by Steve Martin

Created on: January 11, 2009

The First World War naval battle which became known as The Battle of Jutland to the English and The Battle of Skagerrak to the Germans took place in 1916 between the British Royal Navy and the German fleet. The battle resulted in heavy losses to the British, both in terms of men and ships and Germany was quick to claim the battle as a victory. By the time the battle had finished, over six thousand British sailors had been killed and fourteen Royal Navy ships lay at the bottom of the sea.

However, most historians would now agree that the result of The Battle of Jutland was that it was a British victory. Although the number of German personnel who lost their lives was less than half the British losses and the German fleet lost fewer ships, the result of the naval battle was that the British had effectively destroyed the German ability to wage war at sea for the remainder of the war.

The British tactic during the war had been to use its sea power to create a blockade of Germany's northern coastline. This proved highly effective. However, in 1916, the German fleet came under the command of Admiral Reinhardt von Scheer. The new German naval commander decided that the blockade had to be broken. He decided to lure the British maritme forces out of the safety of their bases and use both submarines and ships to inflict a heavy defeat on them.

So, in April 1916, Scheer ordered his navy to attack to east coast English ports, hoping to goad the British fleet into responding. The next month he sent a large fleet of 40 ships to sail along the coast of Denmark. This was too much for the British and Admiral Jellicoe sent the British Royal Navy to intercept the German ships. This led to The Battle of Jutland/

In May, Scheer ordered Admiral von Hipper to sea with 40 ships to move along the Danish coast. The news of this movement reached Admiral Jellicoe in Rosyth. He saw this movement of such a large force as a provocative move and ordered the Grand Fleet to put to sea. Jellicoe's fleet was joined by that of Beatty who sent over 50 ships from the British naval base at Scapa Flow; the British therefore outnumbering the Germans.

The battle started on May 31st and fighting was fierce. Over one thousand British sailors died when the British battle cruiser The Indefatigable was sunk. The Queen Mary was sunk soon after, and then The Invincible. The battle was not going well for the British and things worsened when the German fleet was reinforced by the arrival of further ships.

However, the tide of battle turned when the British sank or damaged a number of German ships, including the Lutzow, Seydlitz and Derfflinger.

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