Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval combat action of World War I. It was fought between the British Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, and the German High Seas Fleet, led by Admiral Reinhard Scheer, from May 31 to June 1, 1916, in the North Sea, off the coast of the Jutland peninsula (Denmark). By May 1916, the stalemate of the static trench warfare had been the status quo of the conflict, with the Battle of Verdun raging on. So was the naval warfare, with the supremacy of sea being balanced and each of the imperial naval power hoping to destroy the other. Although there had been great development and advance in naval weaponry, with powerful 12 and 15-inch long-range naval guns and self-propelled torpedoes, the result of the battle was inconclusive as neither side could claim a clear and decisive victory.

The backbone of the fleets that took part in the Battle of Jutland was made up of Dreadnought-type battleships, battlecruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers, plus a few submarines and auxilliary vessels. The German commander, Admiral Scheer, had first planned to stage a raid on Sunderland, hoping to lure part of the British fleet out onto the high seas where the submarines and the rest of the German fleet would be lying in wait ready to attack. However, bad weather prevented zeppelin reconnaissance, and Scheer would not move without it for fear of falling into an ambush and having to face off against the whole British Grand Fleet. Therefore, on May 30, 1916, he fell back on an alternative plan; instead of bombing Sunderland, the German scouting force was to sail northward, from Wilhelmshaven as if it were to attack British shipping off the Danish and Norwegian coasts.

At 01:00 hours, on May 31, the German cruiser scouting group, under Admiral Hipper, began to make their way in a northeastward direction, while the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet was already sailing to a rendezvous that would result in one of the greatest naval battles of all time. At 14:30 hours on May 31, a Hipper's scouting group cruiser, which approached a Danish freight steamer, encountered a British counterpart, and opened fire on the enemy war vessel. As the heavy and light cruisers of the opposing scouting forces engaged each other in combat, the British Grand Fleet was heading for the battle at full speed. Meanwhile, the German battleships and battlecruisers headed northward to the site of engagement.

When the two fleets met, all hell broke loose. The warships maneuvered and veered around to fire their heavy naval guns on the enemy vessel broadsides. Although the Germans had sustained heavy losses, by 04:30 hours on June 1, they had also inflicted serious damage on the British, whose Grand Fleet had lost three battlecruisers (Queen Mary was one of them), three light cruisers, and eight destroyers, with two badly damaged battleships. Meanwhile, the Germans had lost eleven warships: one battleship, one battlecruiser, four light cruisers, and five destroyers.