An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir May 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 26 | by PAUL O'BRIEN CLASH OF tHE dREAdnOUGHtS the battle of Jutland O n 31st May 1916, a salvo of shells crashed into the battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable, sending up a huge plume of black smoke. battleships cut through the cold waters of the north Sea, manoeuvring to get a better shot, while oth- ers evaded incoming rounds. the battle of Jutland, the greatest sea battle of the Great War, had commenced. By the spring of 1916, the war had reached a stalemate, with the opposing armies dug in, facing each other over 'no man's land', fight- ing a war of attrition. The arms race that had emerged in the early 20th between Germany and Britain was mainly naval and aimed at dominating the high seas. The development of the dread- nought, considered the first modern warship (combining revolutionary armament supply, an electronic, range-finding, weapons system, and increased speed capability), intensified Anglo-German tensions in the lead up to the war. The British Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, was based in the Orkneys at Scapa Flow, off the north-eastern tip of Scotland, where they could close the northern exit of the North Sea and where they could also intercept and engage German warships should they threaten the coasts of Britain. The German High Seas Fleet, commanded by Admiral Rein- hard Scheer, was based at Wilhelmshaven, Kiel and Hamburg, and though there had been a number of skirmishes with Brit- ish warships since the outbreak of the war, it had generally remained in its harbours. As the British navy was superior in number to its German counterpart, the British wanted a full scale battle engaging both fleets, whereas the Germans intended to use a small battlegroup to lure part of the British fleet into an ambush where it could be destroyed by the full German fleet. However, British code breakers had cracked the German code and discovered their plan. The British now knew that the full High Seas Fleet would be off the coast of Denmark's Jutland Peninsula waiting to put their plan into operation. Consequently, the entire Grand Fleet headed out to engage the enemy. The battle would involve more than 100,000 men and 225 ships, and would be fought over three days. British battlecruisers under the com- mand of Admiral David Beatty sailed ahead of the main fleet and visual con- tact was made shortly after 14:10hrs on 31st May when HMS Galatea sig- nalled that two enemy ships had been sighted. At 14:35hrs she signalled that a large number of enemy ships had now been sighted. The bells for 'action stations' were sounded on all ships as thousands of men manned their posi- tions. The British 13.5-inch guns were brought to bear on their targets, while the German 11- and 12-inch pieces were loaded rapidly in preparation for action. Though the British guns out- ranged the Germans, they did not open fire immediately due to discrepancies in their range-finding equipment. Instead, the first shots were fired by the Germans at 15.38hrs when the Lion, Princess and Tiger were hit. The Royal Navy returned fire hitting the The Battle of Jutland, by artist Montague Dawson (1895-1973) painted in 1949. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, British Grand Fleet Commander Admiral Reinhard Scheer, Commander in Chief of the German High Seas Fleet

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