A map showing the location of the Battle of Jutland

Diagram of the Battle of Jutland

Note

1 Almost all the guns of the Grand Fleet could be broughtto bear on the German ships2 Only the forward guns of the High Seas Fleet could fireat the British3 Ships further back in the German line could not reach the British ships with their guns4 The ships shown here do not represent the actual numbers involved

“There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today“, complained Admiral Beatty. The battle cruiser HMS Invincible lies broken in two by a single

German shell which exploded a gun turret‘s magazine. All but six of the 1031 crew perished with

her.

The losses and damage to both sides were ... of no importance. The balance of naval power was not

remotely affected. What alone mattered was that on 1 June 1916 the [British] Grand Fleet was scouring the North Sea seeking its enemy. The German Fleet was

not. It was once more at rest in its harbour.

A modern view of the Battle of Jutland, adapted from T. Wilson, The Myriad Faces of War, 1986

The few surface naval clashes which did occur (e.g. Jutland) were strategically unimportant, confirming the Allied control of the seaways ... It was not a form

of war which promised swift victories. 

Adapted from P. Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, 1988