bloodiest day
John Cornwell boy sailor HMS Chester
But in May 1916 the German admirals were eager to test the mettle of their High Seas Fleet against the apparently invincible Royal Navy . In command of the German ships at Jutland were Rear Admiral Franz Hipper and Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer . It was Hipper who had formulated the plan to try and split the British and engage Beatty ’ s more lightly armed ships with his Dreadnoughts .
British intelligence had intercepted communications that the Grand Fleet had put to sea and Jellicoe , in a bid to surprise the Germans , immediately ordered all ships to head towards the Danish coast off Jutland .
Beatty ’ s fleet of battlecruisers based in Rosyth were closer and arrived in Jutland waters sooner than the main fleet . And in the first phase of battle , Hipper ’ s battlecruiser fleet , moving ahead of the main German fleet , closed in for battle .
The German battlecruisers were outnumbered , out-gunned and slower than the British ships , but they had thicker armour that proved a match for the Royal Navy ’ s armour-piercing shells .
Despite his early losses Beatty sighted the oncoming High Seas Fleet and manoeuvred to draw Hipper ’ s force on Jellicoe ’ s approaching Dreadnoughts . In the heavy grey mists of the North Sea , there was confusion on both sides . And Hipper was surprised by the speed of the British arrival .
Hipper turned his ships around so that they sailed in parallel with the British battle line in the so-called “ run to the north ” phase of the battle . The two fleets exchanged massive salvoes of shellfire which inflicted considerable damage on Hipper ’ s battlecruisers . The German 11- inch and 12-inch guns were outmatched
by the 15-inch guns of four Queen Elizabeth Class Dreadnoughts .
Britain ’ s full Dreadnought fleet was in action for the first time and full weight of the ships ’ 15-inch guns kept up a devastating cannonade on the German fleet . But the Kaiser ’ s capital ships gave as good as they got as they closed to within 8,000 yards , in range of their own guns .
Two British battlecruisers the Defence and the Invincible were hit and sunk before the German fleet broke off the action in worsening weather . The Germans suffered 11 ships hit and half a dozen sunk before Hipper swung the entire German fleet across the British battle line towards Wilhelmshaven .
No fewer than 93 ships of the Imperial German fleet were able to make port safely . Covered by a smoke screen and fusillade of torpedoes , now it was decision time for Jellicoe : to continue pursuit of the German fleet , or risk disaster from a new kind of torpedo that “ intelligence ” reports
Dreadnought firepower ... 15-inch guns which battled it out as imperial navies clashed at Jutland 1916 said was indetectable by the human eye .
Jellicoe erred on the side of caution , and ordered the entire Grand Fleet to break off the action and return to port . Of such elusive fragments is history made .
There is still controversy over the British naval record at Jutland : quality of ships , armament and her sailors .
The German papers hailed Skaggerak Strait as a magnificent victory that had seen the Kaiser ’ s navy take out eight of Britain ’ s mightiest battleships .
But one of the the battle ’ s most heartrending episodes was the death of 16-year-old boy sailor John Cornwell who maintained his gun-turret role as his light cruiser sank . His bravery was later awarded the VC , making him the youngest holder of the nation ’ s highest award for gallantry .
The Anglo-Saxon press said the Boche had been bashed . One American paper , describing the outcome of the Battle of Jutland , said : “ The German Fleet has assaulted its jailor , but it is still in jail .” n
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