The Battle of Jutland (Skagerrak)

1. The Battle of Jutland (Skagerrak) Sanna Darvish, Steve Quinn, David Arnold, and Joe Addison

3. Main Idea While not an outright victory for either side, the Battle of Jutland ensured Germany’s eventual downfall because of the continued British blockade of the mainland and Germany’s subsequent use of submarine warfare helped provoke the U.S. into dealing the decisive blow by joining the Allies in 1917.

4. Basic Overview • Also called the Battle of Skagerrak • Jutland is another name for the peninsula of Denmark • Fought on May 31-June 1 1916 • Only major encounter between British and German fleets during WWI • Fought in the Skagerrak (part of the North Sea), 60 miles off the coast of Jutland (Denmark)

5. Intentions • Throughout the course of the war, Britain had a much bigger navy than the Germans • Germans knew they could not take on the powerful British fleet, and the British knew they had little to gain from a victory and everything to lose from a defeat • If the Germans could defeat the British here, there was a much higher chance the British would lose the war

6. Naval Strength Royal Navy (Australia and Canada) • 28 Dreadnoughts ( very large warships with heavy armor plating and large caliber guns. rendered obsolete after WWII like trench warfare, planes were rather effective against them) • 9 Battlecruisers (similar to battleship except with less armor, more engine power for speed) 8 Armoured Cruisers (long range ship meant to defeat all but battleships, extremely fast) • 26 Light Cruisers (medium sized warships) • 77 Destroyers (small vessels meant to assist in flanking, more lightly armed than the above. Also used to escort and often employed torpedoes) • 1 minelayer • 1 seaplane carrier (predecessor to modern aircraft carrier)

7. Naval Strength Continued German Imperial Navy • 16 Dreadnought( very large warships with heavy armor plating and large caliber guns) • 5 Battlecruisers (similar to battleship except with less armor, more engine power for speed) • 11 Light Cruisers (medium sized warships) • 61 Destroyers (small vessels meant to assist in flanking, more lightly armed than the above. Also used to escort)

8. Commanders Britain: • Sir John Jellicoe • cautious, but wise and experienced in his approach to his strategies • Sir David Beatty • appointed commander of British Grand Fleet→ caused controversy within Royal Navy • blamed for not giving British clear success Germans: • Reinhard Scheer • confident admiral of German High Seas Fleet • Franz Von Hipper • often lurked in the dangerous waters of the North Sea, successful in damaging Beatty’s battle cruisers Sir John Jellicoe

9. Strategy • The Germans intended to break the British blockade of the continent by using a small force to lure Beatty’s fleet into the main German navy.

10. Strategy British intelligence intercepted the German strategy and Jellicoe was able to arrive with a full fleet to assist Beatty.

11. Strategy Jellicoe encircled the German fleet and both sides bombarded each other until Scheer retreated under cover of darkness.

12. Importance/Outcomes • Deaths • British: 6097 • Germans: 2551 • British lost more ships than the Germans but the Germans suffered more long-term consequences • German ships took a long time to repair, while the British always had ships ready for battle • Nevertheless, both sides claimed victory in the aftermath

13. Lasting Effect • The German high command had failed to deal a decisive blow to the British navy and thus abandoned direct fleet to fleet combat in favor of submarine warfare for the rest of World War I.

14. Works Cited • http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/308957/Battle-of-Jutland • http://www.battle-of-jutland.com/jutland-fleets-comparison.htm • http://www.chuckhawks.com/glossary_naval.htm • https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Battle_of_Jutland.html