One Hundred Years Ago Today. Possibly The Greatest Sea Battle In History Was Fought.

[oldmodman]

The Battle of Jutland.

Germany VS England. It was fought between forces composed almost completely of Battleships and Battlecruisers. A combined total of 250 combat ships.

151 British and 99 German. 44 Battleships and 14 Battlecruisers. 8645 men died and 1181 were recovered from the sea alive but wounded.

The battle lasted for a full day and night. The ships were in visual range of each other the entire time. Remember, 100 years ago you sighted the guns visually since there was no radar and little to no air recon.

Both the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet under Jellicoe and Beaty and the German High Seas Fleet under Scheer and Hipper declared they were victorious. The British lost twice the number of men and tonnage that the Germans did but since they were able to keep the German Fleet bottled up it's unclear who the real victors were.

Then in April 1917 the United States of America joined the British and declared war on Germany.

 

[Stateguy]

http://www.popsci.com/watch-100-year-old-naval-battle-animated?dom=currents&src=syn

Popular science has an interesting article along with a short animated film to provide greater detail. Thanks for sharing op!

 

[CobraBob]

Interesting naval fact I had never heard before. Must have been a very intensive battle with all of the 250 combat ships being in view of each other.

 

[CobraRed01]

Thanks for posting this. Very interesting stuff. I can't imagine the carnage of being hit with a salvo of 14 or 16 inch rounds. The eyewitness accounts of he sinking of the Bismarck in WW2 are horrific.

Not to jack the thread...but here is an interesting related story...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuttling_of_the_German_fleet_in_Scapa_Flow


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[BrunotheBoxer]

I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't made a movie yet.

 

[Lambeau]

Thanks for the post, I hadn't ever heard of this battle either.

Fascinating history. In 1916, the British had battleships with 15" guns? Absolutely incredible.

Ships ramming ships, cutting them in half. The sounds of the Sailors, steel tearing, waves crashing, gun fire, explosions...

Agree, this battle needs to be detailed in a long documentary before its lost.

 

[Double"O"]

When Sailors were made of Steel and ships had wooden decks...250+ warships tangling on the high seas would have been a sight to see for sure. Would have been scary as hell to be in the middle of it

 

[CobraRed01]

I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't made a movie yet.

Me too. If done right...it would be a instant classic. It would have to use a incredible amount of cgi. It bugged me when they had to use modern ships in the Pearl Harbor flick. Now...who would be the director???

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[03Sssnake]

Me too. If done right...it would be a instant classic. It would have to use a incredible amount of cgi. It bugged me when they had to use modern ships in the Pearl Harbor flick. Now...who would be the director???

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Hard call, thinking James Cameron could convey the carnage and action, but he is also the kinda twat that would re-write the history as well.

 

[CobraRed01]

Hard call, thinking James Cameron could convey the carnage and action, but he is also the kinda twat that would re-write the history as well.

How about Wolfgang Peterson (Das Boot)...or...Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers)? They pretty much get the horror of it all right...visually accurate as well. Ridley Scott?

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[Robert Francis]

Both sides "claimed" victory in this sea battle. But, the German fleet returned to port, never to fight as a fleet again, while the Brits continued to rule the high seas.

 

[SID297]

The Battle of Leyte Gulf was right up there too. The story of crossing the T during the Battle of Surigao Strait was always one of my favorites, sweet revenge for ships sunk at Pearl Harbor. I wouldn't have wanted to be French or Spanish at the Battle of Trafalgar.