Jutland, Battle of

Jutland, Battle of, major naval engagement between the British and German fleets during World War I. The British Grand Fleet was under the command of Admiral John Rushworth Jellicoe, and the German High Seas Fleet was commanded by Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer. The action took place about 121 km (75 mi) off the Danish coast of Jutland in the Skagerrak on May 31 and June 1, 1916. The first phase of the battle began when, at 3:48 p.m. on May 31, the battle cruisers and destroyers of Vice Admiral David Beatty made contact with a squadron of German battle cruisers. Both sides opened fire simultaneously, and the action lasted for 55 minutes. At 4:43 p.m., the German squadron was joined by the remainder of the High Seas Fleet. Beatty, who was still waiting for Jellicoe to bring up the rest of the Grand Fleet, fought a delaying action until the British supporting force could reach the scene.

With the arrival of the Grand Fleet, a contest of high naval strategy began between Jellicoe and Scheer. Jellicoe manoeuvred the German fleet into a V formed by British ships. Elements of the two fleets engaged each other intermittently throughout the late evening and early morning. Due to a series of British blunders, including confused orders and poor intelligence reports, and thanks to a brilliant retreat manoeuvre by Scheer, the German fleet escaped under cover of darkness, bringing the battle to an end. Out of a total of 110 German vessels engaged in the battle, Scheer lost 11. German casualties totalled 1,545 men; the British lost 14 of 149 ships and 6,274 men. Although the material and human losses of the British were the greater, the German fleet made no further attempts to break the Allied blockade of the German coast. Allied supremacy on the North Sea remained unchallenged for the duration of the war.