The German threat in the North Sea
You saw in the lesson Anglo-German Rivalry: The Naval Race and the Moroccan Crises how Britain and Germany raced to build dreadnoughts. In August 1914 those ships faced each other across the North Sea. Britain's Grand Fleet, led by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, was based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland. Germany's High Seas Fleet was based at Wilhelmshaven on the German coast.
The German fleet was a serious threat for three reasons. Britain is an island and bought much of its food from abroad, so a defeat at sea could mean hunger. The army in France was fed and supplied by ships crossing the Channel. And if the Grand Fleet were beaten, Britain itself could be attacked. Winston Churchill later wrote that Jellicoe was 'the only man on either side who could lose the war in an afternoon'.
Britain used its navy to blockade Germany. Warships closed the Channel and the wide gap between Scotland and Norway, so that merchant ships could not reach German ports. The Grand Fleet did not need to win a great battle. It only needed to stay stronger than the German fleet. Germany had fewer dreadnoughts, so its admirals did not want a full battle either. Their plan was to trap and sink small parts of the British fleet, one piece at a time, until the two sides were equal.
Key terms:
- Grand Fleet: Britain's main battle fleet in the First World War, based at Scapa Flow
- High Seas Fleet: Germany's main battle fleet, based at Wilhelmshaven
- Blockade: using warships to stop goods and food reaching an enemy country by sea
- Battlecruiser: a warship with a battleship's big guns but thinner armour, which made it faster
- Room 40: the British navy's secret code-breaking office in London, which read German radio messages
Heligoland Bight and the east coast raids, 1914
⚓ Heligoland Bight, 28 August 1914
The Heligoland Bight is the stretch of sea off the German coast, close to the German naval bases. British light cruisers, destroyers and submarines attacked the German ships on patrol there. When the fight grew dangerous, Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty brought in his battlecruisers. Germany lost three light cruisers and a destroyer, and more than 700 men were killed. Britain lost no ships and 35 men. The result shocked the Kaiser. He ordered his fleet to avoid risks, and it mostly stayed in port.
💣 German raids on the east coast
Germany tried quick raids instead. On 3 November 1914 German battlecruisers shelled Great Yarmouth, doing little damage. On 16 December 1914 they shelled Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby. More than 130 people were killed and several hundred were hurt, most of them civilians. One aim was to draw part of the British fleet out into a trap. The raiders got away in mist. People in Britain were furious with Germany, and also asked where the navy had been. 'Remember Scarborough' became a slogan on army recruiting posters.
Britain now had a secret advantage. With the help of captured German code books, Room 40 could read many German naval radio messages. This often told the navy when German ships were about to leave port.
Dogger Bank, 24 January 1915
The Dogger Bank is a shallow fishing ground in the middle of the North Sea. In January 1915 Admiral Franz von Hipper took three battlecruisers and an older, slower cruiser, the Blücher, to attack British boats there. Room 40 gave warning, and Beatty was waiting with five battlecruisers.
Hipper turned for home and Beatty chased him. The Blücher fell behind and was sunk, with the loss of hundreds of its crew. Then Beatty's own ship, HMS Lion, was badly hit and dropped out. His signals were misunderstood, and the other British ships all fired at the sinking Blücher while the three German battlecruisers escaped. Britain lost no ships.
Dogger Bank was a British success, but an unfinished one. Afterwards the Kaiser replaced the commander of the High Seas Fleet and kept his big ships in port for most of 1915. Germany turned more and more to submarines, as you will see in the lesson The U-Boat Threat and the Lusitania.
The Battle of Jutland, 31 May to 1 June 1916
In 1916 the High Seas Fleet had a new, bolder commander, Admiral Reinhard Scheer. His plan was to send Hipper's battlecruisers ahead as bait. They would draw Beatty's battlecruisers onto the guns of the whole German fleet. But Room 40 picked up the signals, and Jellicoe's Grand Fleet was at sea before the Germans had even left port. Scheer did not know it was coming.
The fleets met off Jutland, the coast of Denmark. It was the only time in the war that the two main fleets fought. About 250 ships and around 100,000 men took part.
- The battlecruisers: Beatty met Hipper first. Two British battlecruisers, Indefatigable and Queen Mary, blew up within half an hour of each other. Beatty then saw the main German fleet and turned north, leading it towards Jellicoe.
- The main fleets: in the evening Scheer suddenly found the whole Grand Fleet in a line across his path. A third British battlecruiser, Invincible, blew up, but the German ships were being hit hard. Twice Scheer turned his fleet away behind smoke and a destroyer attack. Jellicoe turned away from the torpedoes and lost touch with the German fleet.
- The night: Jellicoe would not risk a night battle. In the dark Scheer slipped past the back of the British fleet and reached home.
Who gained from Jutland?
📈 The case for Germany
Germany announced a victory, and on numbers it had one. Britain lost 14 ships and 6,094 men. Germany lost 11 ships and 2,551 men. The British ships sunk were also bigger. German ships had shown thicker armour, better shells and safer handling of ammunition. Many British shells broke up when they hit armour, and three British battlecruisers had exploded.
🚢 The case for Britain
It was the German fleet that fled. The Grand Fleet was ready for sea again within hours of getting home, while several German ships needed months of repair. Britain still controlled the North Sea, so the blockade went on and food shortages in Germany grew worse. The High Seas Fleet came out only a few more times and never again risked a full battle.
Most historians judge that Germany won on losses but Britain won where it mattered. Nothing had changed, and no change suited Britain. An American newspaper said at the time that the German fleet had attacked its jailer but was still in jail. Scheer himself told the Kaiser in July 1916 that battles between fleets could not force Britain to make peace. Only U-boat attacks on British trade could do that.
Common mistakes
Do not write that Britain won Jutland because it sank more ships. It lost more ships and more than twice as many men. Britain gained because it kept control of the sea. Also keep the two 1914-15 fights apart: Heligoland Bight (August 1914) was a British attack near the German coast, while Dogger Bank (January 1915) was a chase in the middle of the North Sea.
Exam-style question
Describe TWO features of EITHER the German raids on the east coast of Britain (1914) OR the Battle of Jutland (1916). [6 marks]
Model answer
(Answering on the Battle of Jutland.) One feature of the Battle of Jutland was that it was the only time the two main fleets fought each other. On 31 May 1916 Admiral Scheer tried to trap Beatty's battlecruisers, but British code-breakers had given warning, so Jellicoe's whole Grand Fleet was at sea. About 250 ships took part, and Scheer had to turn away twice and escape home in the night.
A second feature was that Britain suffered the heavier losses. Britain lost 14 ships and 6,094 men, while Germany lost 11 ships and 2,551 men. Three British battlecruisers, including Queen Mary, blew up. Even so, the German fleet went back to port and Britain kept control of the North Sea.
What lifts this to the top level: it gives two clearly separate features of one topic, and each one is backed by precise names, dates and figures.
Exam tip
For Jutland, learn the two sets of losses (14 ships to 11, and 6,094 men to 2,551). Exact figures like these are the quickest way to turn a simple feature into a well-supported one. For more help, see the Exam Skills lesson Paper 2 Section A Question (a): Describe Two Features.