The war at sea

There was not a great deal of fighting at sea during the war. Both the German High Seas Fleet and the British Grand Fleet knew how important it was to control the seas. Any country in control of the sea could starve its enemies into defeat by sinking any merchant ships bringing supplies. As a result, both Admiral Jellicoe for Britain and Admiral Tirpitz for Germany were not prepared to risk their fleets in a big naval battle, since defeat could have disastrous results.

There was one major sea battle, in May 1916, fought off the coast of Jutland in the North Sea. It was fought by accident because both Jellicoe and the new German admiral, Scheer, thought they were luring a small part of the enemy´s fleet into a trap. Neither knew that the other´s main fleet was close by and would become involved in the battle. Some 250 ships in total, including 44 Dreadnoughts - the most modern and destructive type of battleship - took part. The British fleet was much bigger with 28 Dreadnoughts present against 16 German ones, and 9 battle cruisers (the next most powerful ship) to just 5 German battle cruisers.

However, Jellicoe´s fleet suffered heavier losses. Fourteen British ships were sunk: three battle cruisers, three cruisers and eight destroyers, with over 6000 sailors killed. The Germans lost one old-style battleship, one battle cruiser, four cruisers, three destroyers and 2500 sailors. The three British battle cruisers that sank were blown apart when direct hits to gun turrets exploded the shells stored in the ships´ magazines. It seems that there was not enough armour-plating around the turrets. British gunnery was also less accurate and some British shells failed to explode when they did hit their target.

Neil Demarco: Britain and the Great War; Oxford University Press, 1992/2000, page 16