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The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval engagement during the First World War that took place on 24 January 1915 near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the Kaiserliche Marine (High Seas Fleet).
The British surprised the smaller and slower German squadron, which fled for home. During a stern chase lasting several hours, the British caught up with the Germans and engaged them with long-range gunfire. The German squadron returned to harbour, with some ships in need of extensive repairs. The Germans lost Blücher and most of her crew. The British flagship Lion was out of action for several months, but they lost no ships and suffered few casualties.
After the British victory, both navies replaced officers who were thought to have shown poor judgement and made changes to equipment and procedures because of failings observed during the battle.
Summary
Ships present
| Royal Navy | Imperial German Navy | |
|---|---|---|
| Battlecruisers | 5 total 8 × 13.5-in. main-battery broadside
|
3 total 8 × 12-in. main-battery broadside
|
| Armored cruisers | 1 total 8 × 8.3-in. main-battery broadside
| |
| Light cruisers |
7 total
|
4 total
|
| Destroyers / torpedo boats * |
37 | 18 |
| Submarines | 4 | |
| Totals | 53 | 26 |
* The German Navy's torpedo boats were of similar size and function to the destroyers in the Royal Navy, and are often referred as such.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations for Officers’ Ranks
- 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
- AdC.: Aide de Camp to The King
- C.B.: Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath
- C.M.G.: Companion of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George
- C.V.O.: Commander of The Royal Victorian Order
- D.F: Destroyer Flotilla
- D.S.C.: Distinguished Service Cross
- D.S.O.: Distinguished Service Order
- HMS: His Majesty's Ship
- SMS: Seiner Majestät Schiff (German; translation: His Majesty's Ship)
- K.C.B.: Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath
- M.V.O.: Member of The Royal Victorian Order
- the Hon.: The Honourable
Royal Navy
Vice-Adm. Sir David R. Beatty
Adm. Sir Reginald Y. Tyrwhitt
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Battlecruiser Force
- 1st Battlecruiser Squadron
- Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, K.C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O.
- HMS Lion (flagship): Capt Alfred E. M. Chatfield, C.V.O.
- HMS Tiger: Capt Henry B. Pelly, M.V.O.
- HMS Princess Royal: Capt Osmond de B. Brock, A.d.C.
- 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron
- Rear-Admiral Sir Archibald Moore, K.C.B., C.V.O.
- HMS New Zealand (flagship): Capt Lionel Halsey, C.M.G., A.d.C.
- HMS Indomitable: Capt Francis W. Kennedy
- 1st Light Cruiser Squadron
- Commodore (2nd Class) William E. Goodenough, M.V.O.
- HMS Southampton: Cdre Goodenough
- HMS Nottingham: Capt Charles B. Miller
- HMS Birmingham: Capt Arthur A. M. Duff
- HMS Lowestoft: Capt Theobald W. B. Kennedy
Harwich Force
- Commododre (T) Reginald Y. Tyrwhitt, C.B.
- HMS Arethusa (light cruiser) Cdre Tyrwhitt
- Attached Destroyers
- HMS Meteor: Capt the Hon. Herbert Meade
- HMS Miranda: Cdr Barry E. Domvile
- HMS Mentor: Cdr Rafe G. Rowley-Conwy
- HMS Milne: Lt-Cdr Henry R. Clifton Mogg
- HMS Mastiff: Lt-Cdr James L. Forbes
- HMS Minos: Lt-Cdr Ernest H. B. Williams
- HMS Morris: Cdr Reginald Henniker-Heaton
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Imperial German Navy
- 1st Scouting Group (I. Aufklärungsgruppe) (battlecruisers)
- Konteradmiral Franz von Hipper
- SMS Seydlitz (flagship): Kapt.z.S. Moritz von Egidy
- SMS Moltke: Kapt.z.S. Magnus von Levetzow
- SMS Derfflinger: Kapt.z.S. Ludwig von Reuter
- SMS Blücher (sunk): F.Kapt. Alexander Erdmann
- 2nd Scouting Group (II. Aufklärungsgruppe) (light cruisers)
- Konteradmiral Georg Hebbinghaus
- SMS Graudenz (flagship): F.Kapt. Theodor Püllen
- SMS Stralsund: F.Kapt. Viktor Harder
- SMS Rostock: Kapt.z.S. Johannes Hartog
- SMS Kolberg: F.Kapt. Wilhelm Widenmann
- 5th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (V. Torpedoboots Flottille)
- K.Kapt. Bernd von dem Knesebeck
- 8th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (VIII. Torpedoboots Flottille)
- SMS S178: K.Kapt. Paul Hundertmarck
- 15th Half-Flotilla (15. halbflottille)
- SMS V181: K.Kapt. Georg Weißenborn
- SMS V182: Kptlt. Hans Hufnagel
- SMS V185: Kptlt. Carl August Claussen
- 15th Half-Flotilla (15. halbflottille)
- 18th Half-Flotilla (18. halbflottille)
- SMS V30: K.Kapt. Werner Tillessen
- SMS S33: Oblt.z.S. Hartmut Buddecke
- SMS S34: Kptlt. Otto Andersen
- SMS V29: Kptlt. Erich Steinbrinck
- SMS S35:
- 18th Half-Flotilla (18. halbflottille)
Notes
- Soon to become the 10th Destroyer Flotilla
- Miranda sailed with 3rd D.F. but joined Cdre (T) before the action.
References
Sources
British
- Beatty, David (2 March 1915). "Action in the North Sea on Sunday, the 24th of January, 1915". The London Gazette (29088). London. ISSN 0374-3721. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
- Corbett, J. S. (1929) . Naval Operations. History of the Great War based on Official Documents. Vol. II (2nd ed.). London: Longmans, Green. OCLC 220474040. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- Home Waters: From November 1914 to the End of January 1915 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs. Vol. III. Appendix C. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1921. OCLC 220734221. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - The Navy List for January 1915. London: HMSO. 1915. OCLC 59612658. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
German
- Groos, Otto (1925). Der Krieg in der Nordsee: Von Ende November bis Anfang Februar 1915 [The War in the North Sea: From the End of November until the Beginning of February, 1915]. Der Krieg zur See, 1914–18. Vol. III. Berlin: Verlag von E. S. Mittler & Sohn. OCLC 260121080.
- Stoelzel, Albert (1930). Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserlich-Deutschen Marine 1914–18 [Honor Rank List of the Imperial German Navy 1914–18]. Berlin: Marine-Offizier-Verband. OCLC 62432982.