Great Jutland Sea War

German Warships at Jutland

By 1914, navies were big, strong and highly mechanized. Even submarines had become effective fighting ships. The guns on the battleships and cruisers were long range and expressions such as "slugging it out toe to toe" still meant the huge vessels were firing at each other from several miles apart. There really were only two great fleet actions during World War I.

The most memorable action took place on May 31, 1916. The British called it the Battle of Jutland or the Great Jutland Sea War. The Germans referred to it as the Battle of Skagerraks. History books simply call it Jutland. It was in the North Sea that the grand fleets from these two formidable naval powers met that afternoon and evening.

Jutland was the biggest sea battle since the Spanish Armada. British Admiral Sir John Jellicoe went to sea with twenty-eight battleships, nine battle cruisers, eight armoured cruisers, twenty-six light cruisers and seventy-eight destroyers. He commanded one hundred and fourtynine war ships. His subordinate was Admiral Beatty.

The German fleet under Admiral Reinard Scheer met the English with twenty-two battleships, five battle cruisers, eleven light cruisers, and sixty-one destroyers, for a total of ninety-nine vessels. All through the daylight hours the Germans had the best of it. At night however, Jellicoe and his ships got the upper hand. Naval historians are still arguing about who really won this slugfest. Statistics tell us a lot. This was the first ever sea battle in which an airplane was actually launched from a ship, taking part in the conflict.

The saddest fact of all however is the enormous loss of life and ships in a conflict that did not prove decisive for either country. The British lost more ships and men. In total, English losses for that one action were fourteen ships and 6,097 men. On the German side 2,545 men were lost along with eleven of their ships. There had been grave failures on both sides. Reputation and traditions were at stake.

Disillusionment prevailed throughout the ranks. The British public believed Germany had won the battle. Even British Admiral Beatty's flag-lieutenant wrote to his mother, "It was probably one of the most fiercely contested and bloddiest naval battles in history, and the most powerful fleet but one was put to flight in exactly ten minutes, and escaped annihilation by the skin of their teeth. We have returned and are told there has been a disaster! Out losses are grievous! and our Admirals fools!" At the Great Jutland Sea War it would seem that the art of warfare had been trivialized by two opposing navies more concerned with survival than victory.

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