The Battle of Jutland was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916, in the waters of the North Sea, between forces of the Royal Navy Grand Fleet and Imperial German Navy High Seas Fleet. The battle involved 250 warships, and, in terms of combined tonnage of vessels engaged, was the largest naval battle in history.
The Royal Navy had established a blockade of the North Sea at the start of the war and the German Hochseeflotte could not match the larger Grand Fleet. The German plan was to use the threat of an attack by their battlecruisers on British ports to lure the British battlecruisers into a trap where they could be defeated by a superior force of battleships without encountering the rest of the Grand Fleet. Aware of all German naval movements, the British fleet sortied to support their battlecruisers and bring the German fleet to battle.
In the event, although more British ships were sunk or damaged, the overall strategic situation was unchanged.
Summary
Ships present
British capital ships carried a larger weight of broadsideâ compared to âÂÂthan the German ones.
The German Navy's torpedo boats were of similar size and function to the destroyers in the Royal Navy, and are often referred to as such.
Losses
Abbreviations
Officers killed in action are indicated thus:
Abbreviations for officersâ ranks (German ranks translated according to current NATO practice):
Adm / Admiral
VAdm / Vice-admiral : Vizeadmiral / VAdm
RAdm / Rear-admiral : Konteradmiral / KAdm
Cdre / Commodore : Kommodore / Kom
Capt / Captain : Kapitän zur See / KptzS
Cdr / Commander : Fregattenkapitän / FKpt
Lt Cdr / Lieutenant-commander : Korvettenkapitän / KKpt
Lt / Lieutenant : Kapitänleutnant / KptLt
SLt / Sub-lieutenant : Oberleutnant zur See / OLtzS
Other abbreviations
Frhr:Freiherr / title in the Prussian nobility equivalent to Baron)
SMS: Seiner Majestät Schiff / German; translation: His Majesty's Ship)
the Hon.: The Honourable
Royal Navy
Grand Fleet
Began sortie from Scapa Flow 9.30pm 28 May<br> The Grand Fleet was the main body of the British Home Fleets in 1916, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth in Scotland.
Commander-in-chief, Grand Fleet: Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, in HMS Iron Duke
Second in Command, Grand Fleet: Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney, in HMS Marlborough
: Chief of Staff: Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Madden,
: Captain of the Fleet: Commodore Lionel Halsey, C.B., C.M.G., AdC.
: Master of the Fleet: Captain Oliver Leggett
Battleships
2nd Battle Squadron (battleships)<br>
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Martyn Jerram
Sortied from Cromarty Firth; rendezvoused with Jellicoe's force around noon 31 May
1st Division: Vice-Admiral Jerram
: (flagship): Capt Frederick Field
: : Capt George Henry Baird
: : Capt Michael Culme-Seymour
: : Capt the Hon. Victor Stanley
2nd Division: Rear Admiral Arthur Leveson
: (flagship): Capt Oliver Backhouse
: : Capt George Borrett
: : Capt Hugh Tothill
: : Capt James Fergusson
Fleet Flagship (at head of 3rd Division but not part of 4th Battle Squadron)
: : Capt Frederic Charles Dreyer
4th Battle Squadron (battleships)<br>
Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet
3rd Division: RAdm Alexander Duff
: : Capt Crawford Maclachlan
: (flagship): Capt Edmond Hyde Parker
: : Capt William Nicholson
4th Division: VAdm Sturdee
: (flagship): Capt Henry Wise Parker
: : Capt Edward Francis Bruen
: : Capt Edwin Veale Underhill
: : Capt James Douglas Dick
1st Battle Squadron (battleships)<br>
Admiral Sir Cecil Burney
Chief of Staff: Commodore Percy Grant
5th Division: Rear Admiral Ernest Gaunt
: (flagship): Capt Dudley Pound
: : Capt James Clement Ley
: : Capt William Wordsworth Fisher
: Capt Vivian Bernard
6th Division: VAdm Burney
: (flagship): Capt George Parish Ross
:: Capt Edward Buxton Kiddle
: : Capt Lewis Clinton-Baker
: : Capt Henry Montagu Doughty
Cruisers
1st Cruiser Squadron (armoured cruisers)<br> Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet
2nd Cruiser Squadron (armoured cruisers)
Rear-Admiral Herbert Heath
4th Light Cruiser Squadron
Commodore Charles Edward Le Mesurier
Light cruisers attached for repeating visual signals
Other ships under direct command of the Commander-in-Chief
Destroyers
4th Destroyer Flotilla
Captain Charles John Wintour
(Faulknor-class flotilla leader, sunk 1 June) : Capt Wintour
- First half-flotilla / 4th D.F.
- : Lt Cdr Clarence Walter Eyre Trelawney
- (scuttled 1 June following collision): Lt Cdr Sydney Hopkins
- : Lt Cdr Reginald Stannus Goff
- : Lt Cdr Ernald Gilbert Hoskins Master
:: Group 8 / 4th D.F.
::: : Cdr Robert Gerald Hamond
::: : Cdr Richard Anthony Aston Plowden
::: : Lt Cdr the Hon. Cyril Augustus Ward (from 12th D.F.)
::: : Lt Cdr James Robert Carnegie Cavendish
- Second half-flotilla / 4th D.F.
- (): Cdr Walter Lingen Allen
- 3rd Division / 4th D.F.
- : Cdr Hugh Davenport Colville
- : Lt Cdr Arthur Macaulay Lecky
- 4th Division / 4th D.F.
- : Cdr Reginald Becher Caldwell Hutchinson, D.S.C.
- : Lt Cdr Gordon Alston Coles
- (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Arthur Marsden
- (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Frank Goodrich Terry
11th Destroyer Flotilla
Commanded by Commodore Hawksley in , a light cruiser
- First half-flotilla / 11th D.F.
- 1st Division / 11th D.F.
- : Cdr Harold Victor Dundas
- : Lt Cdr Julian Harrison
- : Lt Cdr Gerald Charles Wynter
- : Lt Cdr Henry Clive Rawlings
- 2nd Division / 11th D.F.
- : Cdr Claud Finlinson Allsup
- : Lt Cdr Robert Makin
- : Lt Cdr Edward McConnell Wyndham Lawrie
- : Lt Cdr Claude Lindsay Bate
- Second half-flotilla/11th D.F.
(Marksman-class flotilla leader): Cdr Harold Ernest Sulivan
- 3rd Division / 11th D.F.
- : Lt Cdr George Bibby Hartford
- : Lt Charles Granville Naylor
- : Lt Cdr Gerald Harrison
- 4th Division / 11th D.F.
- : Cdr (Acting) William Dion Irvin
- : Lt Cdr Ralph Vincent Eyre
- : Lt Cdr Hugh Undecimus Fletcher
12th Destroyer Flotilla
Captain Anselan John Buchanan Stirling
(Faulknor-class flotilla leader): Capt Stirling
- First half-flotilla / 12th D.F.
- 1st Division / 12th D.F.
- : Cdr George William McOran Campbell
- : Lt Cdr John Jackson Cuthbert Ridley
- : Lt Cdr Reginald Watkins Grubb
- : Lt Cdr Arthur Gerald Onslow
- 2nd Division / 12th D.F.
- : Cdr John Pelham Champion
- : Lt Cdr Henry Victor Hudson
- : Lt Cdr Eric Quentin Carter
- : Lt Cdr Henry Percy Boxer
- Second half-flotilla / 12th D.F.: Cdr Norton Allen Sulivan
- (Marksman-class flotilla leader): Cdr Norton Allen Sulivan
- : Cdr Charles Geoffrey Coleridge Sumner
- : Lt Cdr Herbert Inglis Nigel Lyon
- : Lt Cdr Charles Astley Poignand
- : Lt Cdr Spencer Francis Russell
- : Lt Cdr Edwin Anderson Homan
3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron
This squadron, temporarily attached to the Grand Fleet from the Battle Cruiser Fleet, was stationed ahead of the main body, with the intention that it join Beatty when the action began.<br> Rear-Admiral The Hon. Horace Hood,
Battle Cruiser Fleet
This force of high-speed ships was subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, but operated independently as an advanced guard, intended to reconnoiter the enemy fleet and to engage enemy scouting forces. At its core were six battlecruisers, accompanied by 13 light cruisers, and escorted by 18 destroyers and an early aircraft carrier. <br> Sortied from Firth of Forth soon after 6.00pm 30 May<br> Vice-Admiral Sir David Richard Beatty in HMS Lion
Chief of Staff: Capt Rudolph Bentinck
Battlecruisers
(flagship) Captain Ernle Chatfield
Light cruisers
Attached to the light cruisers was the seaplane tender (Lt Cdr Charles Gwillim Robinson) carrying two Short Type 184 reconnaissance seaplanes and two Sopwith Baby fighter seaplanes.
Destroyers
13th Destroyer Flotilla<br> Captain James Uchtred Farie
: (light cruiser): Capt Farie
1st Division / 13th D.F.
: : Lt Cdr Cecil Henry Hulton Sams
: : Lt Cdr Montague George Bentinck Legge
: : Lt Cdr Cuthbert Patrick Blake (attached from 10th D.F., Harwich Force)
: : Lt Cdr Roger Vincent Alison (detached to escort HMS Engadine)
2nd Division / 13th D.F.
: (sunk 31 May): Cdr the Hon. Edward Bingham
: (sunk 31 May): Lt Cdr Paul Whitfield
: : Lt Jack Ernest Albert Mocatta
: : Lt Cdr John Tovey (detached to escort HMS Engadine)
3rd Division / 13th D.F.
: : Lt Cdr Geoffrey Corlett
: : Lt Cdr Kenneth Adair Beattie
: : Lt Cdr Evelyn Thomson
: (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Dudley Stuart
Attached Harwich Destroyers (9th Destroyer Flotilla): Cdr Malcolm Lennon Goldsmith
: 1st division / 9th D.F.
:: : Cdr Goldsmith
:: : Lt Cdr Philip Wilfred Sidney King
:: : Lt Cdr Francis Edward Henry Graham Hobart
: 2nd division / 9th D.F.
:: : Cdr John Coombe Hodgson (from 10th D.F.)
:: : Lt Henry Dawson Crawford Stanistreet
:: : Lt Cdr Edward Sidney Graham (from 10th D.F.)
5th Battle Squadron
The 5th Battle Squadron was a special unit of fast s, intended to act as the vanguard of the main battle line. At the Battle of Jutland, it operated with the Battlecruiser Fleet, and was escorted by the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. <br> Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas<br> Sortied from Firth of Forth with the Battle Cruiser Fleet soon after 6.00pm 30 May
Battleships
: (flagship): Capt Arthur William Craig
: : Capt Maurice Woollcombe
: : Capt Edward Montgomery Phillpotts
: : Capt the Hon. Algernon Boyle
1st Destroyer Flotilla
: (light cruiser): Capt Charles Donnison Roper
: : Lt Cdr Laurence Reynolds Palmer
: 1st Division / 1st D.F.
:: : Cdr Charles Ramsey
:: : Lt Cdr Arthur Grendon Tippet
:: : Lt Cdr Charles Herbert Neill James
:: : Lt Francis George Glossop
: 2nd Division / 1st D.F.
:: : Cdr Charles Albert Fremantle
:: : Lt Cdr Edward Brooke
:: : Cdr Dashwood Fowler Moir
:: : Lt Cdr Alexander Hugh Gye
Imperial German Navy
High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte)
The High Seas Fleet was the main body of the German surface navy, principally based at Wilhelmshaven, on the Jade River in North-West Germany.<br />
Commander-in-Chief (Chef der Hochseeflotte): Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer in SMS Friedrich der Grosse
: Chief of Staff: KptzS Adolf von Trotha
: Chief of Operations: KptzS Magnus von Levetzow
Battleships
3rd Battle Squadron (III. Geschwader) (battleships)
Konteradmrial Paul Behncke
Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Frhr Ernst von Gagern
: 5th Division: KAdm Behncke
:: (flagship): KptzS Friedrich Brüninghaus
:: : KptzS Ernst Goette
:: : KptzS Constanz Feldt
:: : KptzS Karl Seiferling
: 6th Division: KAdm Hermann Nordmann
:: (flagship): KptzS
:: : KptzS Karl Heuser
:: : KptzS Karl Sievers
: Fleet Flagship (Flaggschiff der Hochseeflotte)
:: : KptzS Theodor Fuchs
1st Battle Squadron (I. Geschwader) (battleships)
Vizeadmiral Ehrhard Schmidt
Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Wolfgang Wegener
: 1st Division: VAdm Schmidt
:: (flagship): KptzS Ernst-Oldwig von Natzmer
:: : KptzS Hans Küsel
:: : KptzS Friedrich von Kameke
:: : KptzS Wilhelm Höpfner
: 2nd Division: KAdm Walter Engelhardt
:: (flagship): KptzS Richard Lange
:: : KptzS Heinrich Rohardt
:: : KptzS Robert Kühne
:: : KptzS Johannes Redlich
2nd Battle Squadron (II. Geschwader) (battleships)
Konteradmrial
Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Willy Kahlert
: 3rd Division: KAdm Mauve
:: (flagship): KptzS Hugo Meurer
:: : KptzS Rudolf Bartels
:: : KptzS Siegfried Bölken
: 4th Division: KAdm Frhr Gottfried von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels
:: (flagship): KptzS Wilhlem Heine
:: : KptzS Friedrich Behncke
:: : KptzS Eduard Varrentrapp
Light cruisers
IV. Aufklärungsgruppe ("4th Scouting Group", light cruisers)
Kommodore Ludwig von Reuter
Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Weber
: (flagship): FKpt Friedrich Rebensburg
: : KKpt Oscar Böcker
: (sunk 31st May): FKpt Georg Hoffman
: : FKpt Max Hagedorn
: : KKpt Gerhard von Gaudecker
Torpedo boats
German GroÃÂe Torpedoboote ("large torpedoboats") were the equivalent of British destroyers .<br />
First Leader of Torpedo-Boats
Kommodore Andreas Michelsen
:: (light cruiser; flagship 1st Leader of Torpedo-Boats): FKpt Otto Feldmann
1st Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (I. Torpedoboots-Flottille)
: 1st Half-Flotilla (1. Halbflottille): KptLt Conrad Albrecht
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Franz-Ferdinand von Loefen
:: : KptLt Richard Beitzen
:: : KptLt Hermann Metger
:: : KptLt Hermann Froelich
3rd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (III. Torpedoboots-Flottille)
Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Hollmann
:: (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Friedrich Götting
: 5th Half-Flotilla (5. Halbflottille) : KptLt Theophil Gautier
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Friedrich Ulrich
:: : KptLt Martin Delbrück
:: : KptLt Hans Scabell
: 6th Half-Flotilla (6. Halbflottille): Korvettenkapitän Theodor Riedel
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla) : KptLt Friedrich Eckoldt
:: : KptLt Otto Karlowa
:: : KptLt Bernd von Arnim
5th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (V. Torpedoboots-Flottille)
Korvettenkapitän Oskar Heinecke
:: (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Adolf Müller
: 9th Half-Flotilla (9. Halbflottille): KptLt Gerhard Hoefer
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Gerhard Hoefer
:: : KptLt Armin Barop
:: : OLtzS Hans Behrendt
:: : OLtzS Hans Röthig
:: : KptLt Manfred von Killinger
: 10th Half-Flotilla (10. Halbflottille): KptLt Friedrich Klein
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Ernst Rodenberg
:: : OLtzS Paul Tils
:: : KptLt Johannes Weinecke
:: : KptLt Hans Anschütz
:: : OLtzS Waldemar Haumann
7th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (VII. Torpedoboots-Flottille)
Korvettenkapitän Gottlieb von Koch
:: (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Max Fink
: 13th Half-Flotilla (13. Halbflottille): KptLt Georg von Zitzewitz
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Christian Schmidt
:: : KptLt Hans-Joachim von Puttkammer
:: : KptLt Albert Benecke
:: : KptLt Walter Loeffler
:: : KptLt Bruno Haushalter
: 14th Half-Flotilla (14. Halbflottille): Korvettenkapitän Hermann Cordes
:: (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Georg Reimer
:: : KptLt Arthur von Killinger
:: : OLtzS Wilhelm Keil
Scouting Force
Commander, Scouting Forces (Befehlshaber die Aufklärungsstreitkräfte): Vizeadmiral Franz Hipper
Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Erich Raeder
Battlecruisers
1st Scouting Group (I. Aufklärungsgruppe)<br> Vizeadmiral Hipper
- (flagship) (scuttled 1 June): KptzS Victor Harder
- : KptzS Johannes Hartog
- : KptzS Moritz von Egidy
- : KptzS Johannes von Karpf
- : KptzS Hans Zenker
Light cruisers
2nd Scouting Group (II. Aufklärungsgruppe)
Konteradmiral Friedrich Boedicker
: (flagship): KptzS Thilo von Trotha
: (scuttled 1 June): KFpt Rudolf Madlung
: : KFpt
: (sunk 1 June): KFpt Fritz ReiÃÂ
Torpedo boats
Second Leader of Torpedo-Boats
Kommodore Paul Heinrich
(light cruiser; flagship Second Leader of Torpedo-Boats): KFpt Bruno Heuberer
II. Torpedoboots-Flottille (2nd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla )
Commander Heinrich Schuur
(lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Theodor Hengstenberg
- 3. Halbflottille (3rd Half-Flotilla) KKpt Heinrich Boest
- (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Rudolf Schulte
- : KptLt von Barendorff
- : KptLt
- : KptLt Leo Riedel
- 4. Halbflottille (4th Half-Flotilla): KKpt Adolf Dithmar
- (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Victor Hahndorff
- : KptLt August Vollheim
- : KptLt Heinrich Schickhardt
- : KptLt Fritz Spiess
- : KptLt Georg von Bartenwerffer
VI. Torpedoboots-Flottille (6th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla)
Lieut. Commander Max Schultz
(lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Hermann Boehm
- 11. Halbflottille (11th Half-Flotilla) : KptLt Wilhelm Rüman
- (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Karl von Holleuffer
- : KptLt Siegfried Karstens
- : KptLt Kurt Grimm
- 12. Halbflottille (12th Half-Flotilla) KptLt Rudolf Lahs
- (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Robert Stecher
- : KptLt Martin LaÃÂmann
- : KptLt Bruno Krumhaar
- : KptLt Philipp Recke
- : KptLt Wolf von Trotha
IX. Torpedoboots-Flottille (9th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla)
Lieut. Commander Herbert Goehle
(lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Otto Lenssen
- 17. Halbflottille (17th Half-Flotilla ): KptLt Hermann Ehrhardt
- (sunk 31 May, lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Hartmut Buddecke
- : KptLt Hans Köhler
- : KptLt Franz Fischer
- : KptLt Werner Dette
- : KptLt Wilhelm Ehrentraut
- 18. Halbflottille (18th Half-Flotilla): Korvettenkapitän
- (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS' Ernst Wolf
- : KptLt Otto Andersen
- : KptLt Waldemar von Münch
- (sunk 31 May): KptLt Erich Steinbrinck
- (sunk 31 May): KptLt Friedrich Ihn
Submarines
Führer der Unterseeboote ("Leader of the U-boats") in the North Sea Fregattenkapitän Hermann Bauer in SMS Hamburg
The following submarines were deployed to attack the Grand Fleet in the North Sea during the period of the Battle of Jutland
Airships
During the battle the Germans used the Zeppelin airships of the Naval Airship Section (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung) for scouting, although in the prevailing overcast conditions they were not particularly successful. The commander of the Naval Airship Section was Korvettenkapitän Peter Strasser, and they flew from bases at Nordholz and Hage in north-west Germany and Tondern (then part of Schleswig; the town became part of Denmark in 1920).
Sortied on 31 May
L.9: KptzS August Stelling (Army Officer, on the inactive list)
L.14: KptLt Alois Böcker
L.16: KptLt Erich Sommerfeldt
L.21: KptLt Max Dietrich
L.23: KptLt Otto von Schubert
Sortied on 1 June
L.11: KptLt Victor Schultze
L.17: KptLt Herbert Ehrlich
L.22: KptLt Martin Dietrich
L.24: KptLt Robert Koch
Did not sortie during the Battle of Jutland
L.13: KptLt Eduard PrölÃÂ
L.30: OLtzS Horst Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels
Notes
References
Bibliography
External links