The Battle of Jutland (May 31 - June 1, 1916) is considered the largest naval battle in the history of mankind in terms of the total displacement and firepower of the ships that participated in it. And at the same time, a battle of incidents that will give historians food for thought for a long time to come.
It is difficult to add something new to the history of the battle itself. The course of the battles is described in such detail, the mistakes of the admirals have been chewed into dust by experts for 100 years, so we just have to refresh our memory of what happened.
By May 1916, the following situation had developed at sea: the British fleet was carrying out a long-range blockade, designed to economically strangle Germany. A very correct strategy.
The Germans, in turn, almost recovered from their setbacks and exaggerated the idea of equalizing their forces with the British fleet. The German fleet was constantly looking for a way to lure part of the Grand Fleet from its bases, and then isolate and destroy even before the main forces of the British fleet could retaliate.
According to this plan, the German fleet in 1916 made several exits to the shores of England, while shelling the English ports. One of these raids led to the Battle of Jutland.
The German fleet was commanded by Admiral Reinhard Scheer. He set a task for the fleet: to defiantly bombard the English port of Sunderland, lure the British ships into the open sea, direct them to their main forces and destroy them. Before the fleet went to sea, Scheer, fearing to stumble upon the superior forces of the British fleet, decided to make reconnaissance.
The English fleet, having some intelligence data, primarily the interception of German radio communications, which were carried out in plain text and the decryption of coded telegrams with the help of a cipher book seized by the Russian allies from the cruiser Magdeburg, learned the day the German fleet entered the sea and the approximate direction of movement.
Having received such information, Admiral John Jellicoe made a decision on the eve of the enemy fleet leaving to sea to deploy the English fleet 100 miles west of the Jutland coast.
In general, a big fight could not fail to happen.
Forces of the parties
Germany:
16 battleships, 6 battleships, 5 battle cruisers, 11 light cruisers, 61 destroyers
United Kingdom:
28 battleships, 9 battle cruisers, 8 armored cruisers, 26 light cruisers, 79 destroyers
151 British ships against 99 German ships. In general, the ratio is not in favor of the Germans.
The Grand Fleet had an undeniable advantage in the number of dreadnought battleships (28 versus 16 in the High Seas Fleet) and battle cruisers (9 versus 5).
British ships of the line carried 272 guns against 200 German ones. An even greater advantage was the mass of the side salvo.
The British ships were equipped with 48 381 mm, 10 356 mm, 110 343 mm and 104 305 mm guns.
On the German - 128 305 mm and 72 280 mm.
The ratio of the side salvo was 2.5: 1 - 150.76 tons for the British versus 60.88 tons for the Germans.
150 tons of metal in one salvo! Well, you can't help but take off your hat in front of such a figure!
The British advantage in armament was offset by thicker German armor. In favor of the Germans were the best division into underwater compartments and the organization of the fight for damage. Also, a softening role was played by circumstances that were given importance after the battle - British large-caliber shells were often destroyed when hit, and the cordite used in gun charges had an increased explosiveness.
For at least some compensation for the advantage of the Grand Fleet in the dreadnoughts, Scheer took the battleships of the 2nd squadron with him. They were of dubious value in a linear battle - low-speed battleships pinned down the rest of the German ships, being, according to the Germans themselves, "ships for 5 minutes of battle."
The British had an overwhelming advantage in cruisers - eight armored and 26 light ones against eleven light German ones. True, the British armored cruisers were poorly adapted for operations with the fleet - their speed was not much higher than that of battleships, their speed was insufficient compared to modern light cruisers, and they were inferior to battle cruisers in all respects.
Of the German ones, five cruisers of the 4th reconnaissance group were considered too slow and poorly armed by the standards of 1916. The number of British destroyers was also significantly higher. The latter circumstance was partially offset by the fact that the Germans even had an advantage in the number of torpedo tubes - 326,500 mm versus 260 533 mm for the British.
If the battle had taken place before the 3rd LKR Squadron joined Beatty (as it did in reality), the 5th Battleship Squadron might not keep up with the battlecruisers. And then the ratio of forces for battlecruisers became 6: 5. The distribution of destroyers was also not favorable for Beatty - against Hipper's 30 destroyers, he had 27 destroyers, while 13 of them were too slow for joint actions with battle cruisers.
But - this is already speculation.
How the battle took place, everyone can learn from a variety of sources. There is no point in re-printing the entire chronology of battles.
It is enough that for quite a long time the two fleets chased each other, the admirals made both mistakes and wise moves, the crews threw huge steel suitcases, smaller caliber shells, launched torpedoes, in general, were engaged in why, in fact, they left in the sea. Destruction of enemy manpower and equipment.
But it is worth talking about losses and results, if only because each of the parties considered itself the winner.
Losses
The British lost 14 ships with a total displacement of 111,980 tons. The number of crew members killed - 6,945 people.
German losses were more modest. 11 ships with a displacement of 62,233 tons and 3058 people killed.
It seems to be 1: 0 in favor of Germany.
In terms of the composition of the ships, everything is also not in favor of the British.
The British Navy lost 3 battle cruisers (Queen Mary, Indefatigable, Invisible) against one (Lutz) from Germany.
The Germans lost one of their old battleships (Pommern).
But the Germans sank three English armored cruisers (Diffens, Warrior, Black Prince) against four of their light cruisers (Wiesbaden, Elbing, Rostok, Frauenlob).
British losses in destroyers are also more significant: 1 leader and 7 destroyers against 5 German destroyers.
It is unambiguous that the Germans inflicted more damage on the types of ships.
The ships that received heavy damage and required lengthy dock repairs were approximately equal: 7 for the British, 9 for the Germans.
Who has won?
Naturally, both sides declared their victory. Germany - in connection with significant losses of the British fleet, and Great Britain - in connection with the apparent inability of the German fleet to break the British blockade.
If you look at the numbers, then clearly Britain received a significant click on the nose in the form of a lost battle. And the Germans quite rightly spoke about the victory.
Yes, the Germans fired more accurately (3.3% versus 2.2% hits), fought better for survivability, lost fewer ships and people. The British fleet fired 4598 shells, of which 100 hit the target (2, 2%), and used 74 torpedoes, 5 of them reached the target (6, 8%);
The German fleet fired 3597 shells and achieved 120 hits (3.3%) and 109 torpedoes, of which 3 (2.7%) hit the target.
But - there are nuances everywhere.
Let's look at the numbers. Other numbers. The British put up a third more ships than the Germans. And what is left behind the numbers? What reserves were there in case a global massacre suddenly occurred or the kraken appeared and dragged everyone to the bottom?
Battleships. Britain: 18 out of 32 participated in the battle. Germany: out of 18 - 16.
Battle cruisers. Britain: out of 10 - 9. Germany: out of 9 - 5.
Battleships. Britain: out of 7 - 0. Germany: out of 7 - 6.
Armored cruisers. Britain: out of 13 - 8. The Germans did not have such ships.
Light cruisers. Britain: out of 32 - 26. Germany: out of 14 - 11.
Destroyers. Britain: out of 182 - 79. Germany: out of 79 - 61.
That is, in principle, the answer. Britain could afford such losses. And they caused damage, perhaps, only pride, nothing more. The Germans, on the other hand, raked out virtually their entire fleet for this battle. And in the case of a different scenario, if the losses were doubled, the military operations at sea could be forgotten.
The result is this: the Germans won the battle, the British won the campaign and the war.
The British fleet retained its dominance at sea, and the German battleship ceased to take active action, which had a significant impact on the course of the war as a whole.
The German fleet was at the bases until the end of the war, and under the terms of the Versailles Peace was interned in Great Britain. Unable to use the surface fleet, Germany switched to unrestricted submarine warfare, which led to the entry of the United States into the war on the side of the Entente.
By the way, something similar happened in World War II.
Despite the fact that the fighting on land went with varying success, the naval blockade of Germany bore fruit. German industry was unable to provide the army with everything necessary, an acute shortage of food in the cities arose in the country, which forced the German government to capitulate.
The naval blockade at the beginning of the 20th century was a very serious thing.
True, one lesson, the Germans and the British learned from this battle. A general battle at sea could no longer bring those results and ensure victory, as, say, 50-100 years before. And in the Second World War, the parties no longer planned mass battles of steel giants, clad in armor.
All the rest of the mistakes made in the First World War, Germany very accurately repeated after some 20 years … And the war on several fronts, and the provision of industry with everything necessary.
Well, and the most fatal mistake: they again flooded to the east, to the Russians.
