The Battle of Jutland was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916, in the waters of the North Sea, between forces of the Royal Navy Grand Fleet and Imperial German Navy High Seas Fleet. The battle involved 250 warships, and, in terms of combined tonnage of vessels engaged, was the largest naval battle in history.

The Royal Navy had established a blockade of the North Sea at the start of the war and the German Hochseeflotte could not match the larger Grand Fleet. The German plan was to use the threat of an attack by their battlecruisers on British ports to lure the British battlecruisers into a trap where they could be defeated by a superior force of battleships without encountering the rest of the Grand Fleet. Aware of all German naval movements, the British fleet sortied to support their battlecruisers and bring the German fleet to battle.

In the event, although more British ships were sunk or damaged, the overall strategic situation was unchanged.

Summary

Ships present

+Warships by number and size of main armamentRoyal NavyImperial German NavyDreadnoughts28 in total 8 × 15-inch 2 × (28,000 tons displacement, 21 knots top speed) 4 × (27,500 tons, 24 kn.) 10 × 14-inch HMS Canada (28,622 tons, 23 kn.) 10 × 13.5-inch 3 × (25,420 tons, 21 kn.) 3 × (25,000 tons, 21.5 kn.) (22,780 tons, 21 kn.) 4 × (21,922 tons, 21 kn.) 14 × 12-inch (28,750 tons, 22 kn.) 10 × 12-inch 2 × (20,030 tons, 21 kn.) (19,680 tons, 21 kn.) 3 × (19,700 tons, 21 kn.) 3 × (18,596 tons, 21 kn.) 16 in total 10 × 12-in. 4 × (25,420 tons, 21 kn.) 4 × (25,389 tons, 21 kn.) 12 × 12-in. 4 × (22,448 tons, 20.5 kn.) 12 × 11-in. 4 × (18,575 tons, 19 kn.)Pre-dreadnought battleships6 total' 4 × 11-in. (12,999 tons, 18 kn.) 5 × (12,983 tons, 19 kn.)Battlecruisers9 total 8 × 13.5-in. (28,500 tons, 28 kn.) (26,770 tons, 28 kn.) 2 × (26,270 tons, 27.5 kn.) 8 × 12-in. 2 × (18,500 tons, 25.8 kn.) 3 × (17,250 tons, 25 kn.)5 total 8 × 12-in (30.5 cm) 2 × (26,200 tons, 26.5 kn.) 10 × 11-in. (24,593 tons, 26.5 kn.) (22,216 tons, 25.5 kn.) 8 × 11-in. (19,060 tons, 24.8 kn.)Armoured cruisers8 total 4 × 9.2-in., 5 × 7.5-in. 3 × (14,600 tons, 23 kn.) 4 × 9.2-in., 2 × 7.5-in. 2 × (12,590 tons, 23 kn.) 4 × 9.2-in., 5 × 6-in. 2 × (12,590 tons, 23 kn.) 3 × 7.5-in., 3 × 6-in. (10,850 tons, 22 kn.) Smaller ships26 × light cruisers79 × destroyers (including one destroyer-minelayer)11 × light cruisers61 × torpedo boats

British capital ships carried a larger weight of broadside— compared to —than the German ones.

The German Navy's torpedo boats were of similar size and function to the destroyers in the Royal Navy, and are often referred to as such.

Losses +Losses of the fleets with date of loss Pre-dreadnoughtbattleships Battlecruisers Armouredcruisers Lightcruisers Destroyers /Torpedo boats Royal Navy (31 May) (31 May) (31 May) (31 May) (1 June) (1 June) 3 (31 May)5 (1 June) Imperial German Navy (1 June) (1 June) (31 May) (1 June) (1 June) (1 June) 3 (31 May)2 (1 June)

Abbreviations

Officers killed in action are indicated thus:

Abbreviations for officers’ ranks (German ranks translated according to current NATO practice): Adm / Admiral VAdm / Vice-admiral : Vizeadmiral / VAdm RAdm / Rear-admiral : Konteradmiral / KAdm Cdre / Commodore : Kommodore / Kom Capt / Captain : Kapitän zur See / KptzS Cdr / Commander : Fregattenkapitän / FKpt Lt Cdr / Lieutenant-commander : Korvettenkapitän / KKpt Lt / Lieutenant : Kapitänleutnant / KptLt SLt / Sub-lieutenant : Oberleutnant zur See / OLtzS Other abbreviations Frhr:Freiherr / title in the Prussian nobility equivalent to Baron) SMS: Seiner Majestät Schiff / German; translation: His Majesty's Ship) the Hon.: The Honourable

Royal Navy

Grand Fleet Began sortie from Scapa Flow 9.30pm 28 May The Grand FleetCorbett, Naval Operations Vol. III Appendix A was the main body of the British Home Fleets in 1916, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth in Scotland. Commander-in-chief, Grand Fleet: Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, in HMS Iron Duke Second in Command, Grand Fleet: Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney, in HMS Marlborough Chief of Staff: Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Madden, Captain of the Fleet: Commodore Lionel Halsey, C.B., C.M.G., AdC. Master of the Fleet: Captain Oliver Leggett

Battleships 2nd Battle Squadron (battleships) Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Martyn Jerram Sortied from Cromarty Firth; rendezvoused with Jellicoe's force around noon 31 May 1st Division: Vice-Admiral Jerram (flagship): Capt Frederick Field : Capt George Henry Baird : Capt Michael Culme-Seymour : Capt the Hon. Victor Stanley 2nd Division: Rear Admiral Arthur Leveson (flagship): Capt Oliver Backhouse : Capt George Borrett : Capt Hugh Tothill : Capt James Fergusson

Fleet Flagship (at head of 3rd Division but not part of 4th Battle Squadron) : Capt Frederic Charles Dreyer

4th Battle Squadron (battleships) Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet 3rd Division: RAdm Alexander Duff : Capt Crawford Maclachlan (flagship): Capt Edmond Hyde Parker : Capt William Nicholson 4th Division: VAdm Sturdee (flagship): Capt Henry Wise Parker : Capt Edward Francis Bruen : Capt Edwin Veale Underhill : Capt James Douglas Dick

1st Battle Squadron (battleships) Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney Chief of Staff: Commodore Percy Grant 5th Division: Rear Admiral Ernest Gaunt (flagship): Capt Dudley Pound : Capt James Clement Ley : Capt William Wordsworth Fisher Capt Vivian Bernard 6th Division: VAdm Burney (flagship): Capt George Parish Ross : Capt Edward Buxton Kiddle : Capt Lewis Clinton-Baker : Capt Henry Montagu Doughty

Cruisers

1st Cruiser Squadron (armoured cruisers) Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet (flagship): Capt Stanley Venn Ellis : Capt Vincent Barkly Molteno : Capt Henry Blackett : Capt Thomas Parry Bonham

2nd Cruiser Squadron (armoured cruisers) Rear-Admiral Herbert Heath (flagship): Capt Arthur Cloudesley Shovel Hughes D'Aeth : Capt Herbert John Savill : Capt John Saumarez Dumaresq : Capt Eustace La Trobe Leatham

4th Light Cruiser Squadron Commodore Charles Edward Le Mesurier : Commodore Le Mesurier : Capt Cyril Samuel Townsend : Capt Alan Hotham : Capt Henry Crooke : Capt the Hon. Herbert Meade

Light cruisers attached for repeating visual signals : Capt Louis Charles Stirling Woollcombe (attached to 2nd B.S.) : Capt Percy Withers (attached to Fleet Flagship) : Capt John Casement (attached to 4th B.S.) : Capt Arthur Brandreth Scott Dutton (attached to 1st B.S.)

Other ships under direct command of the Commander-in-Chief : Cdr Berwick Curtis (fast minelayer) : Lt Cdr Douglas Faviell (tender to the flagship of the Grand Fleet)

Destroyers

4th Destroyer Flotilla Captain Charles John Wintour (Faulknor-class flotilla leader, sunk 1 June) : Capt Wintour First half-flotilla / 4th D.F. : Lt Cdr Clarence Walter Eyre Trelawney (scuttled 1 June following collision): Lt Cdr Sydney Hopkins : Lt Cdr Reginald Stannus Goff : Lt Cdr Ernald Gilbert Hoskins Master Second half-flotilla / 4th D.F. (): Cdr Walter Lingen Allen 3rd Division / 4th D.F. : Cdr Hugh Davenport Colville : Lt Cdr Arthur Macaulay Lecky 4th Division / 4th D.F. : Cdr Reginald Becher Caldwell Hutchinson, D.S.C. : Lt Cdr Gordon Alston Coles (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Arthur Marsden (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Frank Goodrich Terry

11th Destroyer Flotilla Commanded by Commodore Hawksley in , a light cruiser First half-flotilla / 11th D.F. 1st Division / 11th D.F. : Cdr Harold Victor Dundas : Lt Cdr Julian Harrison : Lt Cdr Gerald Charles Wynter : Lt Cdr Henry Clive Rawlings 2nd Division / 11th D.F. : Cdr Claud Finlinson Allsup : Lt Cdr Robert Makin : Lt Cdr Edward McConnell Wyndham Lawrie : Lt Cdr Claude Lindsay Bate Second half-flotilla/11th D.F. (Marksman-class flotilla leader): Cdr Harold Ernest Sulivan 3rd Division / 11th D.F. : Lt Cdr George Bibby Hartford : Lt Charles Granville Naylor : Lt Cdr Gerald Harrison 4th Division / 11th D.F. : Cdr (Acting) William Dion Irvin : Lt Cdr Ralph Vincent Eyre : Lt Cdr Hugh Undecimus Fletcher

12th Destroyer Flotilla Captain Anselan John Buchanan Stirling (Faulknor-class flotilla leader): Capt Stirling First half-flotilla / 12th D.F. 1st Division / 12th D.F. : Cdr George William McOran Campbell : Lt Cdr John Jackson Cuthbert Ridley : Lt Cdr Reginald Watkins Grubb : Lt Cdr Arthur Gerald Onslow 2nd Division / 12th D.F. : Cdr John Pelham Champion : Lt Cdr Henry Victor Hudson : Lt Cdr Eric Quentin Carter : Lt Cdr Henry Percy Boxer Second half-flotilla / 12th D.F.: Cdr Norton Allen Sulivan (Marksman-class flotilla leader): Cdr Norton Allen Sulivan : Cdr Charles Geoffrey Coleridge Sumner : Lt Cdr Herbert Inglis Nigel Lyon : Lt Cdr Charles Astley Poignand : Lt Cdr Spencer Francis Russell : Lt Cdr Edwin Anderson Homan Group 8 : Cdr Robert Gerald Hamond (from 4th D.F.) : Cdr Richard Anthony Aston Plowden (from 4th D.F.) : Lt Cdr the Hon. Cyril Augustus Ward (from 4th D.F.) : Lt Cdr James Robert Carnegie Cavendish (from 4th D.F.)

3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron

This squadron, temporarily attached to the Grand Fleet from the Battle Cruiser Fleet, was stationed ahead of the main body, with the intention that it join Beatty when the action began. Rear-Admiral The Hon. Horace Hood, Battlecruisers (sunk 31 May) (flagship): Capt Arthur Lindesay Cay : Capt Edward Heaton-Ellis : Capt Francis William Kennedy Accompanying cruisers : Capt Percy Royds : Capt Robert Neale Lawson Attached destroyers (sunk 31 May): Cdr Loftus William Jones : Cdr Lewis Gonne Eyre Crabbe (Admiralty M-class destroyer) : Lt Cdr Fairfax Moresby Kerr : Lt Cdr John Ouchterlony Barron

Battle Cruiser Fleet

This force of high-speed ships was subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, but operated independently as an advanced guard, intended to reconnoiter the enemy fleet and to engage enemy scouting forces. At its core were six battlecruisers, accompanied by 13 light cruisers, and escorted by 18 destroyers and an early aircraft carrier.

Sortied from Firth of Forth soon after 6.00pm 30 May Vice-Admiral Sir David Richard Beatty in HMS Lion Chief of Staff: Capt Rudolph Bentinck

Battlecruisers : (flagship) Captain Ernle Chatfield 1st Battlecruiser Squadron: Rear Admiral Osmond Brock on Princess Royal (flagship): Capt Walter Cowan, (sunk 31 May): Capt Cecil Prowse : Capt Henry Bertram Pelly. 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron: Rear Admiral William Pakenham, (flagship): Capt John Green (sunk 31 May): Capt Charles Fitzgerald Sowerby

Light cruisers 1st Light Cruiser Squadron: Cdre Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair Cdre Alexander-Sinclair : Capt John Cameron : Capt Bertram Thesiger : Capt Tufton Beamish 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron: Cdre William Goodenough : Cdre Goodenough : Capt Arthur Duff : Capt Charles Blois Miller : Capt Albert Charles Scott 3rd Light Cruiser Squadron: Rear Admiral Trevylyan Napier (flagship): Capt John Douglas Edwards : Capt Thomas Drummond Pratt : Capt Edward Reeves : Capt William Frederick Blunt

Attached to the light cruisers was the seaplane tender (Lt Cdr Charles Gwillim Robinson) carrying two Short Type 184 reconnaissance seaplanes and two Sopwith Baby fighter seaplanes.

Destroyers

13th Destroyer Flotilla Captain James Uchtred Farie (light cruiser): Capt Farie 1st Division / 13th D.F. : Lt Cdr Cecil Henry Hulton Sams : Lt Cdr Montague George Bentinck Legge : Lt Cdr Cuthbert Patrick Blake (attached from 10th D.F., Harwich Force) : Lt Cdr Roger Vincent Alison (detached to escort HMS Engadine) 2nd Division / 13th D.F. (sunk 31 May): Cdr the Hon. Edward Bingham (sunk 31 May): Lt Cdr Paul Whitfield : Lt Jack Ernest Albert Mocatta : Lt Cdr John Tovey (detached to escort HMS Engadine) 3rd Division / 13th D.F. : Lt Cdr Geoffrey Corlett