It was the height of the First World War. Despite Germany’s formidable gains in
Continental Europe, its High Seas Fleet continued to be constrained to port by the much
more powerful Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy. After taking command of the
fleet, Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer was determined to break free of
the brutal blockade once and for all. Thus, he devised a plan to split the
British Grand Fleet into a smaller group, lure them into a trap, and destroy them
before the larger group could intercede. Scheer ordered his first Scouting Group
under Franz Hipper to venture north with the intention to lure Sir David
Beatty’s battlecruiser fleet out to sea while keeping Sir John Jellicoe’s Grand
Fleet unconcerned with the minor conflict. Once engaged, Hipper would dash south
with Beatty’s fleet in hot pursuit and lead the British right into
the muzzles of Scheer’s fleet, delivering an unprecedented
blow to the British Royal Navy. On May 31, 1916, Scheer successfully lured
Beatty’s fleet into the Northern Sea; however, he was unaware that the British had
intercepted and decoded his communications and would now have to face the
full might of the Royal Navy. The ensuing battle would become
the last major confrontation fought primarily between battleships in world history... Knowing Their Place It had been two years since
the start of World War 1, and no major naval battles had taken place so far. The Germans knew that their High Seas Fleet was
numerically inferior to the British Grand Navy, which had centuries of tactical naval
tradition that often gave them an advantage. Meanwhile, the British figured that
as long as the German fleet didn’t pose a threat to their sealines and supply ships, it wasn’t worth trying to destroy it and
risk being targeted by their feared U-boats. Thus, the German Navy made no efforts to leave
its ports, leaving the work to the submarines. On the other hand, the British left the German
ships alone, imprisoned in their own waters. The Germans planned to use their U-boats to
slowly reduce the number of British warships until their fleet would be weakened enough
for the High Seas Fleet to destroy it. However, the British were not too concerned
about the German submarines by then and did not feel compelled to unleash
their Grand Fleet into the Northern Sea. It was until Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer
replaced the cautious Admiral Hugo von Pohl as Commander in Chief of the High Seas
Fleet that peace would be threatened. Knowing that he could not hope to
face the entire Royal Navy fleet, Scheer devised a plan to lure
a smaller section out to sea and destroy it before the rest of the
British Navy could do anything about it. The Trap Scheer’s first order of business was
to split the colossal Grand Fleet. To achieve this, he orchestrated the shelling
of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth on April 25, 1916. With such an aggressive move,
Scheer expected the British fleet to send some of its units south, where
the Germans would be waiting to attack. The plan worked, as Commander in
Chief Admiral Sir John Jellicoe sent the 5th Battle Squadron south from the main
British naval base at Scapa Flow in Scotland to strengthen Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty’s
1st and 2nd Battle Cruiser Squadrons at Rosyth. It was this bolstered fleet that
Scheer hoped to ensnare and destroy before anyone could come to the rescue. Beatty’s forces now comprised six battle cruisers
and four queen Elizabeth-class dreadnoughts. With this smaller fleet now heading south,
Scheer launched the second part of his trap and sent Vice-Admiral Franz
von Hipper to engage it. Hipper’s scouting group consisted of the battle cruisers Lützow, Derfflinger,
Seydlitz, Moltke, and Von der Tann, accompanied by four light cruisers steaming
north to a point off the Norwegian coastline. The presence of Hipper’s fleet in northern
waters would hopefully lure Beatty’s ships to intercept it. The plan was that Sheer would
be following 50 miles behind the scouting group, and once the smaller fleets engaged,
he would preclude the British with the entire force of the High Seas Fleet
to destroy them in one swift attack. With Beatty’s fleet destroyed, the High
Seas Fleet would be in a much better position to confront Jellicoe and contend
for naval supremacy in the Northern Sea. Turning the Tables Scheer’s plan was well organized, but the Germans
didn’t know that the signal relaying the orders to the fleet was intercepted by British intelligence,
who knew that a large-scale operation was looming. Jellicoe was immediately notified, and even
before Hipper’s scouting group left port, the entire Grand Fleet was at sea, dashing
at full speed to meet with Beatty’s fleet near the entrance to the Skagerrak, not far
from where the Germans wanted to engage them. It wouldn’t be until 1:00am the following day, May
31, that Hipper’s scouting group went out to sea spearheading a force of over 100 ships manned
by approximately 45,000 officers and sailors. Scheer had no idea that his trap scheme would
be interrupted by an ambush of over 151 ships and 60,000 men in what would become the
biggest naval battle in history by then. Enemy In Sight By 1:30pm on May 31, both fleets were
moving in a direct collision course, but neither side knew how close they
actually were to the enemy. At that point, Hipper had no way of knowing if his move north
was successful in luring out Beatty’s fleet. Meanwhile, the British were certain
the move would turn out to be another fruitless sweep and that they would not
encounter any German vessels. This idea was reinforced once Jellicoe learned that the
call sign of the German flagship was still being heard from the Jadebusen port, indicating
that the German ships had not actually moved. At 2:20pm, both German and British sailors sighted
smoke rising from a small ship in the distance. Both factions sent torpedo boats to investigate, and even though it turned out
to be a Dutch merchant ship, the sailors spotted each other and the cries of
“enemy in sight” could be heard on both sides. The bulk of the Royal Navy Grand Fleet was
still 56 miles north of Beatty’s position, and the Germans initially
believed they had the upper hand. As soon as the torpedo boats
started to engage each other, Hipper and Beatty moved their
main warships towards them, and by 3:20pm, both fleets were in line facing
each other and ready to unleash their guns. Soon, Hipper’s flagship, Lützow, fired at
the British ships. There was no turning back. The Battle During the encounter’s initial
phase, the German fleet proved to be much more proficient with
its guns than the British one, which was severely struggling with accuracy as
most of their shells flew over the German ships. Meanwhile, the Germans achieved hit after hit,
delivering significant damage to Beatty’s forces. The Lion, Princess Royal, and the
Tiger ships were hit repeatedly, and Indefatigable, caught by two salvoes
from Von der Tann, soon capsized and sank. The 5th Battle Squadron then joined the British
line after being left behind on the initial dash to face each other. Their heavy guns caused such
devastating damage to Hipper’s battle cruisers that the German torpedo boats had
to move between the two forces to draw some of the fire being
dealt upon the German warships. Nevertheless, the Germans continued
to show formidable precision, and soon the British battlecruiser Queen
Mary blew up with a splintering explosion, having been hit in her main magazine. Then, as the battle raged on, a British
Light Cruiser Squadron patrolling south of Beatty’s main force spotted Scheer’s High
Seas Fleet approaching the battlefront. Epic Encounter After learning that the entire German
fleet was participating in the battle, Beatty immediately withdrew from the engagement,
leading the Germans to think he was retreating when he was actually luring them north
into the full might of the Grand Fleet. The situation was critical, visibility
was dropping drastically, and Jellicoe was still about 40 miles off Beatty’s position,
traveling in a six-column formation. Moreover, Jellicoe still ignored the enemy fleet’s exact
position and urgently needed that information to decide when to shift into a
single-line attack formation. As desperation was taking over, Jellicoe suddenly
received a radio transmission from Beatty indicating the position and
direction of the German fleet. In the most consequential decision of
the entire battle, Jellicoe ordered his main battle fleet to deploy on the port
wing division, thus giving the British the benefit of what little light remained
and cutting the line of Scheer’s retreat. Then, as the last British battleship turned
into line, the gloom cleared slightly to reveal the leading ships of the High
Seas Fleet heading directly to them. About 100 warships were now ready to fire
in the direction of the German forces. The moment was an absolute triumph for Jellicoe,
as the German fleet found itself restricted to using its frontal guns while continuing
to advance toward the British trap. A barrage of destruction then rained down on the
High Seas fleet, but thanks to the German robust ship construction and the British deficient
munitions, the German fleet wasn’t immediately destroyed. They even managed to destroy
HMS Invincible before ordering a retreat. The maneuver was executed perfectly,
with the German torpedo ships launching smoke screens to cover Scheer's retreat,
while the British remained confused as they witnessed the Germans fleeing
after only losing a few warships. A Foolish Decision In a surprising turn of events, Scheer suddenly decided to turn back
and charge the Grand Fleet again. It is still debated whether this was a
miscalculated attempt to encircle the British fleet or if he wanted to deal additional damage,
but the decision quickly turned against him. The British immediately unleashed all their
firepower upon the German vessels, sinking several ships. Realizing his mistake, Scheer
then ordered a second retreat, but this time the withdrawal was chaotic and unorganized, with many
German ships fleeing before the orders were given. It was the torpedo boats that saved the German
fleet from utter destruction, charging against the British ships and sacrificing themselves
to allow the High Seas fleet to survive. Meanwhile, the Grand Fleet attempted to cut
off Scheer’s retreat as darkness covered the Northern Sea. Still, in a final strategic
move, the German fleet went around the British and reached the mined waters of Horns Reef
before Jellicoe could learn of their position. The German High Seas Fleet was safe
and the British Grand Fleet victorious, but it came at too high a price. The British suffered more considerable losses
than the Germans in both ships and sailors: three battle cruisers, three cruisers,
and eight destroyers were sunk against one German battleship, one battle cruiser,
four light cruisers, and five torpedo boats. Also, the British casualties
more than doubled the Germans’. Despite the ultimate British victory,
the Germans also claimed to have won. Still, the battle’s results ended up affecting the
High Seas Fleet much more than the British one. Scheer had to remain in port for a long time, while the Grand Fleet was ready to patrol the
North Sea just four days after the encounter. Thank you for watching our
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