Jutland

In the afternoon of 31 May 1916, the British Grand Fleet and the German HIgh Seas fleet meet in the largest clash of big gun ships from the steel fleet era. The British hoped for a battle in the tradition of Trafalgar, while the Germans hoped to cripple major elements of the Grand Fleet. Admiral Scheer that day hoped to destroy a battlecruiser squadron under Admiral Beatty; he never expected to encounter the whole British Grand Fleet under Admiral Jellicoe. The end result was a German tactical victory, but it did them little good on the strategic balance. The question is were there alternatives of a tactical or strategical nature that would have allowed the German’s to gain the strategic victory over the Grand fleet they needed to change the course of the war?

 

  • Surface commerce raiding.
    Surface commerce raiding. Several German surface raiders, both cruisers and auxiliary ships had spectacular success during the Great War. But these were raiding the shipping of the greatest naval power, who had the units to run the German raiders down. In the end each of the raiders would be cornered and destroyed by British naval … Continue reading