WAR infographic

The battle began in the afternoon of May 31, 1916

 

It all started by gunfire between the British and German scouting forces.

 

• Jellicoe and Beatty faced a fleet of 40 German ships and opened fire at one another.

 

• Germans had the advantage of greater visibility thanks to the position of the sun. Britain lost tree mayor ships in confrontation with Germans:

  • The Indefatigable.

  • The Queen Mary

  • The Invincible.

 

• At the end of this part of the battle, Germans were forced into retreat.

 

 

• Admiral Jellicoe tried to cut off the Germans on their route home.

• They met again and German ships Seydlitz and Derfflinger were badly damaged

• Flagship Lutzow was sunk

 

 

Epilogue

• Both sides claimed victory

• The British had lost 14 ships and over 6,000 lives

• The Germans lost 9 ships and suffered over 2,500 casualties.

• The British Navy lost more men and ships but remained a powerful army

• The German Fleet stayed at home for the rest of the war.

 

So, who won?

 

• The Germans claimed a victory because the British had lost more ships and men

 

• British claimed the victory because their fleet was still strong and they retained control of the North Sea.

 

Interesting facts

 

• Code breaking team in London was known as 'Room 40'

• The battle was a series of poor signaling mistakes and insufficient safety procedures on the battleships.

  • Poor safety procedures on British ships caused the two of them to explode.

  • German flagship Lutzow was sunk by her own crew

• Jellicoe performed the most critical maneuver of the entire battle by forming his warships into a six–mile arc.

• 1 in 10 died or were wounded

• In Germany, it was an important victory, streets and places were named after the battle, Jutland Day was introduced.

• In Britain the battle did not have importance, it was a missed opportunity to defeat the Germans.