The Battle of Jutland, Part I
The first news of the Battle of Jutland in 1916 startled the British public, who had looked forward to an emphatic victory at sea. Geoffrey Bennett asks, what exactly happened in the course of this momentous and controversial engagement?
Early in June 1916, the Admiralty issued the following communiqué:
On the afternoon of Wednesday, 31st May, a naval engagement took place off the coast of Jutland. The British ships on which the brunt of the fighting fell were the Battlecruiser Fleet and some light cruisers supported by four fast battleships.
Among these the losses were heavy. The German battlefleet, aided by low visibility, avoided prolonged action with our main forces, and soon after these appeared on the scene the enemy returned to port, though not before receiving severe damage from our battleships.
The battlecruisers Queen Mary, Indefatigable, Invincible and the cruisers Defence and Black Prince were sunk. It is also known that the destroyers Tipperary, Turbulent, Fortune, Sparrowhawk and Ardent were lost and six others are not yet accounted for.
No British battleships or light cruisers were sunk. The enemy’s losses were serious. At least one battlecruiser was destroyed, one battleship was reported sunk by our destroyers during a night attack, and two light cruisers were disabled and probably sunk.
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