One hundred years ago today the Royal Navy and the German High Seas Fleet met in battle in the grey wastes of the North Sea. By the time the fighting had ended 25 ships had been sunk (14 British and 11 German) and some 10,003 seamen had been killed, wounded or captured (6,945 for the British and 3,058 for the Germans).
The German navy had, according to theAmerican press of the time, "Assaulted its jailer but was still in jail". The Royal Navy had not destroyed the Germans in a second Trafalgar but it ensured that the High Seas Fleet would never again try to force a conclusion in the North Sea and so instead they would look to the submarine to challenge Great Britain's command of the oceans.
It was the first and last great clash of the battle fleets before the aircraft carrier came to dominate naval warfare.
For my own part the battle has fascinated me for some thirty years and using the Avalon Hill game of Jutland enabled me to refight the operation on numerous occasions. Regular readers of the blog will no doubt remember my grandiose plans for the centenery - none of which will be realised - but unfortunately life has gotten in the way and so my ideas have been drastically scaled back.
I will extend my best wishes though to all that are taking part in anything Jutland related to commemorate the battle - for my own part I will make my rather more modest plans accordingly - and I feel sure that, whatever has been undertaken to mark the event that the participants will not forget the bravery and sacrifice of all that took part, from both sides, on that fateful day.
Is that John travis Cornwall in the picture. Gunner on HMS Chester got a VC
ReplyDeletePut it on the table gentlemen - are you with Beatty or Jellicoe?
ReplyDelete10,000 word or less please :-)
What a great blog entry!
ReplyDeleteThe battle was a very significant one, and it is good to see that it is being commemorated both publicly and privately. I know that you intend to stage your own refight of the battle, and look forward to reading about it.
All the best,
Bob
PS. Johntheone is correct; that is a picture of Boy 'Jack' Cornwall VC.
Hi Johntheone,
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. The Chester and her sister ship, Birkenhead, were both originally ordered for the Greek navy but were requisitioned by the RN.
All the best,
DC
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your kind words - I took the view that there would be very little to add to what most people would already know or would have seen in the news or on the TV so my own take was very modest.
Plans for the refight are moving along and it will feature in due course.
All the best,
DC
Hi Paul,
ReplyDeleteBeatty - blood and thunder or, more accurately, thud and blunder.
Jellicoe - safe and sure and reminds me of the Duke of Wellington in many respects.
Well they were both less than 10,000 words.....:-)
All the best,
DC
I should declare an interest up front - my Grandfather was an Able Seaman in Beatty's flagship, HMS LION, and but for a very brave Royal Marine Major, I wouldn't be typing this now! Beatty was charismatic and certainly loved by his men - and his Battle Cruisers did their job of luring the Germans into the Grand Fleet's gunsights. However, Beatty did just about all he could to make it as difficult as possible for Jellicoe. The supposed "controversy" of the past 100 years was the result of slick German PR and the usual bitter RN in-fighting ( I speak as someone with 35 year's personal experience of that!). Any RATIONAL assessment of the battle shows that at the end of the day, the High Seas Fleet was (literally) running for its life and the Grand Fleet had complete control of the North Sea. Home Win - end of story. Jellicoe was a great man who was very shamefully treated by his colleagues and country.
ReplyDeleteI fought this battle about 12 years ago with an online wargame club. I commanded the battlecruiser escort force The game lasted over 8 hours using the hps jutland game pity the club has now shut down
ReplyDeleteRefighting the whole thing and doing it justice would be very difficult for all but the staunchest club. As an alternative, it would be fascinating to focus on one escort squadron trying to get into attack range on a dreadnought which is 'distracted' by the main fight. The game is then one of trying to get through the enemy escorts, with random off table events doing things like bringing down big salvoes around the table. Would make for a fun participation game I think
ReplyDeleteStill need to do this one :(
ReplyDelete