batt leship s obsolete.
warheads of th e day, and was the equal of German underwater protection. Both the Royal Na vy and the G erma n N avy also atte m p ted to provid e underwat er prot ection with elaborat e subdivision sche mes . In th is area the Ge rma ns were more successful, since their sh ips had wid er beam s and closer subd ivisio n requirem ents. Even subdivision, however, had its limi ts, as the pum p ing and d rainage systems that passed tho ugh bu lkh ead s still permitted the ent ry of floodwater when th ey wer e broken.
•
PROPULSION Prior to D readnought, th e ma in propulsion systems in battleships involved 18
recipro cating machinery. T he issue with reciproc ating machin ery was th at it tended
19
r
Temeraire pict ured before th e war. Built to a modif ied
+
Dreadn ought design, she sti ll employ ed an awkward main battery layout , using wing turrets. Present at Jutl and, she played only a minor part. She was later sent to Turkish waters in 1918, before being
Following th e completion of D readnought in Octo ber 190 6, the ship ran trials for ano ther six months. H er design, and her un proven steam turb ines, proved to be a comp lete success. Now th e Royal Navy q uickly had to build a lead in d read no ught nu mbers. Fisher incl ude d plans for four sister ships for Dreadnought in the 1906 budget, but onl y three were approved . T hese shi ps, kno wn as th e Belleroph on class, had less main belt armo ur th an Dreadnought, but had bett er subdivision. In addition, th e more effective 4in gu n replaced the 3in gun as the ship s' secon dary battery. The Admiralty again asked for four dreadnough ts in 1907 , but once more on ly three were
scrapped in 1922 after a brief
approved . T hese becam e th e St Vincent class, but th ey were essent ially repeats of th e
period as a cadet ship.
D readnought design . The o nly significan t differen ce was th e provision of a new develop ment of the 12in gun with bett er per forma nce . The fourth ship req uested in 1907 was act ually postpon ed to 1908 and was completed to a mo dified design . T his ship, N eptune, featured a new layout for its ten 12in guns, designed to imp rove the broadside firepower. Instead of the wing tur rets on Dreadnought, Nep tune was fitte d with th e two m iddl e turrets in a stagge red arrangement that permitted each to fire crossdeck in a broadsi de. Neptunealso featured th e first use ofsuperfiring turrets. The two additiona l d read nou gh ts approved in 1909 were built to a simi lar desig n to N eptune an d featured the use of the staggered or
ROYAL NAVY DREADNOUGHT DESIGNS
'echelon' turret arra ngeme nt ami dshi ps. In service, however, thi s design was not practical and was not repeated. T hese ships also carr ied a heavier main armour belt,
In gene ral, it is accurate to say th at the Royal Navy placed more im po rt ance on
but underwater protection was infer ior beca use of the deletion of torpedo bu lkheads.
re-building a commandi ng nu merical lead over its nearest dr eadn ought competitor
Also approved in 1909 was the first of the 'super- dreadnough ts', so called because of
Thunderer was th e last ship
th an o n producin g ships of great qu alit y. W he n co m pa red with Germa n
th e move up to a 13-5in gun. Orion was th e first ship to car ry the new weapo n. Also
laid down of the Orion class of
dr eadn ou ghts, British shi ps did not compa re well ind ividually, but any q ualitative
for th e first tim e, all five main batt ery tur rets were mounted on the cent re line, thu s ensuring maxi m um broa dside firepower.
th at all her 13.5in tur rets are
advantage the Germans may have possessed was overshadowed by the product ivity of British sh ipyards.
In 1909, the naval race betwee n Brita in an d Germany was in full swing. After the
super-dreadnoughts. Note located on t he centre line with clear arcs of fi re. At Jut land,
Brit ish govern me nt learned of th e provisio ns of th e Ger man Supplementary Nava l
she fir ed only 37 main gun
Law of 1908 , the usual pace of th ree dreadn ou ghts per year was abando ned in favour
round s. After t he war, she
of six battl eships and four battlecrui sers. The ot her three bat tleships approved in 1909 were also built to the Orion design, and were laid down in 19 10. The next two classes,
served as a cadet ship from 1921 to 19 26, before being broken up.
Hercules pictured before t he war. The booms locat ed along th e hull are for torpedo nets, but were removed in 1915 -
16. Hercules was the fir st atte mpt to break away from the basic Dreadnought desig n by abandoning the use of wing tu rrets in favour of an arra ngement where all five t urrets could fir e broadside. This layout proved a failur e in servi ce. Hercules survive d the war to go int o reserve in 1919 20
and was scrapped in 192 2.
21
l __.
.: _ ..::.::..•-:.=:-.-.
J
_ o_ _
totalling eight ships, were little mod ified from the design of Orion. Four ships of the King George V class were approved in 1910 followed by four ships of the Iron Duke class in 1911 . The Iron Dukes were fitted with th e larger 6in-gun seconda ry batt ery made essentia l by the increasing size of torpedo boats and destroyers.
Queen Elizabeth was
T he next big step in Royal Navy dreadnought design was already in the works . Approval for the Q ueen Elizabeth class was given in 191 2, and by 1913 wo rk was
Elizobeth mis sed Jutland.
begun on all five un its. All were commissioned after the sta rt of the war, yet all bu t one were present at Jutl and. W hen launched the y were beyond qu estion the most powerful ships in the world . T hey were the first British dreadn ought s to move to an oil-fired propul sion system, and with th eir more powerful machin ery they were the
serve in World War II.
t he epitome of Brit ish dreadnoug ht des ign during the war. Of the five ship s in the class, only Queen All five were modernized to
fastest battleship s of the day. Armour was also increased. Most impo rtan tly, the new 15in gun was fitted; because the weight of shell was so m uch greater than the 13.5in gun, her designers were able to move to an eight-gun batt ery instead of the custo mary ten guns. The last class of British battl eship s completed during the war were the five units of the Revenge class. T hese were plann ed to be heavily armed and armo ured 2 1-knot ships suitable for work in the North Sea. As such, they were essentially a 15in gun version of the Iron Duke class. T his intent, however, was thrown into confusion whe n Fisher retu rned as First Sea Lord in October 1914. He sto pped the construct ion of the class and decided to fit oil-fired boilers to all five ships for a maximum speed of 23 knots . T he ships were never able to achieve thi s speed , but essent ially becam e slower versions of th e Queen Elizabeth class. Three of the five ships were fitted with ant itorpe do bulges and it was found that the provision of these 6ft bu lges redu ced top speed by only less th an half a kno t. Finally, in August 1914, four dreadn ou gh ts were under construct ion in British yards for foreign navies. Two were earma rked for th e Turkish Navy and were already
23
complete. T hese were quickl y imp ounded and renamed Erin and Agincourt in British service. Chile had also ordered rwo ships and one was almos t com plete. As British relation s with Ch ile were much better than with Turk ey, these rwo Chilean ships were purchased in Septem ber 1914. T he lead ship ente red Royal Navy service in O ctob er and was nam ed Canada. T he second was completed in 1918 as an aircraft carrier.
GERMAN DREADNOUGHT DESIGN From the very start, th e Ge rma ns employed different dreadnought design prin ciples from the British. G erma n naval designers conside red th at protection was most imp ortant and th e main German naval archi tect placed em phasis on an exte nsive system of underwater protection by dividing the ship's hull into a large number of narrow, watertight compartment s. T his co nfigura tion was made possible by a large beam, which also provided a very stable gun platfo rm . T he Ge rma ns usually devoted a larger proporti on of a ship's displacement to armo ur, allowing for thicker main belts and for more of th e ship to be given some degree of prot ection . Conversely, German ships were usually less well armed than their British counterparts, partly due to weight considerations, which precluded the selection of large main guns on a design already devoting considerable weight to armour prot ection. Another reason was the German assessment that since the main battle area for their dreadn oughts was the
T he Ger mans were also slow to ado pt the steam tur bine. Because of manu factu ring difficulties and th eir un fam iliarity with the steam tu rbine, th e first rwo classes of Ger ma n dreadn ough ts retained reciprocat ing machinery. No t until 1909 were new
North Sea, where poor visibility was the norm, guns larger than 12in were unn ecessary. T hus, after the first class of dreadn ought was fitted with 11in guns, the Ger mans settled on the 12in gun for all remaining classes, until finally adapting the 15in gun for their last
German dreadn oughts fitted with turbines, but once in service such ships were easily
class built during the war.T he German 12in gun was clearly the equal to the early British 12in guns, but the Germans failed to respond in a timely mann er as the British opened the firepower gap by adopting the 13.5in and finally the 15in guns.
Deutsch land was the lead
ship in th e fin al class of German pre-dreadnoughts . Though the ir top speed was
able to meet their design speeds. Before the war, the Germans explored the possibility of fitting a 2-str oke 12,000hp di esel eng ine to d rive the cent ral shaft and thereby increase cru ising rang e, but afte r bein g tested on a single dr eadn ou gh t thi s develop ment was not pursued furt her. In general, since Ge rma n battleships were expected to operate onl y in the North Sea, endura nce was not a design emphasis. H abitabili ty was also no t em phasized, since ships wo uld not be deployed for lon g periods and crews lived in barracks ashore wh en the ship was in port.
Nassau was t he first German dreadnou ght to ente r service , in October 1909 . This starboard view shows the ship's basic layout . Designed hurr iedly as a counter to Dreadnoug ht, she mounted
two more main gun s and was slight ly bett er prot ected.
The first Germa n dreadn oughts were the four ships of the Nassau class, which were designed in 190 6 by imp roving the last of the pre-dreadn ought designs. Because of probl ems with lengthenin g shipyard slipways to build the larger ships, construction did not begin until 1907. Co mpared with Dreadnought, the first Ger man dreadn ought s possessed greater protection, but were armed with smaller guns (11in compared with l Zin) and were slower.
only 18 knot s, Scheer decided to inclu de the entire class wit h the High Seas Fleet in th e Jutl and operation. The weak underwa ter protect ion of the class was amply demonstr ated when Pommern was blown up by
124
?
sing le torpedo hit, wit h
th e loss of her ent ire crew.
The next four ships were author ized in the 1908-09 bud get, and were all laid down in 1908. T he four ships of the Helgoland class were slightly improved versions of the
Nassau with armo ur protection being increased and a larger 12in gun fitted. However, the main batt ery layout still employed the use ofwing tur rets arranged in a mann er that only eight of the 12 guns could be brought to bear broadside. T his class also retained reciprocatin g steam engines, meanin g that it was still slower than British dreadn oughts.
Kaiser, th e lead ship of the next class, was laid down in 1909 with the remaining four ships of the class laid down in 1910 . T hese were the first Germa n dreadn oughts
2S
,: /ir. ~
ABOVE The four uni ts of t he Helgoland
experime nta l d iesel engine o n o ne shaft, exceeded th eir design speed of 2 1 knot s.
class continued the German
Arm our protection was again improved until total armour reached 40 per cenr of th e
emphas is on protec tion over
ship's normal dis placeme nt. T he main battery was red uced to ten 12in guns in five
fi repower, thou gh t his class did int roduce the 12i n gun,
turrets, but th e two middle turrets were arranged in echelo n to allow them to fire
wh ich was superior to its
bro adside in eith er di rection. This layout, theoretically, increased the broadside to ten
Brit ish counter part.
BELOW
gun s, bur in pr actice it was no t a success and it was not used again. T he last dread nou ght s laid down before th e war were th e four ships of th e Konig
A Konig class unit in the perio d
class. T he first three sh ips were autho rized as parr of th e 1911 -1 2 budget, and the last
before Jutland. This class was
ship in the 191 2-1 3 budget. All were completed in 19 14 and all saw actio n at Jutland .
the first German dreadnought
to place all main batt ery turrets on t he cent re line.
26
to use stea m turbines, and all five ships of th e class, including o ne fitt ed with an
T hey possessed th e same superio r level of pro tection found on th e Kaiser class. T he main differen ce was th e placem ent of all five turrets on th e ship's centre line.
THE STRATEGIC SITUATION Wi th both fleets determin ed to accept action on ly und er £wourab le circumstances, the openi ng of the war did not bri ng th e major fleet engagement expected by many on both sides. T he Gra nd Fleet conducted regular sweeps into the North Sea, but in the absence of oppos itio n from th e High Seas Fleet, th e main enemies of British dreadn oughts becam e min es and submarines instead of Ge rma n dreadnought s. T he first action between British and Ge rma n naval forces did not occur until 28 August, when th e Royal Navy made plans to attack the Ge rma n pat rollers off H eligoland. In an actio n con ducte d in fog and haze, the Ge rmans were ini tially surprised. The commander of the Gra nd Fleet's Battle C ruiser Force, Vice-Adm iral Sir David Beatty bravely rushed in to the fight in the face of a mine and to rpedo thre at in bad weather. T he final result was the first British naval victory of the war, with three Ger ma n light cruisers sunk. The larger effect was to make th e Germans even more cautio us, and the Kaiser went as far as order ing that the commander of the Hi gh Seas Fleet gain his person al approval before committing to an ope ration that might result in a fleet engagement. Despite the Germans' reluctance to comm it the Hi gh Seas Fleet to action , they in creased submarine and minelaying operations. These paid divid ends wh en on 5 Septem ber a U-boat sank a Briti sh sco ut cru iser, and on 22 Septem ber th e old subma rine U-9 sank three armo ured cruisers in succession off the Dutch coast, with a roral loss of more th an 1,40 0 men . The power of th e subma rine was now fully evident to the Royal Navy. Furthermore, on 27 October the dread nought Audacious, out on firing practice, hit a mine off the coast of northern Ireland . T he ship sank , 28
more du e to poor dam age control than any design flaw.
T he inactivity of the Hi gh Seas Fleet did not sit well with many, amo ngst them T irpitz. H e pressed for offensive operations. T ho ugh the comma nder of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Fried rich von Ingenohl , declined to comm it his ships to combat, for reasons of mora le, some offensive action was desired. According ly, the H igh Seas Fleet's Scouting Force of bartlecruisers and light cru isers un der Rear Admiral Franz Hipper conducted a bomb ardm ent ofYarmouth on the east coast of England on 3 November. T hro ugho ut the early part of the naval war in the North Sea, the British had the benefit of a high level of insight int o Germa n naval opera tions. T he int elligence was provided by Room 40, the Royal Navy's code-breaki ng organization, named after its residence on the first floor of the old Admira lty Buildi ng. After an uncertai n start, but bolstered by int elligence windfalls (including obtaini ng the current signal book from a German ligh t cruiser that ran agro und in the Baltic), Room 40 was invariab ly able
Audacious shown sinking
on 27 October 1914, t he first British dreadnought loss of the war. The loss of th is vess el to a small min e was very unsett lin g to th e Royal Navy . Her sinki ng was due more to t he immat ure state of damage contr ol in th e Royal Navy at th e tim e, rath er than any design weakness .
to provide the Admiralty with advance warn ing of all pending major Ger ma n naval operations. Room 40 did not always know the object of a Ge rman naval sort ie, but it d id develop reliable means to predict when the H igh Seas Fleet was at sea, often allowing the Gra nd Fleet to leave port before a German opera tion had even begun. T he Germans planned another bombardment raid on the English coast, th is time against Scarboro ugh and H artl epool. On this occasio n, Hi pper's bartlecruisers were suppo rted by the Hi gh Seas Fleet itself, which came out as far as the Dogger Bank, abo ut halfway across the North Sea. Room 40 was able to p rovide warn ing th at ano ther raid was imminent . In respo nse, the Ad mira lty ordered Beatty's bartlecruisers to a point where they could intercep t the Ger man s on their way home. ]ellicoe wanted to support the ope rat ion with the enti re Grand Fleet, bu t was refused by the Adm iralty, who tho ught that th e 2nd Battle Squadro n wit h six dreadno ughts was sufficient. T he decision was a recipe for pot enti al disaster, as Room 40 had not been
29
was not wo rking. In order to hurt the British, another method had to be found. T he only alterna tive was to utilize submarines. O n 4 Februa ry 19 15, the Germans declared th e waters around Britain and Ireland a military zone in which merchant ships were liable for destru ction . T he first unrestricted submarine cam paign ran from February to October 19 15. T he Ge rma ns lacked sufficient sub ma rines to make a blockade effective, but early results were enco uraging and British ant i-subma rine efforts were inade quate. T he real prob lem for the Germans was dealing with the diplom atic fallout of attacking neutral shipping, particularly th at of the United Sta tes. In thi s environme n t, an in cident involving Amer ican ships or American casualties was inevitable, and it came on 7 May 191 5, whe n a Ge rma n subma rine sank the C unard liner Lusitania with the loss of 1,201 lives, 128 of them American. T he Ger mans avoided an American ent ry into the war with some concessions to their submar ine blockade, but by Septe m ber sub marine att acks had reverte d to the restricti ve prize ru les. The first unrestr icted submar ine cam paign had failed, but the potent ial of the subma rine had been fully dem on strated while the Hi gh Seas Fleet sat idly in port. able to discern that the ent ire Hi gh Seas Fleet was also at sea and that they would be operati ng close by the six British dreadn ou ght s. It loo ked as if the Ge rmans would get
Following the failure of the unr estricted submarine campaign, events moved in a direc tion tha t wo uld finally result in a clash at sea between the great dreadn ou ght fleets. The first of these was the death of Pohl in February 1916 from cance r. Hi s
to engage a portion of the Grand Fleet with overwhelming force. T he events of the Ger ma n raid on 16 December ended up being indecisive du e to poor weath er and comm and probl ems. The Germa n warshi ps co nducted th eir
rep laceme nt was Vice Admiral Reinh ard Schee r, who was mu ch more offensively minded . He was also an advoc ate of a renewed subma rine campaign. T he Kaiser, however, could not brin g himself to approve ano ther rou nd of unrestricted submari ne
and the third is a ship of
bo mbardment and successfully avoided int ercept ion by Beatty's battl ecruisers desp ite
the Bellerophon class .
being spotted by Beatty's light cruiser scouts and later by elements of the 2nd Battl e Squad ron. Before th e escape of the Ger man bartlecruiscrs, the Hi gh Seas Fleet had com e into contact with the destroyer screen of the 2nd Battl e Squad ron. Instead of pressing the attac k with his 14 dreadn oughts and eight pre-dreadnought s, Ingenohl turned away when only 10 miles from th e British force, fearful tha t he had co me
warfare until some type of understand ing had been reached with the Ame ricans. What resulted was a restricted U-boa t offensive that qu ickly ran into diplomat ic troubles.
Elements of the 4th Battle Squadron in a line-abreast form ation in t he North Sea in 1915. The nearest ship is an Iron Duke class ship , the second ship is Agincourt
Co mplementi ng the U-boat campaign was a nu mber ofother measures intended to put constant pressure on the British and force them to take actions that might bring the Germans the oppo rtunity of an engagement on f.'lvo urable terms. Amongst these
In one of th e most iconic maritim e photo s of all tim e, German armoured cruis er
BlOcher is shown capsizing on 24 January 1915, duri ng the batt le of Dogger Bank. This battle marked the end of a series of German raids on the English coast during th e early part of th e war. It was not until Jut land that the opposing batt lecr uiser forces wou ld meet again.
across the ent ire G rand Fleet and knowi ng he did not have the Kaiser's permission to engage in such a battl e. In Janu ary 1915 , the Germans plan ned anot her raid into the Dogge r Bank area to clear out fishing trawlers suspected of acting as British surveillance unit s, and to engage British light forces th ought to be in the area. Hipper wanted suppo rt from the Hi gh Seas Fleet, bu t Ingenohl could not gain the Kaiser's permission to sail the fleet that far into the North Sea. Unfortunately for the Ge rma ns, Room 40 had deciphered orders for the operatio n and the British had prepared an amb ush. O n 24 Jan uary 191 5, the thr ee battl ecru isers and one armo ured cruiser under H ipp er were spo tted and were soon being pursued by Beatt y's five battl ecrui sers. In a confused action marked by British signalling probl ems, th e five British batt lecruisers were able to sink onl y the armo ured cruiser Blucher, while allowing th e th ree barrlecruisers to escape. T he battl e of Dogger Ban k had severe repercussion s for the Ge rma ns. Ingenohl was replaced by Admiral Hugo von Poh l and the Kaiser inst ruc ted von Pohl th at
30
he could not seek battl e beyon d the m inefields of the Heli goland Bight. Most imp ortantl y, it was ob vious that the Ge rma n strategy of attri tion in the No rth Sea
31
measures were intensified sweeps by the High Seas Fleet, including the ren ewed
submarines and a mi nelayer to attack the H igh Seas Fleet if it emerge d. Concurrently,
bom bard ment of Brit ish coastal towns. The first of Scheer's fleet movements occurred
Scheer was making plans for a bombardment of Sunde rlan d by his battlecr uisers, to
on 5-6 M arch 1916, when he sortied to a point sout h of Dogge r Bank to int ercept
again atte mpt to dr aw out a portion of the Gra nd Fleet. T he bombardment wo uld be
British light units on patrol. Thou gh th e Gra nd Fleet tried to interce pt, th ere was no
suppo rted by th e H igh Seas Fleet position ed sout h of the Dogger Ban k. A force of 18
action. On 25 March, the British mo unted an opera tion to launch an aircraft raid from
U-boats was stationed off British naval bases to attack British capital ships. German
a seaplane carrier against German Zeppelin statio ns on the Schleswig coast. T he five
Navy Ze ppelins wo uld overwarch the entire operation to prov ide scouting reports
aircraft th at were launched inflicted no damage, but did prompt th e Hi gh Seas Fleet
and make sure th e Gra nd Fleet was not intervening. Hipper wo uld dr aw any
to put to sea. The seaplane carrier was being covered by Beatty's Battle Cruiser Force,
inte rcepting Brit ish force onto the Hig h Seas Fleet fo r it to deliver a crushi ng blow.
bu t was ordered to withdraw when the German sortie was discovered. The Gra nd Fleet
Yet because of maint enance issues with key units, Scheer had to push the planned
was ordered to a position off the Scott ish coast, but bad weather prevented the Ge rmans
opera tion back to th e end of May. Poor weather prevented ade q ua te Zeppelin
from advancin g farther int o th e No rth Sea and both sides retu rned to base.
coverage, and th e end urance of th e U- boa ts already stationed off British naval bases
Jellicoe resisted mo unting pressure from the Admi ralty to be mo re aggressive. The
was reaching its lim its. Schee r therefore decided to abandon the planned
Admiralty supported the notion that furt her air raids wo uld force the Ge rmans out to
bo mbardment in favour of an operation targeted against British light un its and
figh t. Jellicoe did not th ink this o utcome was as likely, and worried th at even if the
shipping in the Skaggerak . T he Ge rma n battl ecrui ser force was o rdere d to show itself off th e No rwegian coast to dr aw th e Brit ish out.
Germans did emerge it would be late in the day before they wo uld be in a position clear
Benbow , an Iron Duke class
super-dreadnought, leading other ships of the 4th Batt le
of the rninefields, leaving insufficient time for the Grand Fleet to engage them decisively.
At 0 1OOhrs on 3 1 May 1916, the Ge rman barrlecruisers left port, followed by the
Jellicoe also worried abo ut the fuel consu mption of his destroyers and ligh t cruisers,
mai n body of th e H igh Seas Fleet. As usual, Roo m 40 informed Jellicoe that
potent ial for th e smoke
whi ch would prevent him from lingerin g lon g off th e Ge rma n coast waiting for the
some thi ng was up, and th e Gra nd Fleet was already at sea whe n th e Ge rma ns departed. T he great clash was finally at hand .
dreadnought s to affect
High Seas Fleet to emerge. In jellicoe's mi nd, he was unable to force the Germans out,
Squadron in 1915. The produ ced by a group of visibility is readily apparent.
so any engagement wou ld result from a German attempt to seize the initiative. O n 20 April, the British mo unted an o peratio n into the Kattega t to attack German shipping. In respo nse to int elligen ce th at th e H igh Seas Fleet was at sea, the Grand Fleet rushed to intercept, bu t were frustrated by heavy fog. Scheer took the initiative on 24 Apr il, when he sortied his ba rtlecruisers, supported by th e High Seas Fleet, to cond uct a bombard ment of Lowestofr. T he British, again advised by Room 40 th at an operation was under way, sort ied th e Grand Fleet an d th e Battle C ruiser Fleet. T he Germans bartlecruisers encountered British light forces and then pressed on to shell Lowesroft, followed by Yarmouth. Declining an op portunity to press an attack on th e British naval units, th e battl ecrui sers, accom pa nied by th e Hi gh Seas Fleet, headed west to their bases. The Grand Fleet, impe ded by heavy seas, was not able to intercept. In the series of raids and counter-raids, the next move was the Royal Navy's. On 4 May, two British seap lane carriers moved into pos it ion off th e Schleswig coas t to mo unt ano the r attack on Ze ppelin sheds. O nly one of the 11 aircraft intend ed to take part in the raid actua lly bombed its target, but the sheds were not the real ta rget. Je llicoe ho ped that th is action wo uld entice the High Seas Fleet to sortie; in preparation th e British had mi ned th e Ge rman chan nels and moved submarines int o the area . After lin gerin g wi th the Grand Fleet, Jellicoe de parted. By the time the Germans did come out later in the day, the British were gone. G iven the heighte ned activity by the German and British navies, it was becoming more likely th at a clash between fleets wo uld occ ur. But as both sides still sought to engage on favourab le terms, any such clash wou ld still be the result of accident . Jellicoe decided to keep the pressure up with a planned ope ration into the Karregar wit h light fo rces on 2 June, suppo rted by a battl e sq uadro n position ed in the Skaggerak an d the
32
enti re G ran d Fleet fart her to th e north-west. T his o pe ration was supported by
33
Bellerophon class Ships in class
Bellerophon,Superb, Temeroire
Displacement (normal)
18,596 tons
Dimensions
lengt h 526 ft; beam 82ft 6in; draught 31ft
Armament
10 x 12in/45ca l guns; 16 x 4in guns; 3 x 18in torpedo tub es
Protection
main belt 1O-5in; deck 3-1.5in; tu rr ets 12in; connin g tow er llin; barbett es lD -5in; torp edo bulkh ead 3- l in; weight of armour 5,430 tons (2 8.7 per cent of normal displacement)
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Machinery
4-shaft Parsons tu rbines and 18 boilers creati ng 23,000hp; top speed 20.75 knots
Range
5,720 nautic al miles [nrn] at 10 knots
Crew
840 (1914)
Neptune class, ther e were significant modifi cations between the first ship of the class and the other two. Overall, th e design proved un satisfactory and was not repeated. While several navies, prin cipally th e US Navy, had already moved to placin g all
war. Before th e sta rt of the
the design of its turrets. T he probl em was th at the sigh ting hoo ds at th e front of th e
war, the height of her top mas ts
turrets mad e th e occ upants inside susceptible to being conc ussed if a superim posed turret fired over th em . Royal Navy design ers sti ll co nside red it essential th at its
BRITISH BATTL ESHIPS Following th e successful tria ls of Dreadnought, the British moved quickly to bu ild a
Superb pictur ed before th e
main gun turrets o n th e centre line, th e Royal Navy was reluctant to do so because of
battl eships carry ten main guns and it was intended to ena ble all of th ese to fire
was reduced and the 4 in guns remove d from the top of the 12in main batt ery . Superb was present at Jut land, but played
broadside. Neptune introduced echeloned gun s arnidship, which in theor y en abled all
a minor role. In 1918, she was
ten gun s to be brought to bear broadside. This was th e same layo ut explored on the
sent to Turkish waters as th e
first bat tlecrui ser design , and as on Invincible it was found to be im practical in service
flagsh ip of Brit ish naval forces. After being used as a target
numerical dr eadnought superiority over any potential rival. T he lead ship of the
du e to the blast effect and strain on the hull when th e guns were fired crossdec k. O n
ship in 192 2, she was broken
Bellerophon class was laid down in Decemb er 1906 and all three un its were completed
top of this, th e Number 4 turret was supe rimposed over the Number 5 tur ret, which
up in 1923.
by M ay 190 9. T he Belleroph on vessels were a virtual repeat of Dreadnought. The main battery of ten 12in gun s was mounted in five tur rets, three placed o n th e centreline. T he other two turrets were wing turrets, so th at an eight-gun bro adside was possible. T he secondary armament was deficient, with onl y 16 4in gun s, which were inad equ ate to sto p a destro yer attack. In addition , th e guns were badl y placed , with eight being located on th e top of the main turrets . By 191 6, all 4 in guns were moved to more workable positions in the superstru cture. On the heels of th e Bellerophon class, the first ship of the St Vincent class was laid down in Febru ary 1907. The three ships of thi s class were essentiall y a repeat of the previou s design, but did inco rpo rate slight improvem ents. T he layout of the main batt ery remain ed th e same, but th e main weapo n was a more powerful version of the 12in gun . The 4i n gun was retained as th e seconda ry arma ment. Arm our prote ction was largely th e sam e as in th e prec eding class. The power of the machinery was incre ased to compensate for a slightly larger displacement. Combined with a more efficient longer hu ll, th e class easily reached its design speed of 21 knots. Not unti l the programme of 1909 did th e Royal Navy attempt to depart from the basic design of Dreadnought. T he three ships of the Neptune class attempted to add ress 34
the prin cipal flaw in th e layout of th e main battery of Dreadnought. Within the
3S
Collingwood retained t he
Colossus pictu red befor e th e
ineff icient wing -tu rret
wa r. Her design was deficient
arra ngements of early Brit ish
in terms of tu rret and
dreadnough ts . Present at
smokes tack placement ,
-.1
Jut land, she was undamaged,
and her protec t ion showed
but barely missed being
no improvement over
torpedoed. She went into
Dreodnought launched
reserve in 1919 and was
four years earl ier. Colossus
scrapped in 19 23.
survived th e war and serve d in var ious training capaciti es before being broken up in 19 28.
meant that the Number 4 could not be fired astern. To clear the decks for crossdeck firing , the ship's boats were placed on a flying bridge between the smokestacks. This awkward arrangement was an obvious so urce of trouble in battl e if dama ged , so it was removed just after th e outbreak of war. T he same 12in/50 gun was used as on the St Vincent class, and armo ur protection was on a sim ilar scale. T he later two ships of th e class, Colossus and Hercules, were not laid down until July
was now dropped to save weight. At the same time, th ou gh , the forwar d smo kestack
190 9 and we re able to incorporate several m odifications. T he prin cipal differen ce
and making th e ship's only rema ining fire-co ntrol station virt ually unusable.
was placed in front of the forward mast, introducing th e same problems with smoke
was in armo ur prot ecti on. As a weight-saving measur e, th e scale of protect ion on
In late 190 9, th e first ship of th e four-sh ip O rion class was laid down . All four had
Dreadnought had been red uced on subseq uent classes. Prot ecti on on Colossus and Hercules was im proved to 11in on th e main belt and th e barb et res, returning protection to that of Dreadnought. T he Royal Navy still believed th at torpedoes were
ente red service by 19 12. T hese ships displayed the best Brit ish battleship design to
imp ortant weapons in a battl eship duel , and now the longer-ran ged 21 in torpedo was
still ten gun s, but for th e first tim e all five tu rrets were mounted on the centre line,
int rod uced on battleship s. T he appearance of the later two ships was also altered . On
allowing for a ten-gun bro adside. T he decision to place superfiring turrets fore and aft
date, and represente d a significant increase in capabilities over previou s designs. T he pr incipal differenc e was th e decision to move to a 13.5in gun . T he main batt ery was
previou s British drea dnought designs, the placement of th e smokestacks mad e the aft cont rol position on the rear mast practically unusable due to smoke. The after mast
St Vincent class Ships in class
Collingwood, St Vincent, Vanguard
Displacement (normal]
19,700 tons
Dimensions
length 536 ft ; beam 84ft; draught 27-31ft
Armament
10 x 12in/5 0cal gun; 18 x 4in guns; 3 x 18in torpedo tubes
Protection
36
Neptune class Ships in class
Neptun e, Colossus, Hercules
Displacement [ norma l]
19,680 tons [Colossus and Hercules 20,03 0 tons]
Dimensions
lengt h 546ft; beam 85f t; draught 28ft 6in [Co lossus and Hercules 29ft Sin]
Armament
10 x 12in/50cal guns; 16 x 4in guns; 3 x 21in torp edo tub es main belt 1O-2. 5in (Colossus and Hercules 11-7in]; deck 3- 1.5in (Colossus and Hercules
Protection
4-1.5in]; t urrets llin; conning tower llin; barbett es 1O- 5in [Colossus and Hercules
main belt 1O- 8in ; deck 3- 1.5in; tu rrets l l in; conning tower llin; barbett es 9-5 in; torpedo
11-4in ]; weight of armour [Colossus and Hercules] 5,562 tons ( 27.3 per cent of normal
bulkhead 3-1.5in; weight of armour 5,590 tons (28 per cent of normal displacement]
displacement]
Machinery
4 -shaft Parsons turbines and 18 boilers creating 24,5oohp; top speed 21 knots
Machinery
4-shaft Parsons tu rbines and 18 boilers creati ng 25,000h p; top speed 21 knots
Range
6,9oonm at 10 knots
Range
6,62onm at 10 knots (Colossus and Hercules 6,68 onm]
Crew
823 (1915]
Crew
813 [Colossus and Hercules 791 in 1916]
37
King Geo rge V class
Orion class Ships in class Displacement [normal] Dimensions Arm ament Protection
Conqueror, Monarch, Orion, Thunderer
Ships in class
Ajax, Audacious, Centurion, King George V
22,200 tons
Displacement [normal)
25,420 tons
length 581ft; beam 88ft 6in; draught 31ft 3in
Dimensions
length 597ft 6in; beam 89ft; draught 28ft 8in
10 x 13.5in/45cal guns ; 16 x 4in guns; 3 x 18in torpedo tubes
Armament
10 x 13.5in /45cal guns ; 16 x 4i n guns ; 3 x 21in torpedo tu bes
main belt 12-8in; deck 4 -1in; turrets 11in; conning tower 11in; barbettes 1O-3in; weight of armour 6,560 tons [29 per cent of normal displacement)
Protection
main belt 12-8in; deck 4-1 in; t urrets 11in; conn ing tower 11in; barbettes 1O-3 in; weight of armour 7,080 tons [30.2 per cent of normal displacement )
Machinery
4-shaft Parsons turbines and 18 boilers creating 27,OOOhp; top speed 21 knots
Machinery
4-shaft Parsons turb ines and 18 boilers creating 27,000hp ; top speed 21 knots
Range
6,730nm at 10 knots
Range
6,31Onm at 10 knots
Crew
754 (1914)
Crew
1,114 (1916)
included the restriction not to fire directly fore and aft, because of the concussion
include the fitting of four guns forward below the ma in deck level. It proved
problem to personnel in the lower turret. Yet this arrangement was thought to be
im possible to use these guns in any kind of sea, and all were remo ved during the war.
tactically insignific ant com pared with the advant age of being able to fire a full ten-gun
At the start of the Great War, two of the four ship s of the Iron D uke class were
broadside. In addition to the inc rease in firepower, protection was also increased on
already in service, with the other two due to co mm ission before the end of th e year.
the main belt and the turret barb ertes, giving the class a fine balan ce of offensive and
Thus, at the start of the war these were the most powerful battle ship s in the Royal
defen sive qu alities. A continu ing design flaw was th e placem ent of th e for ward
Navy.The principal difference between these ships and those of the very sim ilar Ori on
sm okestack in front of th e mainmast, which created problems with smo ke in th e fire-
and King George V classes was th e overdu e provision of a secondary battery of Gi n
dir ection cent re.
guns. Ten of th e 12 gun s, however, were placed in single casema tes for ward and close
The four ships of th e King Geo rge V class were all laid down in 1911 and had all
to the waterline, mak ing them subject to interference from heavy seas and spray. T he
ent ered service by 1913. T hese were essent ially repeats of th e Orion s. T he layout of
last two guns were mounted even lower in th e area of th e Number 5 turret. T his
th e main battery was retained, but an improved model of th e 13.5in gun was fitted ,
placement proved so troublesome that the gun s were removed and mounted in th e
whi ch fired a heavier shell. T he seco nda ry arm ament was still inadequate to deal with
forward supe rstruc tu re before th e battl e of Jutl and . T hese ships were th e first Royal Navy battleship s to mount anti-aircraft guns.
to rpedo boats and destroyers, and the layout of the IG 4 in gun s was modified to
The five ships of th e Queen Elizabeth class were the most successful of any British battleship design of World War 1. Laid down in 191 2-1 3, non e were available by th e start of the war, but all had been completed and were in service for th e battl e of Jutland. The lead ship of th e class was in refit during Jutl and , but the remaining four ships all saw act ion against the High Seas Fleet.
Iron Ouke class
Dreadnou ght began th e wa r
as flags hip of th e 4t h Batt le Squadron, but in May 1916 she was tempora rily
Ships in class
Benbow, Emperorof India, Iron Duke, Marlborough
Displacement [normal)
26,100 tons
Dimensions
length 623ft; beam 90ft; draught 32ft 9in
Armament
10 x 13.5in /45cal guns; 12 x 6in guns ; 3 x 3in ant i-aircraft guns; 4 x 21in torp edo tubes
transferred to the 3rd Batt le Squadron when it was
Protection
main belt 12-8in ; deck 2.5-lin; turrets 11in; conning tower 11in; barbettes 11in; weight of armour 7,925 tons [ 31.2 per cent of normal displacement)
transferred from the Grand Fleet to Sheerness to boost defences against further German raids. As a result,
38
Dreadnough t missed Jut land.
Machinery
4-shaft Parsons turbines and 18 boilers creating 29,000hp ; top speed 21 knots
Range
8,100nm at 12 knots
Crew
1,102 (1914)
39
T he design incorp orated several significant improvements. T he most impo rta nt of
Royal Sove reign class
these was the decision to abando n the mixed coal and oil fuel system on previous British dr eadn ou ghts in favou r of an all-oil fuel sysrem. This move was dr iven by the
Ships in class
req uireme nt to create a mu ch higher output to meet th e design speed of25 kno ts with no extra weight in mac hinery. T he decision to go to oil also saved eno ugh weight that the scale of armo ur protection could actually be increased in some key areas. T he result was a squadron offast battl eships with excellent protection . T he Admi ralty envisioned tha t the 'Fast Squadron' wo uld be used to bring a reluctant enemy force to battl e, and
Prot ect ion
it possessed th e speed to operate with the G rand Fleet's battl ecrui ser squadro n. T he other majo r im provem ent on th e Q ueen Elizabeth class was the decisio n to
Machinery
move up to a 15in gun. T he larger gun was imp ortant for a number of reason s. T he
Range
requi rem ent to fit additional boilers to meet th e 25-knot speed requ irement meant th at a tur ret amidships could not be fitt ed, but th e British were reluctant to abandon
Crew
909 (1916
--------------------_-1
the hitting power presen ted by a ten-gun battl eship . If a 15in gun was fitted, how ever, the to tal broadside weight of an eight-gun 15in broadside wo uld actu ally be greater than ten I3.5in guns .
battles hip s, but compensated for th is with enormo us firepower. Her main battery was 14 14in guns (largest of any World War I dr eadn ou ght) mo unte d in seven cent re lin e
A follow-up to th e Queen Elizabet h class was the eigh t planned ships of th e
turrets, perm itting all 14 guns to fire broadside. Canada was laid down in 1911 for
Revenge class. O f th ese, only five were com pleted, and of th ose o nly two (Revenge
Chile, and completed in late 191 5. T he Royal Navy pur chased the ship and she proved
and Royal Oak) participated in Jutl and . T he Revenge class maintained the same scale
to be a welcome additio n to the G rand Fleet. T he design was based on Iron Duke, but
of protection and th e same 15in-gun main battery, but were no t design ed to have the
since th e sh ip was lon ger and mou nt ed mo re powerfu l mach inery, her top speed
same high speed. Addi tionally, the re were several battl eshi ps intend ed for foreign governments th at
was almost 23 kno ts. Armament was an im pressive ten 14in guns (all centre line) and
the Royal Navy expropriated at the start of th e war. All of th ese participated in the
to earlier British dreadn ou ght s. In service, she was co nsidered one of the Grand Fleet's best ships.
clash at Jutland . Erin was laid down in 19 11 for Turkey, but was take n into British
18 6in gu ns. Her level of protection was not equa l to the Iron Duke's, but was sim ilar
service in 19 14 . She gave the Royal Navy a un it possessing the same capabi lities as an Iron D uke-class ship, with the same main and secondary arma ment and a simi lar scale of pro tection. Agincourt was or igina lly or dere d by Brazil, but was sold in Jan uary 1914 , un compl eted , to Turkey. Along with Erin, she was destin ed never to fly th e
GERMAN BATTLESHIPS
Turkish flag, being confiscated by th e Royal N avy in 1914. Agincourt was not a wellbalan ced design . She did not possess the level of armour protection of other Brit ish
T he Ge rman Navy was never able to maint ain the Royal Navy's pace of dreadn ought construction. There were fewer yards in Germany capable of building large ships. T hose that could do so were mu ch less efficient than their British counterparts, which could
Oueen Elizabeth class
complete a dreadn ou ght in a year. In cont rast, Ger man yards took typically from two to Ships in class Displacem ent (normal)
Barham, Malaya, Queen Elizabeth, Valiant, Warspite ----------------{ 32, 590 to ns
Navy was able to complete four classes of d readn ou ghts for a tota l of 17 units. To
Dimensions
lengt h 639ft 9in (Barham and Warspite 643 ft 9in]; beam 90ft r in; draught 33ft
compensate, the Ge rmans augmented the Hi gh Seas Fleet with the most modern of their
Armament
8 x 15in/4 2cal guns; 14 x 6in guns; 4 x 21in torpedo tube s
Prot ecti on Machine ry Range 40 -~.---
Crew
----------------{
main belt 13-8 in; deck 3-1 in; t urr ets 13in; conning tower 11in; barbettes 1O - 4i n; weight of
armour 8,900 to ns ( 30 per cent of normal displacement ] ----------------{ 4-shaft Parsons tu rbines (Brown-Curtis in Barham and Valiant ] ; 24 boilers creat ing r5 ,000hp ; to p speed 24 knots 5,000nm at 12 knots 1,016 (1916)
three years. By the opening of the war, and up unti l the time of Jutland , the Ge rman
pre-drea d noughts. In additio n to the 17 dreadn ou ghts comp leted before Ju tland, six batrlecruisers were also in service. O ne of these, however, was caught in the Mediterranean at the war's begin ning and by 1916 was nom inally part of the Turkish Navy. T he Nassau class was the Ge rman Navy's respo nse to Dreadnought. Caught un prepared, German naval designers took six months after the comp letion of Dreadnought to set tle on the design, and th e first ship of the class was not laid down
unt il Ju ne 1907 . The four ships of the class were comp leted betwee n October 1909 and May 191 0, each having take n between two and thr ee years to com plete.
41
Posen entered service in May
t
1910 and was photogr aphed here short ly thereafter. The arrangement of her main armament is evident. The ship st ressed protect ion over firepower and her eight llin-gun broadsid e delivered a weight of only 6,OBOlb - far less th an her Briti sh rivals.
T he design of thi s first German d readnought set th e pattern for future co nstruc tio n. Yet the Ge rma ns were forced to use th e triple-expansion mach inery from their pre-dreadnought designs, as there was no tim e to develop turbines without
Because of th e req uireme nt to begin construction as soon as possibl e, th e
suffering an even greater delay. With improved horsepower from earlier designs, the
autho rities again decided not to wait for turbines. Speed was increased increm entally by the provision of greater power and a lon ger hull. A wider beam was provided , and
burn fuel oil whi ch was sprayed on th e coal. T he strength of the class was its protection, particularly below the waterline. The
this was used to provide a better intern al arrangement . T he magazines for th e win g
her prom inent radio gaffs .
12in turrets were provided with improved underwat er protection and were less
5he fir ed 53 l l in rounds at
main batt ery was mounted in six tur rets, each with two 11in guns. T he layout of th ese
crowded . All of the bo ilers were also gro uped together, which allowed the ship's th ree
each side of th e ship, making th e broadside onl y eight guns firing a compa ratively
smokestacks to be placed together am idship s. T he next class of dr eadn ou ghts was laid down in 1910. This class, named for th e
light shell weight of 6,080Ib. The seco ndary battery comprised 12 5.9in guns,
Kaiser, included several im po rta nt developments. T he Ge rma ns had successfully
arranged in single casemates six per side. W ith the naval race with the Royal Navy heat ing up , th e Ge rma ns laid down four
incorporated turb ines int o th eir ba ttlecru isers, and now they were fitted o n a class of revised . T hree of the five turrets were fitted on the cent re line (one fo rward and two
based on the Nassau class with onl y minor improvements. The biggest chan ge was th e
aft), and th e rem ain ing two were fitt ed am idships in a staggered arrangement th at
shift to a 12in gun in an attempt to match th e Royal Navy's adva ntage in bro adside
th eo retically allowed both tur rets to fire broadside. In reality, this arrangeme nt proved
shell weight. T he layout of th e main batt ery was a repeat of th e Nassau class, so that
impractical. T he am idships turrets were too close to th e fore and aft superstructures
onl y eight guns cou ld be brought to bear broadside. The secondary battery comprised
to permit them to fire fore and aft with out creating blast damage. C rossdeck fire o n
14 single 5.9in guns mounted in casemates.
the broadside was also difficul t, as it placed great stresses on th e hull.
Ships in class
Rheinland , Posen , Nassau , Westfalen
Displacement [no rm al)
18,900 ton s
Dimensions
length 478ft; beam 89ft; draught 27ft 6in
Armament
12 x l1in/45cal guns; 12 x 5.9in /45ca l guns; 16 x 3.4in guns; 6 x 17.7into rpedo tu bes main belt 11.5-4in; deck 4in; turrets l l in: conning tower 12in; weight of armou r 6,640 tons [35 .2 per cent of normal disp lacement]
t he removal of some of
Jutlan d and was undamaged. After the war, she was handed over to Great Britain and scrapped in 19 21.
d read no ughts. T he 12in gun was retained , but th e layout of the mai n battery was
ships of th e Hel goland class in 1908. Because speed was of th e essence, thi s class was
Helgoland class
Nassau class
42
of th e war, essent ially uncha nged apart from
sh ips could just make 20 kn ots. In 1915 , all four ships in th e class were modified to
turrets allowed for only two on th e centre lin e, with th e other four placed two on
Protection
Posen shown after t he sta rt
Ships in class
Ostfriesland , Thuringen , Helgola nd , Oldenburg
Displacement [no rmal)
22 ,800 tons
Dimensions
lengt h 546ft; beam 93ft 6in; draught 27ft 6in
Arm ament Protection
12 x 12in/50 cal guns; 14 x 5.9in/ 45 cal guns; 14 [red uced to 12 in 1913) x 3.4in guns ; 6 x 19.7in torpedo tubes main belt 11.75-4in; deck 3in; turrets l l in: conning tower 12in; weight of armour 8,350 ton s [36 .6 per cent of norma l displacement]
Machinery
3-shaft verti cal tr iple-expansion and 12 boilers creating 22 ,000h p; top speed 19.5 knot s
Machin ery
3-shaft vert ical tripl e-expansion and 15 boilers creatin g 28,0 00hp ; top speed 20 knots
Range
9,400nm at 10 knots
Range
9,400nm at 10 knot s
Crew
1,130 [wartime)
Crew
1,300 [w artime]
43
Konig class
Ostfries/and shawn in 19 20
Prot ection was incr eased over previous dr eadnought classes, and was superior to
after being handed aver to
comparable British classes. The shi ps developed more th an th eir designed pow er, in
th e US Navy . As a member of dreadnoughts, she retained
th e case of Kaiser up to 55 ,OOOhp, so were able to make up to 23.4 knots. Friedrich der Grosse was selected in 1914 to be refitted as th e fleet flagship and was fitt ed with
t he awkward wi ng·t urre t
a heavy foremast which gave her a different app earan ce from her sister ships.
th e second class of German
config uratio n, but feat ured an improved interior arra ngement th at allowed all th e boilers to be grouped
Displacement [norm al)
25,800 ton s
Dimensions
lengt h 580ft; beam 97ft ; draught 28ft 6in
Armament
10 x 12in/50ca l gun s; 14 x 5.9i n/45 cal guns; 6 x 3Ain guns ; 2 x 3A in anti -aircraft guns ; 5 x 19.7in torpedo tubes
Protection
mai n belt 14-lOin; deck 4.5in; turrets 14in; connin g tower 14in; weight of arm our 10,440 tons [40 A per cent of norm al displacement )
Machinery
3-shaft Parsons tu rbin es and 12 boilers creati ng 31,OOOhp; t op speed 21 knots
Range
lO,OOOn m at 10 kn ots
Crew
1,300 [wartime]
T he four ships of the Kon ig class were laid down in 1911 and at th e tim e of Jutl and gun s as its main armament , which were mounted in five turrets. Howeve r, the awkward
together. This layout resu lted in a t hr ee-smokestac k
all turrets being fitted on the cent re line. The centre line turret between th e stacks gave
a German dreadnought .
Konig , Grosser KurfOrst , Markgraf and Kronprinz
were th e most mod ern dreadnoughts in the Hi gh Seas Fleet. T he class retained ten 12in arrangement of th e two amidships turrets from the Kaiser class was altered in favour of
arrangement , unique for
Ships in class
these ships a ten-gun broadside, the first ever for a Germ an dreadnought. The secondary armament remained at 14 5.9in guns, each mounted singly in casemates. Wi th an increased beam , a high level of subdivision was again in evidence. As in th e Kaiser class, the boiler roo ms and machinery were gro uped fore and aft of the amidships turret , wh ich created th e wid ely spaced smokestacks. Unlike previou s classes, a heavy tubular foremast was fitt ed with a contro l to p.
Prinzregen r Lui tpold
photographed immed iatel y before the outb reak of war. As a membe r of th e Kaiser class, she cont inued the t rend of emphasizi ng protec tion over fi repower, but was a more effec t ive fighting un it than
Kaiser class
her Britis h contemporaries. Undamaged at Jut land, she
Friedr ich der Grosse, Kaiserin, Konig Albert , Prinz regent Luitpold , Kaiser
was scutt led at Scapa Flow
Displac ement [norm al)
24,720 tons
in June 1919.
Dimensions
lengt h 564ft; beam 95ft 3in; draught 27ft 3in
Ships in class
Armament Prot ect ion
Machinery
10 x 12in/50cal guns; 14 x 5.9in /45cal guns ; 12 [re duced to 10 by 1915J x 3Ai n guns; 5 x 19.?i n torpedo t ubes mai n belt 13.75-7.75in ; deck 3in; tu rrets 11.75in; conning tower 13.?5in ; weight of armour 10,100 tons [ 40 .1 per cent of norm al dis placement) 3·shaft Parsons tu rbines and 16 boilers creatin g 31,OOOhp; to p speed 21 knot s. Prinzregent
The Konig class comprised
Luitpold equipped with 2-shaft Parson s tu rbines and 14 boilers creating 26,OOOhp; top speed
t he elite V Divi sion of III
20 knots .
44
Range
9,50 0nm at 10 knots
Crew
1,250 [wartime)
Squadron. All fought at Jutl and and after the war all were surrendered in November 191B, and scu tt led in Jun e 1919.
45
compa red favoura bly wi th his ot her career opt ions. Before the o utbreak of the wa r, th e Royal Navy was able to take its pick of available applicants . T hose th at were accepted could join as early as 15 o r 16 years old, and co m mi tte d th em selves to a 12-year hitch. Tra ining began wit h a six-week stint of seama nship and basic schooli ng, followed by spec ialized tra ini ng . Life aboard a capital ship was crowded, given the large size of a d readn ough t crew. T he lower
THE COMBATANTS
deck was divided into a separate mess for each division or specialization. W hen not on watch or perform ing their specific tasks, ratings had to eat, sleep and spend off-duty tim e in the same crowded space. Meals were collected from the galley and bro ught to th e messing area. Food was plent iful but generally unimaginative, since refrigerated storage was not available. Once the
ROYAL NAVY DREADNOUGHT CREWS
meal was finished , th e same area was used
The Royal Navy went to war with a foundati on of highly trained and motivated crews
hammocks. O ne of the traditi on al benefits was
for its dr eadnoughts. All personnel were volun teers, and , in add ition to being
a daily rum ration , usually served at lunch .
for sleeping, with ratings accom modated in
committed to long service careers, th e same personnel were assigned to a single ship for extended period s, makin g for cohesive crews. For generatio ns, entry int o the Royal Navy as an officer was based far more on
th e base at Scapa Flow was not develop ed at
class status an d the abi lity of the app licant 's pare nts to support the prospective officer,
the sta rt of th e war, and was not judged to be safe from U- boat attack, th e Grand
Admir al Sir David Beatty
rather than raw talent. In 19 16, almost all of a British d read nou ght 's officers wou ld
Fleet spent the first few mo nt hs of the war contin ually at sea. W hen not at sea, the
shown in 19 1B wit h King
have come through th e Brita nnia Royal Naval Co llege. An app licant typically joi ned
crew was coaling or replenishi ng stores . Even when Scapa Flow was finished in 191 5,
George V afte r Beatty
at 13 an d was sent to college fo r four years, followed by six months on a train ing
it offered a cold and dreary alternative to life at sea, with very lim ited distractio ns
assum ed comma nd of the Grand Fleet . His perf orm ance
cru iser. At th at point, th e asp irant jo ined th e fleet as a midshipman. W he n
ashore. M ost men remained on the ship, spend ing th e tim e engaged in spo rts, movies
commission ed , almos t all new officers selected navigation and gunnery career path s;
or ed ucation. Jellicoe designed an extensive programme of fleet exercises to counte ract
over-aggr essiveness and
th e bo redom . T he G rand Fleet went to sea often for train ing. While insid e Scapa Flow, th ere was adeq uate space for daily (except Sunday) gun nery and torp edo d rills.
a series of com ma nd and
engineering was not viewed as a suitable career for a gentleman. Prom ot ion from the lower deck was very rare and a point of conte ntio n until 191 2, when First Lord of the Ad miralty W inston Ch urchill devised the Mate Scheme, whereby
G unnery exercises were conducted at regular int ervals to th e west of Pentla nd Firth,
petty officers and above could atta in commissioned sta tus with the rank of mate
and involved a squadron of d read no ugh ts engaging towed targets. Even in the bays of
(equivalent to lieutenant). The option was later extended to engineers in 19 14. In 19 13,
Scapa Flow, sh ips wou ld shoot at ta rgets towed by picket boats . Shi ps wo uld also engage in gu nnery p ractice at nigh t, with searchlights providing illumi natio n .
Churchill introduced a special entry scheme whereby cadets from publi c schoo ls could join the Royal Navy at 18, take two cruises, and then be sent to the fleet as midshipmen. T his measure did mu ch to provide the Royal Navy with most of its engineers.
46
Life on a Briti sh dr eadnou ght was mo re abo ut monoton y th an anything else. Becau se
contro l difficult ies. His Battl e Cruiser Fleet came off second best to Hipper's battl ecruisers.
W ha t is hard to q uantify is the Royal Navy's psycho logical edge created by th e Royal Navy 's tradition of victo ry and dom in an ce. T he up start Ge rma n Navy went
There was strict segregation between th e upper deck (officers) and th e lower deck
into the battl e with an inferiority complex. In th e wo rds of Scheer h imself: 'T he
(ratings). T he bulk of a d read no ugh t's crew was com posed of enlisted personnel.
English Fleet has th e advantage of loo king back on a hundred years of proud
Young wo rking-class men were d rawn to th e Royal Navy fo r security and adve nt ure.
tradition which m ust have given every man a sense of superiority based o n the grea t deeds of th e past. '
D espite th e lo ng hours and severe d iscip lin e, wo rk ing co nditions in th e Navy
at Jut land was marked by
47
German offi cers and men
GERMAN BATTLESHIP CREWS
were as well tra ined as t heir Royal Navy counte rparts , but operated under a series of
In 1897, th e entire Ge rma n N avy had o nly 1,000 officers and a to tal personnel
rest rict ive orders from the
streng th of abo ut 26 ,000. By 1914, personnel str ength had swollen to 80,000,
Kaiser thro ughout the war.
including 3,6 12 officers. In ord er to suppo rt th e inc reasing complexity of the Kaiser's
In th e end, th e Kaiser's prized
navy, many technical skills were required, hen ce there were several branches of th e
surface fle et disintegrated
officer corps - marine infantry, engineer, torpedo engineer, ordnance , ordnanc e artificer, torpedo and medical. T he premier bran ch , however, was the execut ive
into chaos and mut iny.
bran ch , as o nly its personnel were enti tled to co mma nd a ship. T he German Navy's officers were d rawn to naval service for a nu mb er of reason s, including a sense of adve nt ure, desire for travel and not least th e desire for soc ial
48
prestige and qui ck prom otion (at least co mpa red with th e army). Each year, about 200 candidates were accepted as officers, a fraction of tho se who applied. The cost of training put a career as a naval officer out of reach of the lower strata of society. C riteria for selection was at th e discretion of th e Ed uca tio n D epartment, and thi s can be described only as arbitrary. T he basic require me nts were parental support for th e cost of trainin g and mainten an ce upon com m issioning , good social standing, th e ability to pass an ent rance exam and high- school atte nda nce (although a high-scho ol cert ificate wasn't required) . A cons ervative upbringing in a middle- or upper-class home was preferred over a form al ed ucation. The result was a largely homogeneous officer corp s. M ost were from northern Germ any and , not un surp risingly, most were from coastal areas. Only some 10- 15 per cent were from th e nobili ty, and on ly 14 per cent were Ca tho lic. Jews were th e rare exceptio n, and the sons of social dem ocrats and trade uni onists fam ilies were excluded . Upon selection, th e candidate was sent to th e Navy School for 12 months, followed by exams for executive officer. Next, the candida te undertook anothe r six weeks of specialized training. N ow he went to sea for 12 months. If successful, he was com m issioned as an ensign. In th e final step, the candida te had to be elected to th e officer corps by secret ballot by the memb ers of his ward room . T his proce ss offered a last cha nce to weed out any undesirables. The system was remarkably successful in keeping the officer corp s homogen eous. Even under th e strains of war, not a single non-commissioned officer was promoted to officer. In the years before th e G reat War, and co nt inui ng in to th e war, Ge rma n naval leadership was never able to solve th e grow ing friction between engineer officers and execut ive officers. Eng ineer officers, despite th eir obvious and growi ng imp ortance in a mod ern navy, were treated as second-class citizens, bein g forced to wear different uniforms and even m aintain separa te messing from execut ive officers. By 1917-1 8, the situation had disintegrated int o passive resistance by th e engineers. While th e com positio n of the Royal Na vy and German Navy's officer corp s was broadly sim ilar, th e make-up of th e enlisted ranks was vastly different. The Royal Navy relied on voluntee rs, but th e Ge rma n Navy depended on conscripts to fill th e majorit y of its enlisted ranks. A con script was o bligated for th ree years' service, followed by another four years in the active reserves. Petty officers were recru ited from
the most talented seame n. Another di fference from th e Royal Navy was th e creatio n of a class of ratin g kn own as a deck officer. T his had no equivalent in the Royal Navy and was required in th e Ge rman Navy because of the lack of conti nuity in a conscript force. Despite the title, deck officers were conside red rat ings, not officers, but to add mo re co nfusion th ey were more like execu tive officers th an senior petty officers in their responsibilities and d ress. Adva nceme nt to deck officer from petty officer was dependent o n technical skill; advance me nt to co m m issioned sta tus was ext remely remote, and was ano ther source of friction in th e personnel rank s. In 1914, th ere were 2,977 deck officers. T he crew of a Ge rman wa rtime dr eadn ou ght was large; fo r exam ple the crew of Prinzregent Luitpold includ ed 22 execut ive officers, six engineers, two paymasters,
27 deck officers and 1,020 petty officers and ratings. A dreadn ou ght was comma nded by an officer of captain rank. T he actual running of the ship was perform ed by the first
49
officer, who was responsibl e for all disciplin e, maintenan ce and train ing. T hird in com ma nd was th e navigation officer. Ano ther key figur e was the art illery officer, who was responsible for trainin g all gun crews, maintainin g all guns and directing the ship's fire in action. By the time of]utland, it can be said that massive boredom had begun to affect the High Seas Fleet, but that none of the disciplinary problems which were later to cripple the fleet were yet evident. D uring the tenure of Admiral von Pohl, wh ich included almost all of 191 5, the fleet had gone to sea only five times, and never more th an 120 miles from hom e base. Ma ny of the mo re adven turesome and am bitious sailors and officers had applied for transfers to th e U-boa t bra nch, th e air branch or even th e army, where they were assured of action. Nevertheless, by all accounts overall morale at Jutl and was still high. After Jutl and , this would cha nge drast ically. By 1917, morale was deplorable; in 191 8, the crews of the dread nought s went int o open m ut iny. Before the war, Ger man dreadn ought crews were extrem ely well drilled and trained, but this fine edge had been tem pered by th e 22 mo nt hs leadi ng up to Jutland . T hro ugho ut 191 5, th e Ger man dreadn ou ght s ma inta ined a du lling schedule: a week on patro l behind th e defensive min efield s of th e Heligoland Bight; ano ther week anchore d in th e Schilling Roads near W ilhelmshaven , on alert to respon d to a British incursion; then a period of gunnery dr ills in the Kiel Bay, followed by a period of at least two weeks pierside at W ilhelmshaven , where the crews lived ashore . Yet despite the fact that the crews spent less time at sea than British dreadn ought crews, in May 1916 the gunnery skills of the Germans remain ed high, with gun crews able to get the range quickly and ma intai n a high rate of fire.
COMBAT BRITISH AND GERMAN TACTICS It is im po rta nt to review the genera l tactics of each side before beginning an account of the battle itself. T he tactics of the Grand Fleet were developed entirely by Jellicoe and were bu ilt on th ree p recep ts. T he first, and mos t important, was a defe nsive emphasis. Jellicoe was determ ined not to risk his dreadn oughts to und erwater threats. He was convinced that the Ger ma ns would operate their submarines in conj unction with th eir battl e fleet and th at a German tactic wo uld be to lay mines and then attem pt to dr aw the British across them. Jellicoe also gave the Ger mans credit for a formidable destroyer force equippe d wit h supe rior torpedoes. T hus, he intended to engage th e Germans with gunfi re at long ranges, beyond the effective range of to rpedoes. To keep his fleet together and to bring the greatest number of heavy guns to bear on the enemy, Jellicoe was also determ ined to fight in a line-ahead formation on a
A G·3?·c1ass German destroyer cutt ing th rough a line of High Seas Fleet dreadnoughts. The Briti sh overestimated th e t orpedo thr eat posed by Germ an light units dur ing t he war and th is perception affect ed the ir
152
tactic s at Jut land. During the battl e, Germ an torpedo boats played only a mino r role.
53
para llel course to the enemy. H e rejected mo re flexible tactics du e to his concern that
Despite jellicoe's concerns, Ge rma n tactics were also dedicated to a decisive
a squad ron of the Grand Fleet might be isolated and dest royed, and his doubt th at
gun nery engage me nt . Yet Scheer, being a to rpedo expert , did see a role for a massed
'divided' tactics could be em ployed successfully. Because th e threat of torpedoes made
destroyer attack under some circ um sta nces. Scheer planned to isolate an d destroy a
it too dangero us to stea m in a line ahead during the approach ph ase, Jellicoe ordered
small portion of th e Gr and Fleet; under no circumstances did he want to be dr awn
th at th e Grand Fleet approac h th e enemy in columns. He wo uld order the fleet to
int o a decisive engagement with th e main body of the enemy fleet. Sho uld this appear
de ploy into a lin e ahead ju st before th e battl e was join ed . H e desired th at the
to be happen ing, Scheer planned to resort to an evasive turn away covered by smoke an d a torpedo attack.
engage ment begin at long range (I8,000 yards) and th at in the early stages he wo uld not close insid e 14 ,000 yards . Once th e weigh t of gunfire had red uced Ge rman
Scheer's tactics in the battl e itse lf were dri ven by the fact th at he was heavily
streng th, he wo uld close to 10,000 yards to finish th e enemy. British destroyers were
o utn um bere d; in d readn ou gh ts th e edge was 28 to 16 an d 9 to 5 in battlecr uise rs,
to be emp loyed in an entirely defensive role. j ellicoe's third precept was sim ple - the Gran d Fleet wo uld rely on centralized control: him.
favo uring the Brit ish . This translat ed into a sign ificant Britis h adv antage in
Opening mov ement s of the battle of Jut land , 31 May 1916
,
" ~;f
o
40 mites
~
0300 hrs
o
I
4Qkm
Pent land
Firth
NORWAY
MorayFirth
The Naze 1430hrs
•
OOOOhrs
· Cromarty
Grand Fleet Rendezvous
HighSeas Fleet
•
Rendezvous
1430hr s
JutlandBank 1200 hrs
JUTLAND 1430hr s
\ Horns Reef
Dogger Bank
-----u-s2z---1 \
J ----------- 1
.
UB21 Humber
I J
r------~~;- -----r I :
I 1
1
L_ l l- - ~-l I_I I U46 I
-- "t==__
~. )0
R. [lb.
Wilhelmshaven• .
J
ENGLAND
, i
HOLLAND ) i
i
!
r- ......J I
\'-
----
German submarine areas
-\ j
/i
54
,.'
\,
N
A 55
firepower as well. T he Briti sh dre adnoughts carri ed a total of 272 heavy guns, while th e Ge rma n dr eadnoughts bro ught 200 he avy guns to th e fight. Battlecrui ser firepower was also stacke d in favo ur of th e British, with 7 2 heavy gu ns against
THE BATTLECRUISER PHASE
44 for th e Ge rma ns . To top off Schee r's ch alle nge , th e British had a gene ra l
Hipper spotted the British battlecruisers first. He reversed his course to th e so uth to
speed ad van ta ge. Becau se Sche er had relented and decid ed to brin g th e pr e-
draw the un wary British upon Scheer's dreadnought s. Beatty was mo re th an willing to
d readnoughts of II Battle Squadron with th e Hi gh Seas Fleet, he was restricted to
give chase. By his observations, his force faced onl y five Ge rman battlecrui sers, With
a maximum speed of 18 kn ots, whi ch was 2-3 knots slowe r th an the Grand Fleet .
a 10-5 advantage in capital ships and superior speed, he was sure that a decisive victory
Lik ewise, the newest of Beatty's battlecruisers po ssessed a 3-knot adva ntage over Hipper's form ation .
was at hand. For th e next hour, from 1545 until 1640hrs, th e battle crui sers would slug it out suppo rted by th e four super-d read no ughts of the 5th Battl e Squadron. When th e rang e reached 16,500 yards, Beatty swung his six battlecru isers into line to engage th e Ge rma ns. The 5th Battl e Squadron was now some 7 miles behind.
FIRST CONTACT
Hipper's battlecruisers were on a parallel course to th e sout h-east, and they op ened fire at about the sam e time . From the start, Ge rma n gunnery was excellent. T he first salvo was 200 yards sho rt , but the next st raddled its tar gets , gain ing early hits. Within
By 28 May 1916, Room 40 had provided ample evidence th at so meth ing unusual
minutes, three of th e Brit ish battlecruis ers had been hit multiple times. The British ,
was stirring in th e N orth Sea. On 30 M ay, it appeared th at a major operation by the
facin g un favourable light co nd itio ns, and handicapped by smoke, overshot consistently. By 1555hrs, the ran ge was down to 13,000 yards.
Hi gh Seas Fleet was imminent. In reaction, the Admiralty brought the G rand Fleet to readiness th at afternoon . That evening, ] ellicoe led th e bulk of the G rand Fleet
T he excellent Ge rma n shoo ting was soo n rewarded. At 1603h rs, after bein g str uck
(16 dr eadnoughts and three battlecrui sers) out fro m Scapa Flow, soon to be join ed
by two salvoes from the bartlecrui ser Von der limn, Indefiztigable blew up, killing 1,0 17
by ano th er eight dr eadnoughts from C ro ma rty. Beatty's Battle C ru iser Fleet
of her crew. Beatty's flagship Lion was hit multiple times and avo ided the fat e of
departed the Firth of Forth with six battlecruisers and th e four fast dreadnou ghts of th e 5th Battle Squadron.
Indefiuigable by flooding th e m agazine of her am idships 13.5in turret. T he accur ate G erman fire forced Beat ty to op en th e rang e to 18,000 yards.
Since th e H igh Seas Fleet did not leave until early on th e morning of 31 M ay, the
M akin g 24 .5 knots, th e four ships of th e 5th Battl e Squ adron strugg led to get into
British had beaten th e Germa ns to sea, but th eir departure was far from incident free.
range. Finally, at 1610hrs, they brought th eir 15in guns to bear and gained qui ck hits
As th e G rand Fleet steam ed at an econo mical 15 knots, zigzagging due to the threat
on two G erman battlecrui sers. Yet thi s fire d id not stop barrlecrui sers Derfflinger and
of su bmarines, ]e llicoe received a signal from the Admiralty at 1248hrs incorrectly
Seydlitz from concent rating a bombardment on th e bart lecrui ser Queen Mary. Hit in
informing him th at th e Germans were not at sea. This gross error was the result of
her amidships ma gazine , she blew up at 1626hrs with th e loss of all but eight of her
poor judgem ent from th e Director of th e Operations D ivision at the Admiralty. It
crew of 1,274 . Her destruction was witn essed by th e navigat ing offic er o n th e battlecrui ser New Zealand:
was also a cru cial error; had ] ellicoe been informed th at th e Ge rma ns were at sea, he could have increased his speed to enga ge th e Ge rmans earlier in the day. Perhap s more importantly, when ]ellico e received subseq uent information from th e Admi ralty on the Germans' locatio n, he tended to ignore it. The greatest clash of dre adnoughts in history began inn ocentl y enough . T he light cruiser Galatea on Beatty's port wing spo tted a plume of smoke 8 mi les away - thi s was a Danish freighter blowing off steam . Upon investigating the contact, Galatea reported two Germ an warships, wh ich were also investigating the smoke, and sen t a report to Beatty at 1420hrs. Beatty reacted quickly and ord ered his fleet to go to battle
56
Seyd li tz was t ypi cal of
the German approac h to battl ecrui ser design, wit h
stations, increase speed to 22 kn ots and head to th e sout h-east to cur the Germa ns off
an emphasis on prot ecti on.
from their bases. A communications Iailurc, however, separated th e four d readnoughts of the 5th Battle Squadron from Beatty's battlecrui sers.
Her l l in main belt armour made her as well protec ted as most Brit ish battl eship s.
As the respectiv e battl ecruise r fleets joined for battle, the opposing dre adnought forces were hours away. ]ellicoe was some 65 mi les to the north, at least three hours'
Accordi ngly, th e Germans
stea m ing tim e. In respon se to Galatea's messages that th e Germa n forc e included
a squadron of fast battl eship s
battlecruisers, he increased speed to 19 kn ots. Scheer was some 50 mi les to the sout h .
never felt t he need to design like th e Roya l Navy 's Queen Elizabe th class.
57
Malaya was assigned to t he 5t h Batt le Squadron and was
•
in t he th ick of the fig hting at
ID German flagship
Germanship
•
British ship
N
ID British flagship
A
Jutl and. She fired 215 rounds at the Germans, wit h good resu lts. In ret urn, she received eight hits by heavy
GRAND FLEET
she lls, but suffe red no major damage. However, 63 of her crew were ki lled and another
1st Battle Squad ron
68 wou nded.
1st Light
Morlborough
Cruiser
,
,,*", "
Squadron ,," ""
"
/ '
~,
/ ..
./
, ' 2nd Light ....
Cruiser
::.~.:
...................
2nd Battle Squadron
4th Battle
',.,.sqU. dron
..
....
Colossus
. . -..
SqU.•.
,
Barham
'..
, ' .~ 5th Battle Squadron
Iron Duke
' 1D• • • • • • • ~lng George v
·
.....
1st 8: 2nd Battle Cruiser
. . . sudden ly I saw a salvo hit Queen Maryo n her porr side. A sma ll cloud of what looked like coal-d ust came our from where she was hit, bur nothing more unt il several moments later, when a terrific yellow flam e with a heavy and very dense mass of black smoke
~- \ Worsplre
showed ahead, and the Queen Mary herself was no lo nger visible.
OPPOS ITE: Fleet Action
In an effort to bring relief to his heavy shi ps, Beatty ordered 12 destroyers to deliver tor pedo attacks on the German battlecr uisers. T hese attacks were co untered by
1830 -1835h rs
H ipper, who ordered a light cruiser and 15 destroyers to attack the British heavy ships.
.~ Lion
.......•.•.•..
InVinc;~':'
Squadron
" Inflexible
[sunk) 3rd Battle Cruis er Squadron
t
TorpedoBoat Flotilla
.:..
..A.
Defence
.
........
...........................
..
.
3rdllght Cruiser Squadron
.:..•. IIISquadron
........:._•..::.;_....~ ...•~...}
. ..,.: Briti sh flag ship
hz;::q o
lmiles
I
l km
British or break through to the east and head for home. None of this happ ened . When the Germa n fleet reappe ared out of the mist, the British quickl y responded.
Fleet Action 191D-191Shrs
By 19 15hrs, the enti re Grand Fleet was pouring fire on the H igh Seas Fleet from a range of betwe en 11,000 an d 14,000 yard s. Again the van of Schee r's fleet was hammered and was un able to respond effectively. T he onl y damage suffered by the British was two hits on the battleship Colossus that caused minor damage and wounded five men. Of note, these were th e only gunfire casualties suffered by any Gra nd Fleet dreadnought during th e ent ire battle . In cont rast, during this phase in the clash the British hit the Ge rma ns with 37 large-calibre shells. For a second tim e, Scheer was faced with an im mediate decision to save his fleet. He ord ered the fleet to prepa re to execute another battl e about-turn . T his was to be covered by an advance by Hipper's battlecruisers to cover the withdrawal and by a massed destro yer attac k. At 1913hrs, Hipper's battered battlecruisers began th eir charge against the Grand Fleet. Though it lasted for only four minutes, this 'death ride' constituted on e of the most dramatic and controversial mom ent s of the battle. The death ride was followed by an att ack by 14 destro yers, aimed at th e G rand Fleet's dreadnoughts. T he destroyers came to with in 8,000 yards of the British battleline 66
before launching 3 1 torp edoes. An observer abo ard Conquerordescribed the action:
6i
At 7. 14 observed enemydestroyers attacking, and fired on them for eight minutes.T hey
T here were several potenti al rou tes for Schee r to take thro ugh th e Ge rma n and
weremaking a veryheavysmokescreen, and were never on the samecoursefor more than
British min efields to get home. O ne was the long route aro und Den mark to the Baltic.
a minute at a time, turning, twisting, wriggling, and disappearing into their own smoke,
T his option was im med iately dismi ssed as too long, especia lly given th at ma ny
only to reappear again almost immediately at a different place.
Ge rman ships were dam aged. T he closest route to the curre nt location of the German
Now Jellicoe was forced to ma ke an instant decision that wo uld have great im pact
of the Am rum Bank. T his was th e ro ure Schee r had taken en route to battl e on
on th e course of the battl e. In orde r to present a m uc h sma ller target to th e
3 1 May. T he other possibilities called for the Ger mans to steer sout h-west towa rds th e
fleet was south-east to th e H orn s Reeflights hip an d then south behin d the minefields
approac hing tor pedoes , he could either tu rn his dreadn ou gh ts into th em or turn away
Ems River and then head east to Wi lhelms haven, or to steer sout h towards Hel igoland
fro m th em. If he turned into th em , th e speed of th e advancing to rpedoes combined
and the n hom e. For his parr, Jellicoe doub ted th at th e Ge rma ns wo uld attemp t to
with th e speed of his own ships wo uld leave litt le m argin for erro r in executi ng evasive
break th rou gh the British fleet again to reach Horns Reef, so he decided to head sout h.
ma noe uvres . It wo uld, however, place him in an excellent position to resum e the
Scheer knew that the Gra nd Fleet was located to his south-east, so an escape to the
pursuit of th e now disorgan ized Ger man fleet. If he turned away, th e closing speed of
sout h seemed out of the qu estion. H e decided to take the sho rtest way hom e via H orns Reef, now only 85 m iles away, by passing astern of the Gra nd Fleet. At 2 110hrs he
th e to rpedoes would be m uch reduced and ma ny wo uld pro bably run ou t of fuel before reachi ng their intended targets. While preservi ng th e G rand Fleet's
gave orders to steer to the south-east at 16 kno ts, stop ping at nothin g until H o rns Reef
d readno ugh ts fro m und erwater damage, th e eventuality most feared by Jellicoe, it wo uld allow th e Ger ma n fleet to get away.
was reached. He asked for airship reconnaissa nce of the H orns Reef area at daybreak.
In the most single controversial decision of th e battle, Jellicoe chose to turn away fro m th e Ge rmans. T he ma noe uvre was successful in defea ting the Ge rman to rpedo
T he un dam aged dread nou gh ts Westfizlen, Nassau, Rheinland and Posen moved into the van to lead the breakth rou gh.
attac k - only 2 1 torpedoes reached the British dread no ughts, and, despite several close
W hat transpired on the night on 3 1 May to 1 June was a series of confusing an d savage clashes between the British destroyer flotillas and the heavy units of the Hig h
calls, non e hi t the ir target. T he tactical cost, however, was high; Scheer's desperat e
Seas Fleet. T he Ge rma n destroyers, feared by Jellicoe, played no role in the com bat.
cou nterattacks allowed him to disengage just as it appeared th at the H igh Seas Fleet was abo ut to be smas hed by the G rand Fleet's overwhelming gun powe r. Again,
show n by the dr ead nou ghts of the Grand Fleet and the critical lack of profession alism
followi ng th is turn away, Jellicoe did not know where Scheer was. In fact, he had broken contact and was 15 m iles away. Yet as night fell, the British were still between the H igh Seas Fleet and hom e. Jellicoe had every expecta tion th at th e next morning wo uld see the destru ction of the German fleet.
T he mos t rem arkable aspect of the night battl e was the un iversal lack of initiative exhibited by th e Admiralty in passing inte lligence to Jellicoe, inte lligence tha t could have cha nged th e battl e.
As the two fleets converged, with the Grand Fleet heading sout h at 17 knots and the High Seas Fleet heading south-east at 16 knots, the first elements to make contact were the fleet's respective scouting forces oflight cruisers. In a clash at less than 1,000 yards, an old German light cruiser was sunk and a British light cruiser was heavily damaged.
THE HIGH SEAS FLEET BREAKS THROUGH
Jellicoe still had no reason to believe th at th e Ger mans were no t headi ng south. He int erpreted th e sound of com bat to his rear as the expected clash between destroyers. Even at 2241 hrs, a message from the Admira lty that contai ned the contents of Scheer's
Given what he perceived as Ger man advantages in both train ing an d equipment for
2 110hrs orde rs failed to change his plans. By this time, after a series of m isleading or
night com bat, Jellicoe had no desire to seek an engagement with th e Ger ma ns unt il
simply incor rect reports, j ellicoe's confidence in intelligence provided by the Admira lty
dayligh t. Afte r 2 1OOhrs, he returne d th e Gra nd Fleet to cru ising form ation . Since he
had reached its nadir. Inexplicably, the Adm iralty failed to forward to Jellicoe Scheer's
still believed th e German fleet to be located to his no rth-wes t, Jellicoe deployed all of
request for airship reconnaissance of Horns Reef. Ha d this been don e, Jellicoe wo uld
his destroyers behind his dread no ugh ts to deal with any German night to rpedo attac k
have been in no doubt about the Germans' inten ded escape route. Even more inexcusable
against his vulnera ble heavy ships. Jellicoe had reason to be conce rned about a night actio n. In addition to the German superiority in to rpedoes, th e Ge rmans had trained heavily for n igh t engage me nts.
68
was the fact that th e airship message was on ly one of seven messages int ercepted and deciphered by Room 40 which gave the Hi gh Seas Fleet's course or positio n between 1043 and 01 OOhrs. No ne of these were passed by th e Admi ralty to Jellicoe.
T hey possessed larger and better searchlights and had incorporated th em into th eir
By 223 0hrs, Scheer's dreadnoughts began encountering the British destroyers in the
nigh t gun nery techniques. T ho ugh confident of th e night-figh ting capabilities of his ships, howev er, Scheer had only one th ou gh t in m ind - escape. H e wo uld have to act
rear of th e Gra nd Fleet's formation . In a series of close-range clashes, the 4th Destroyer
quickly, as dawn wou ld break at 0200 hrs and full dayligh t wo uld be reach ed an hour later.
Flotilla was batt ered by th e leadi ng Ger man battl eship s. Four British destroyers were sunk o r left sinking, and ano the r th ree were heavily dam aged. One of th ese was rammed by th e dr ead nou ght Nassau, but was able to retu rn home desp ite losing 60ft /
of plat ing from th e side of her hull. In return, th e Briti sh destroyers to rpedoed a Germa n light crui ser, whic h was later abando ned . Ano the r German light cru iser collided with th e dreadnought Posen and was later abandoned . T he sacrifice of the destroyers was in vain ; non e mad e a contac t report to Jellicoe. More inexplicable was th e fact that th e several British dreadn ough ts that identi fied the Ge rman battl eship s moving east neither engaged them nor made a contact report. Later, the armoured cru iser Black Prince came across thr ee dreadn ought s of Scheer's I Squadron, including his flagship Friedrich der Grosse. T he dreadnought s engaged the poorly armoured cruiser at po int-blank range. Black Prince blew up with the loss of her enti re crew of 900 . At about 0 145hrs, th e G ermans encountered another group of British destroyers from the 12th Flotilla. T hese were able to fire 17 torp edoes at the Germa n heavy ships at a range of only 2,000-3,000 yards. Non e of the dreadn oughts were hi t, but pre-dreadnought Pommern was struck by a single to rpedo, causing a catastrophic explo sion th at destro yed th e ship and killed all 844 aboard. T his is how the actio n looked from on e of the British destroyers: At 2 minures past 2 the
Faulknor fired her first torp edo, which probably passed ahead of
STATISTICS AND ANALYSIS
the second enemy ship.. . About two minu tes later the secon d torped o was fired, bu t almost simultaneo usly with this the Ger mans sighted our flotilla, and all their battleships opened fire, together with the light cru isers astern of their line who po ured a partic ularly heavy fire on us. T he sea seemed to be alive with bursting shells and the air with the whistle of passing projectiles. T he range was if anything und er 1,500 yards, and 'overs' mu ch predominated. noise and shock she seemed first of all to open our, then to close together, then to go.
Most analysis of the battle of Jutl and starts with the numbers of ships and men lost by each side. Yetstrategically, this misses the point . T he battle changed nothing with regards to the overall situation at sea. Wh atever tactical success the Ger mans could claim , the
With th is final action, Scheer had broken through the Gra nd Fleet. At no tim e
blockade of Germany remained intact. T he most succinct comm ent ary about the battle was attr ibuted to a journalist who offered, 'The German fleet had assaulted its jailer and
Sud denly a hu ge explosion too k place on the third Ger ma n ship, and with a deafenin g
did Jellicoe receive a report of Ge rman dreadn oughts being engaged. All present on Iron Duke's bridge conti nued to believe th at the sounds of com bat and period ic flash of searchlights to the north was nothing more than a series of destroyer actions. Finally at 0230hrs, Jellicoe moved his fleet toward s Horn s Reef, but it was too late to catch th e G ermans outside of thei r protective minefields. By 1300hrs on 1 June, leading element s of the Hi gh Seas Fleet reached the mouth
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