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{{Short description|Part of World War I}}
{{coord|54.724|2.769|display=title|region:GB_scale:5000000}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{About|a 1915 battle|other naval battles fought at Dogger Bank|Battle of Dogger Bank}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Dogger Bank
| partof = the ]
| image = HMS Lion was the flagship of Rear Admiral David Beatty during the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24 January 1915. Art.IWMART5205.jpg
| image_size = 300px
| caption = ''Battle of Dogger Bank'' by ]
| place = ], ]
| coordinates = {{Coord |54|33|28|N|05|27|50|E|type:event_scale:5000000 |display=inline,title}} <!--Just south of wreck of Blucher per http://www.numa.net/expeditions/north-sea-and-english-channel-hunt/ -->
| map_type = North Sea
| map_size = 200
| map_caption = {{center|The Battle of Dogger Bank location in the North Sea}}
| map_label = Battle
| date = 24 January 1915
| result = British victory
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|German Empire}}
| commander1 = {{flagdeco|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|naval}} ]
| commander2 = {{flagdeco|German Empire|naval}} ]
| strength1 = 5 battlecruisers <br /> 7 light cruisers <br /> 35 destroyers{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}
| strength2 = 3 battlecruisers <br /> 1 armoured cruiser <br /> 4 light cruisers <br /> 18 torpedo boats{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}} <br /> 1 Zeppelin
| casualties1 = 47 killed and wounded <br /> 1 battlecruiser disabled <br /> 1 destroyer disabled{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=8}}
| casualties2 = 1,034 killed and wounded <br /> 189 captured <br /> 1 armoured cruiser sunk <br /> 1 battlecruiser damaged{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=8}}
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox North Sea 1914–1918}}
}}


The '''Battle of Dogger Bank''' was a naval engagement during the ] that took place on 24 January 1915 near the ] in the ], between squadrons of the British ] and the {{lang|de|]}} (High Seas Fleet). The British had intercepted and decoded German wireless transmissions, gaining advance knowledge that a German raiding squadron was heading for the Dogger Bank and ships of the Grand Fleet sailed to intercept the raiders.
{{Infobox Military Conflict
|conflict=Battle of Dogger Bank
|partof=the ]
|image=] rolls over onto her side.]]
|caption=The sinking ] rolls over onto her side
|date=24 January 1915
|place=], ]
|result=British tactical victory
|combatant1=] ]
|combatant2=] ]
|commander1=]
|commander2=]
|strength1=5 battlecruisers <br><br>7 light cruisers <br>35 destroyers<ref name=Camp-6>Campbell, 6</ref>
|strength2=3 battlecruisers <br>1 armoured cruiser <br>4 light cruisers <br>18 destroyers<ref name=Camp-6 />
|casualties1=1 battlecruiser out of action <br>1 destroyer out of action<br><br>15 killed <br>32 wounded<ref name=Camp-8>Campbell, 8</ref>
|casualties2=1 armoured cruiser sunk <br>1 battlecruiser heavily <br>damaged <br>954 killed <br>80 wounded <br>189 captured<ref name=Camp-8 />


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 British disabled {{SMS|Blücher||2}}, the rearmost German ship and the Germans put the British flagship {{HMS|Lion|1910|6}} out of action. Due to inadequate signalling, the remaining British ships stopped the pursuit to sink ''Blücher''; by the time the ship had been sunk, the rest of the German squadron had escaped.
}}
{{Campaignbox North Sea 1914-1918}}
The '''Battle of Dogger Bank''' was a naval battle fought near the ] in the ] on 24 January 1915, during the ], between squadrons of the ] and the ].


The German squadron returned to harbour with some ships in need of extensive repairs. ''Lion'' made it back to port but was out of action for several months. The British had lost no ships and suffered few casualties; the Germans had lost ''Blücher'' and most of her crew. 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.
Decoded radio intercepts had given the British advance knowledge that a German raiding squadron was heading for Dogger Bank, so they dispatched their own naval forces to intercept it. The British found the Germans at the expected time and place; surprised, the smaller and slower German squadron fled for home. During a stern chase lasting several hours, the British slowly caught up with the Germans and engaged them with long-range gunfire. The British disabled the rear German ship, but the Germans put the British flagship out of action with heavy damage. Due to a signalling mixup, the remaining British ships broke off pursuit of the fleeing enemy force to sink the one disabled German vessel. By the time this had been done, the German squadron had escaped; all the remaining German vessels returned safely to harbour, though some had heavy damage requiring extended repairs.


==Background==
The British flagship made it back to port but was out of action for several months. Since the British lost no ships and suffered few casualties, while the Germans lost a ship and most of its crew, the action was considered a British victory. Both Britain and Germany soon replaced commanders who were thought to have shown poor judgement, and both navies made some changes to equipment and procedures in response to problems perceived during the battle.


===Room 40===
==The rival squadrons==
{{main|Order of battle at Dogger Bank (1915)}} {{main|Room 40}}
===Britain===
1st Battlecruiser Squadron: ], ] and ].


Before 1914, international communication was conducted via undersea cables laid along shipping lanes, most of which were under British control. Hours after the British ultimatum to Germany in August 1914, they cut the German cables. German messages could be passed only by ], using cyphers to disguise their content. The {{lang|de|Signalbuch der Kaiserlichen Marine}} (SKM) was captured from the German light cruiser {{SMS|Magdeburg}} after she ran aground in the Baltic Sea on 26 August 1914.{{sfn|Beesly|1982|pp=4–5}} The German-Australian steamer ''Hobart'' was seized near Melbourne, Australia on 11 August and the {{lang|de|Handelsverkehrsbuch}} (HVB) codebook, used by the German navy to communicate with merchant ships and within the High Seas Fleet, was captured. A copy of the book was sent to England by the fastest steamer, arriving at the end of October.{{sfn|Beesly|1982|pp=3–4}} During the ] (17 October), the commander of the German destroyer {{SMS|S119}} threw overboard his secret papers in a lead lined chest as the ship sank but on 30 November, a British trawler dragged up the chest. Room 40 gained a copy of the {{lang|de|Verkehrsbuch}} (VB) codebook, normally used by Flag officers of the {{lang|de|Kaiserliche Marine}}.{{sfn|Beesly|1982|pp=6–7}}
2nd Battlecruiser Squadron: ] and ].


The Director of the Intelligence Division of the ], Rear-Admiral ], established a code breaking organisation to decipher German signals, using cryptographers from academic backgrounds and making use of the windfalls taken from the German ships. At first, the inexperience of the cryptanalysts in naval matters led to errors in the understanding of the material. This lack of naval experience caused Oliver to make personal decisions about the information to be passed to other departments, many of which, particularly the Operations Department, had reservations about the value of Room 40. The transfer of an experienced naval officer, Commander W. W. Hope, remedied most of the deficiencies of the civilians' understanding. On 14 October, Oliver became Chief of the Naval War Staff, but continued to treat Room 40 more as a fiefdom and a source for the informal group of officers around the ], ], which received decoded messages but had insufficient authority to use them to best advantage.{{sfn|Strachan|2003|p=422}}
1st Light Cruiser Squadron: four light cruisers (''], ], ], ]'').


German ships had to report their position every night by wireless and British listening posts along the east coast took cross-bearings to find the positions of the ships when they transmitted. This signals intelligence meant that the British did not need wasteful defensive standing patrols and sweeps of the North Sea but could economise on fuel and use the time for training and maintenance. The Admiralty also uncovered the German order of battle and tracked the deployment of ships, which gave them an offensive advantage. The lack of a proper war staff at the Admiralty and poor liaison between Room 40, Oliver and the operations staff meant that the advantage was poorly exploited in 1915; it was not until 1917 that this was remedied. When German ships sailed, information from Room 40 needed to be passed on quickly but Oliver found it hard to delegate and would not routinely supply all decrypts; commanders at sea were supplied only with what the Admiralty thought they needed. Information could reach the Grand Fleet late, incomplete or mistakenly interpreted. When Jellicoe asked for a decryption section to take to sea, he was refused on security grounds.{{sfn|Strachan|2003|pp=422–423}}
]: three light cruisers (''], ], ]'') and thirty-five destroyers.<ref name=Camp-6 />


===Germany=== ===German raid===
{{main|Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby}}
1st Scouting Group: '']'', ], '']'' and '']''.


With the German ] (HSF) confined to port after the British success at the ] in 1914, Admiral ], the Commander-in-Chief of the HSF planned a ] on the east coast of England, with the ] (Admiral ]), a ] squadron of three battlecruisers and a large ], supported by ]s and ]s. Hipper opened fire at 08:00 on 16 December 1914, eventually killing {{nowrap|108 and}} wounding {{nowrap|525 civilians.}} British public and political opinion was outraged that German warships could sail so close to the British coast, shelling coastal towns with impunity; British naval forces had failed to prevent the attacks and also failed to intercept the raiding squadron. The British fleet had sailed but the German ships escaped in stormy seas and low visibility, assisted by British communication failures.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=5}}{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=319–328}} The Germans had made the first successful attack on Britain since the 17th century and suffered no losses but Ingenohl was unjustly blamed for missing an opportunity to inflict a defeat on the Royal Navy, despite creating the chance by his offensive-mindedness.{{sfn|Strachan|2003|p=430}}
2nd Scouting Group: four light cruisers (''], ], ], ]'')


===British counter-action===
Two flotillas of eighteen torpedo boats combined.<ref name=Camp-6 />
The British had let the raid occur and appeared to the public to have been surprised (having been forewarned by decoded wireless messages) and then to have failed to sink the German raiding force on its way back to Germany. In 1921, the official historian ] wrote,


{{blockquote|Two of the most efficient and powerful British squadrons...knowing approximately what to expect...had failed to bring to action an enemy who was acting in close conformity with our appreciation and with whose advanced screen contact had been established.{{sfn|Strachan|2003|p=430}}}}
==Background==

With the German battle fleet effectively bottled up by ]'s success at ], German Admiral ], Commander-in-Chief of the German fleet, decided to launch a raid on the British East coast with Admiral ]'s ] squadron, comprising three battlecruisers and one large ], supported by ]s and ]s. Hipper's force shelled the towns of ], ], and ] starting at 8 a.m. 16 December 1914, killing 108 civilians and wounding 525. British public and political reaction was outrage that German warships could sail so close to the British coast, shelling coastal towns with apparent impunity; British naval forces had failed to prevent the attacks, and also failed to intercept Hipper's raiding squadron afterwards. (Though the British fleet was at sea hunting Hipper after the raid, the Germans escaped in stormy weather, aided by low visibility and British communication problems.)<ref>Campbell, 5</ref><ref>Massie, 319-328</ref>
The British had escaped a potential disaster, because the British ] (Vice-Admiral Sir ]) was unsupported by the ] (Vice-Admiral Sir ]), when it failed to make contact with the raiding force. The worst British failure was in the exploitation of the intelligence provided by the code breakers at ] (Sir ]), that had given the British notice of the raid. Some intercepts decoded during the action had taken two hours to reach British commanders at sea, by when they were out of date or misleading. News of the sailing of the HSF was delivered so late that the British commanders thought that the Germans were on the way, when they were returning. At sea, Beatty had sent ambiguous signals and some commanders had not used their initiative. On {{nowrap|30 December,}} the commander of the ], Admiral Sir ], gave orders that when in contact with German ships, officers were to treat orders from those ignorant of local conditions as instructions only but he refused Admiralty suggestions to loosen ship formations, for fear of decentralising tactical command too far.{{sfn|Strachan|2003|pp=430–431}}

==Plan==
===German plan===
Hipper suspected that the British had received advanced warning about earlier operations of the HSF from spy ships mingling with British and Dutch fishing boats, operating near the German Bight and the Dogger Bank, to observe German fleet movements. Hipper considered that with the Dogger Bank mid-way on the short route to the English coast, a signal from a trawler could reach the British in time for the British battlecruisers to intercept a German sortie, certainly on the return journey. Hipper ordered German ships vigorously to enforce ] rules, fishing boats being brought into ] to be searched. Buoyed by the success of the raid on the English coast, Admiral Hipper planned an attack on the British fishing fleet on the Dogger Bank. The German fleet had increased in size since the outbreak of war, with the arrival in service of the {{Sclass|König|battleship|0}} ] battleships {{SMS|König}}, {{SMS|Grosser Kurfürst|1913|2}}, {{SMS|Markgraf||2}} and {{SMS|Kronprinz|1914|2}} of the ] and the {{Sclass|Derfflinger|battlecruiser|2}} {{SMS|Derfflinger||2}}.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=376}}

Hipper intended to clear the bank of British fishing vessels and dubious neutrals and to attack any small British warships in the area, with the HSF covering the withdrawal of the battlecruisers.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=375}} The limited nature of the operation conformed to the ban by the Kaiser on operations by the High Seas Fleet, that had been reiterated on 10 January. A slightly more aggressive strategy was permitted, within the policy of keeping the HSF in being, in which the fleet could sortie to attempt to isolate and destroy advanced British forces or to attack the Grand Fleet if in greater strength. On 19 January, Beatty had reconnoitred the area west of the German Bight and been seen by a German aircraft. The reconnaissance and British activity at the Dogger Bank led Ingenohl to order Hipper and the I Scouting Group to survey the area and surprise and destroy any light forces found there. The I Scouting Group contained the battlecruisers ''Seydlitz'' (flagship), ''Moltke'', ''Derfflinger'' and armoured cruiser ''Blucher'', four light cruisers and eighteen destroyers.{{sfn|Marder|1965|p=156}}

===British plan===
]
Wireless transmissions from German ships in the ] on 23 January 1915, intercepted and decoded by Room 40, alerted the British to a German sortie in force as far as the Dogger Bank. At the Admiralty, Wilson, Oliver and Churchill arranged a plan to confront the Germans with a superior opponent. A rendezvous was set for 24 January at 07:00, {{cvt|30|nmi|mi+km}} north of the Dogger Bank and about {{cvt|180|nmi|mi+km}} west of Heligoland.{{sfn|Marder|1965|p=157}} The battlecruisers comprised the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (Beatty) with ''Lion'' (flagship), ''Tiger'' and ''Princess Royal''. The new ] (Rear-Admiral ] deputy to Beatty) had ''New Zealand'' as flagship and ''Indomitable''. ] (Commodore ]) sailed from ] with three light cruisers and {{nowrap|35 destroyers,}} to rendezvous with the battlecruisers at 07:00 on 24 January.{{sfn|Marder|1965|p=157}}

To cover the East Coast and act as distant support, the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and the seven pre-dreadnoughts of the ] (Admiral ]) sailed from Rosyth for an area in the North Sea, from which they could cut off the German force if it moved north. The Grand Fleet left Scapa at 21:00 on 23 January, to sweep the southern North Sea but could not be expected to arrive on the scene until the afternoon of 24 January.{{sfn|Marder|1965|p=157}} Soon after the German force sailed, the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (Commodore ]) and the battlecruisers departed Rosyth, heading south; at 07:05 on 24 January, a clear day with good ], they encountered German screening vessels at the Dogger Bank.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}

===Orders of battle===
{{Main|Order of battle at Dogger Bank (1915)}}

====Royal Navy====
* 1st Battlecruiser Squadron: {{HMS|Lion|1910|6}}, {{HMS|Tiger|1913|2}} and {{HMS|Princess Royal|1911|2}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}
* 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron: {{HMS|New Zealand|1911|6}} and {{HMS|Indomitable|1907|2}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}
* 1st Light Cruiser Squadron: {{HMS|Southampton|1912|6}}, {{HMS|Birmingham|1913|2}}, {{HMS|Lowestoft|1913|2}} and {{HMS|Nottingham|1913|2}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}
* Harwich Force: three light cruisers ({{HMS|Aurora|1913|6}}, {{HMS|Arethusa|1913|2}}, {{HMS|Undaunted|1914|2}}) and 35 destroyers{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}


====Imperial German Navy====
Buoyed by the success of the raid, Admiral Hipper resolved to repeat the exercise by attacking the British fishing fleet on the ], midway between Germany and Britain, the following month. But through intercepted German radio traffic decoded by ] of British Naval Intelligence, the British learned of Hipper's planned sortie on 23 January. Acting Vice Admiral Beatty set sail from ] with five battlecruisers, supported by four light cruisers, to attempt to trap Hipper's force. Joined by additional cruisers and destroyers from ], Beatty headed south, encountering Hipper's screening vessels at the Dogger Bank at 7:05 a.m. on the morning of 24 January. The day was clear and ] was unusually good.<ref name=Camp-6 />
* 1st Scouting Group: {{SMS|Seydlitz}}, {{SMS|Moltke||2}}, {{SMS|Derfflinger||2}} and {{SMS|Blücher||2}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}
* 2nd Scouting Group: {{SMS|Kolberg}}, {{SMS|Stralsund||2}}, {{SMS|Rostock||2}}, and {{SMS|Graudenz||2}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}
* Two flotillas of 18 torpedo boats combined{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}}


==Battle== ==Battle==
]
]
Sighting the smoke from a large approaching force, Hipper headed southeast by 7:35 to escape, but Beatty's ships were faster than the German squadron, which was held back by the slower armoured cruiser ] and by Hipper's coal-fired torpedo boats. By 8:00, Hipper's battlecruisers were sighted from Beatty's flagship ]. The older battlecruisers of the British 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron lagged somewhat behind the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. Chasing the Germans from a position astern and to ] of Hipper's force, the British ships gradually caught up, some reaching speeds of 27 ], and closed to ].<ref name=Camp-6 /> Beatty chose to approach from this direction because the prevailing wind then blew the British ships' smoke clear, allowing them a good view of the enemy, while Hipper's gunners were partially blinded by funnel and gun smoke blowing in the direction of their targets. ''Lion'' opened fire at 8:52, at an extreme range of 20,000 yards. Other British ships opened as they came within range, while the Germans were unable to reply until 09:11 due to the shorter range of their guns.<ref name=Camp-7>Campbell, 7</ref> No warships had ever before engaged at such long ranges or at such high speeds, and gunnery challenges for both sides were therefore unprecedented. Nevertheless, after a few ] the British had straddled ''Blücher''.<ref>Massie, 388-389</ref>


===24 January===
The British fire was concentrated on two of the German ships, Hipper's flagship battlecruiser ] at the head of the line and the old ''Blücher'' at the rear. With five British ships to the German four, Beatty intended that his two rear ships, ] and ], should engage ''Blücher'', while his leading three engaged their opposite numbers. But Captain H.B. Pelly of the newly commissioned battlecruiser ] assumed that two ships should concentrate on the leading German ship and engaged the ''Seydlitz'', leaving ] unmolested to fire at ''Lion''. Worse, ''Tiger''’s fire was ineffective as she mistook ''Lion''’s shell splashes for her own (when her shots were actually falling 3,000 yards beyond ''Seydlitz'').<ref>Massie, 392</ref>
]
Sighting the smoke from a large approaching force, Hipper headed south-east by 07:35 to escape but the battlecruisers were faster than the German squadron, which was held back by the slower armoured cruiser ''Blücher'' and the coal-fuelled torpedo boats. By 08:00, the German battlecruisers had been sighted from ''Lion'' but the older battlecruisers of the British 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron were lagging behind the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. Chasing the Germans from a position astern and to ], the British ships gradually caught up—some reaching a speed of {{cvt|27|kn|mph+km/h}}—and closed to ].{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=6}} Beatty chose to approach from this direction so that the prevailing wind blew the British ships' smoke clear, allowing them a good view of the German ships, while German gunners were partially blinded by their funnel and gun smoke blowing towards the British ships. ''Lion'' opened fire at 08:52, at a range of {{cvt|20000|yd|mi+km}} and the other British ships commenced firing as they came within range, while the Germans were unable to reply until 09:11, because of the shorter range of their guns.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=7}} No warships had engaged at such long ranges or at such high speeds before, and accurate gunnery for both sides was an unprecedented challenge but after a few ]s, British shells straddled ''Blücher''.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=388–389}}


At 09:43 ''Seydlitz'' was hit by a 13.5-inch shell from ''Lion'', which penetrated her after turret ] and caused an ammunition fire in the working chamber. This fire spread rapidly through one compartment after another, igniting ready propellant charges all the way to the ], and knocked out both rear ] with the loss of 165 men.<ref>Massie, 393-394</ref><ref>Campbell, 373-374</ref> Only the prompt action of the executive officer in flooding the magazines saved the ''Seydlitz'' from a massive magazine explosion that would have destroyed the ship. (Supposedly the sailor ] saved the ship, when he desperately opened the glowing valves although he burnt his hands and his lungs. He never recovered from his severe injuries and died a few years later. The ''Kriegsmarine'' named a destroyer after him.) The British fire was concentrated on the battlecruiser ''Seydlitz'' at the head of the line and ''Blücher'' at the rear. With five British ships against four German, Beatty intended that his two rear ships, ''New Zealand'' and ''Indomitable'', should engage ''Blücher'', while his leading three engaged their opposite numbers. Captain Henry Pelly of the new battlecruiser ''Tiger'' assumed that two ships should concentrate on the leading German ship and engaged ''Seydlitz'', leaving ''Moltke'' free to fire at ''Lion''. ''Tiger''{{'}}s fire was ineffective, as she mistook the shell splashes from ''Lion'' for her own, when the ] was {{cvt|3000|yd|mi+km}} beyond ''Seydlitz''.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=392}} At 09:43, ''Seydlitz'' was hit by a {{cvt|13.5|in|mm}} shell from ''Lion'', which penetrated her after turret ] and caused an ammunition fire in the working chamber. This fire spread rapidly through other compartments, igniting ready propellant charges all the way to the ] and knocked out both rear ] with the loss of 165&nbsp;men.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=393–394}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|pp=373–374}} Only the prompt action of the executive officer, ], in flooding the magazines saved ''Seydlitz'' from a magazine explosion that would have destroyed the ship.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=394}}{{efn|Supposedly, a sailor named ] saved the ship, when he flooded the magazine by opening the red hot valves, burning his hands and lungs, injuries from which he never recovered, leading to his early death in 1931. The {{lang|de|Kriegsmarine}} named the destroyer ] in his honour.{{sfn|Hillman|Nägler|2011|p=239}}}}


]
The British ships were relatively unscathed until 10:18, when ] hit ''Lion'' with several 12-inch shells, damaging her engines and causing flooding so that ''Lion'' began to lag behind. At 10:41 ''Lion'' narrowly escaped a disaster similar to what had happened on ''Seydlitz'', when a German shell hit the forward turret and ignited a small ammunition fire which, fortunately for the British, was extinguished before it caused catastrophe.<ref>Massie, 397</ref> A few minutes later, taking on water and listing to port, ''Lion'' had to stop her port engine and reduce speed to 15 knots, and was soon out of action, having already been hit 14 times.<ref>Massie, 396-397</ref>
The British ships were relatively unscathed until 10:18, when ''Derfflinger'' hit ''Lion'' with several {{cvt|30.5|cm|in}} shells, damaging her engines and causing flooding; ''Lion'' lost speed and began to fall behind. At 10:41, ''Lion'' narrowly escaped a disaster similar to that on ''Seydlitz'', when a German shell hit the forward turret and ignited a small ammunition fire but it was extinguished before causing a magazine explosion.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=397}} A few minutes later, taking on water and ] to port, ''Lion'' had to stop her port engine and reduce speed to {{cvt|15|kn|mph+km/h}} and was soon out of action, having been hit 14 times.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=396–397}} At 10:30, ''Blücher'' was hit by a shell from ''Princess Royal'', which caused an ammunition fire and boiler room damage. ''Blücher'' had to reduce speed to {{cvt|17|kn|mph+km/h}} and lagged behind the rest of the German force.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=7}} Beatty ordered ''Indomitable''—his slowest ship—to intercept ''Blücher''.{{sfn|Corbett|2009|p=94}}


]]]
Meanwhile, at 10:30, ] had been hit by a shell from ] which caused an ammunition fire and boiler room damage. As a result, ''Blücher'' had to reduce speed to 17 knots, and fell further and further behind the rest of the German force.<ref name=Camp-7 /> Beatty ordered ''Indomitable'', his slowest ship, to intercept ''Blücher''.
With his ships running short of ammunition, Hipper chose to steam for home, leaving the disabled ''Blücher'' behind, to save his remaining ships.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=403}} The annihilation of the German squadron appeared likely to the British until 10:54, when Beatty—believing he saw a submarine periscope on ''Lion''{{′}}s starboard bow—ordered a 90° turn to port, to avoid a submarine ambush (The "periscope" may have been a surfacing, run-out torpedo which had been launched 15 minutes earlier by the German destroyer ''V5''). At 11:02, realising that so sharp a turn would open the range too much, Beatty ordered "Course NE" to limit the turn to 45° and then added "Engage the enemy's rear", to clarify his intent that the other ships, which had now left ''Lion'' far behind, should pursue the main German force. With ''Lion''{{′}}s electric generators out of action, Beatty could only signal using flag hoists and both signals were flown at the same time.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=398–401}}


The combination of the signal "Course NE"—which happened to be the direction of ''Blücher''—and the signal to engage the rear was misunderstood by Beatty's second-in-command, Rear-Admiral Moore on ''New Zealand'', as an order for all the battlecruisers to finish off ''Blücher''. The British battlecruisers broke off the pursuit of the German squadron and attacked ''Blücher'', with most of the British light cruisers and destroyers joining in. Beatty tried to correct this obvious misunderstanding by using the order from ] at the ] "Engage the enemy more closely" but this order was not in the signal book and Beatty chose "Keep nearer to the enemy" as the closest equivalent. By the time this signal was hoisted, Moore's ships were too far away to read Beatty's flags and the correction was not received.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=398}}
Now Hipper, running low on ammunition, made the difficult decision to leave the disabled ''Blücher'' to her fate and steam for home, in order to save his remaining damaged ships.<ref>Massie, 403</ref> Nevertheless, the annihilation of the German squadron still appeared likely to the pursuing British until 10:54, when Beatty, believing he saw a submarine’s periscope on ''Lion''’s starboard bow, ordered a sharp turn of 90 degrees to port to avoid a submarine trap. (It is possible that the "periscope" was actually a surfacing, run-out torpedo which had been launched 15 minutes earlier by the German destroyer ''V5''). At 11:02, realizing that so sharp a turn would open the range too much, Beatty ordered ‘Course NE’ to limit the turn to 45 degrees, and then added ‘Engage the enemy’s rear’, in an attempt to clarify his intention that his other ships, which had now left ''Lion'' far behind, should pursue Hipper's main force. With ''Lion'''s electric generators now out of commission, Beatty could only signal using flag hoists, and both these signals were flown at the same time.<ref name=Massie-398>Massie, 398-401</ref>


]
But the combination of the signal of ‘Course NE’ (which happened to be the direction of the ''Blücher'') with the signal to engage the rear was misunderstood by Beatty’s second-in-command, Rear-Admiral Archibald Moore on ''New Zealand'', as an order for all the battlecruisers to finish off the cripple. Therefore the remaining British battlecruisers broke off the pursuit of the fleeing German squadron and rounded on ''Blücher''. Most of the British light cruisers and destroyers also attacked ''Blücher''. Beatty tried to correct this obvious misunderstanding by using ]'s famous order from ] ‘Engage the enemy more closely’, but this order was not in the signal book, so he chose ‘Keep nearer to the enemy’ as the closest equivalent. But by the time this signal was hoisted, Moore's ships were too far away to read Beatty's flags, and the correction was not received.<ref name=Massie-398 />
Despite the overwhelming odds, ''Blücher'' put the British destroyer {{HMS|Meteor|1914|6}} out of action and scored two hits on the British battlecruisers with her {{cvt|21|cm|in}} guns. ''Blücher'' was hit by about {{nowrap|70 shells}} and wrecked. When struck by two torpedoes from the light cruiser ''Arethusa'', ''Blücher'' capsized at 54 25' N. Lat., 5 25' E. Long and sank at 13:13, with the loss of {{nowrap|792 crew.}}{{sfn|Scheer|1920|p=85}}{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=8}} British ships began to rescue survivors, but they were hindered by the arrival of the ] L-5 (LZ-28) and a German seaplane which attacked with small bombs. No damage was done but the British ships put on speed and withdrew to avoid further aerial attack, leaving some of the survivors behind.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=407}} By this time, the rest of the German ships were too far away for the British to catch up.{{sfn|Corbett|2009|p=97}}


''Lion'' made {{cvt|10|kn|mph+km/h}} at the beginning of the {{cvt|300|nmi|mi+km}} return voyage, escorted by ''Indomitable''. Beatty contemplated leaving a flotilla of destroyers to guard ''Lion'' and sending the rest to the German Bight, to make a night attack on the German ships, but the damage to ''Lion'' caused more problems. As she crept home, the ship suffered further engine-trouble from saltwater contamination in the boiler-feed-water system and her speed dropped to {{cvt|8|kn|mph+km/h}}. ''Lion'' was taken in tow by ''Indomitable'', an operation which took two hours, in which the battlecruisers were exceedingly vulnerable to submarine attacks. At 17:00, the voyage resumed, the ships eventually managing {{cvt|10|kn|mph+km/h}} and when the Grand Fleet arrived, Jellicoe increased the screen to thirteen light cruisers and 67 destroyers. A message from the Admiralty arrived that the Germans were planning a night destroyer attack but that the destroyers with the two scouting groups were low on fuel and those with the HSF were too far away.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=410–411}}
Despite the overwhelming odds, ''Blücher'' fought stubbornly to the end. ''Blücher'' managed to put the British destroyer ] out of action and scored two hits on the British battlecruisers with her 8.2-inch guns, but was pounded into a burning wreck by approximately 50 British shells. Finally, struck by two torpedoes from the light cruiser ], ''Blücher'' capsized and sank at 12:13 with the loss of 792 men.<ref name=Camp-8 /> British efforts to rescue survivors in the water were interrupted by the arrival of the German ] ''L-5'', and by a German seaplane which attacked with small bombs. No damage was done, but the British ships, which were sitting targets while stopped in the water for rescue, put on speed and withdrew to avoid further aerial attack.<ref>Massie, 407</ref>


===25 January===
By this time Hipper had escaped; his ships were now too far away for the British to catch again. Beatty had lost control of the battle, and he perceived that the opportunity of an overwhelming victory had been lost; the ] would soon reach the same conclusion. However, in light of what happened later at ], where the British battlecruisers were shown to be highly vulnerable to ammunition fires and magazine explosions following hits on gun turrets, it is possible that if Moore's three fast battlecruisers had pursued Hipper's remaining three (leaving the slower ''Indomitable'' behind as Beatty intended), the British might actually have been at a disadvantage and might have got the worst of it. The ''Blücher'' demonstrated the ability of the German ships to absorb great punishment; all of Hipper's remaining ships were larger, faster, more modern, more heavily armed, and far better armoured than ''Blücher''. Setting aside the one-sided action in which the already-disabled ''Blücher'' was sunk, the Germans out-scored the British by over three to one, registering a total of 22 heavy-caliber hits (16 on ''Lion'' and 6 on ''Tiger''), against the British total of just 7 hits. This decisive dominance of German gunnery could have cost the British dearly if they had pursued Hipper, three ships to three.<ref name=Camp-8 />
''Lion'' and ''Indomitable'' slowed to {{cvt|7|kn|mph+km/h}} overnight when ''Lion'' had more engine-trouble and at dawn were still {{cvt|100|nmi|mi+km}} short of the Firth of Forth. The destroyers reformed into an anti-submarine screen and the ships reached the firth at midnight; the destroyer ''Meteor'' was towed into the ].{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=412}} ''Lion'' was out of action for four months, Fisher having decreed that the damage be repaired at Armstrong's on the Tyne, without her going into dry dock, making for an extremely difficult and time-consuming job.{{sfn|Goldrick|1984|p=296}} The surviving German ships reached port; ''Derfflinger'' was repaired by 17 February but ''Seydlitz'' needed a ] and was not ready for sea until 1 April.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=404, 410–413}}{{sfn|Corbett|2009|p=102}}


==Aftermath== ==Aftermath==
===Analysis===
The ''Lion'' had to be towed back to port by ''Indomitable'' at 10 knots, a long and dangerous voyage in which both battlecruisers were exposed to potential submarine attacks. Therefore, an enormous screen of over fifty ships was assigned to guard ''Lion'' and ''Indomitable'' as they crept home. Both reached port safely. The disabled ''Meteor'' was also towed home. ''Lion'' was out of action for four months, Lord Fisher having decreed that her damage be repaired on the Tyne without going into dry dock making for an extremely difficult and time-consuming job.<ref>Goldrick, ''The King's Ship Were at Sea'', p. 296.</ref> All the surviving German ships reached port, though ''Seydlitz'' was heavily damaged and had to go into ] for repairs.<ref>Massie, 404, 410-413</ref>


]
Although the Germans initially believed that ''Tiger'' had been sunk (because of a large fire that had been seen on her decks) it was soon clear to them that the battle was a serious reverse. ] issued an order that all further risks to surface vessels were to be avoided. ], commander of the High Seas Fleet, was replaced by Admiral ]. The Germans took the lessons of the battle to heart, particularly the damage to the ''Seydlitz'', which revealed flaws in the protection of her magazines and dangerous ammunition-handling procedures. Some of these issues were corrected in Germany’s battleships and battlecruisers in time for the ] the following summer.<ref>Campbell, 374</ref> Although the Germans realized that the appearance of the British squadron at dawn was too remarkable to be mere coincidence, they concluded that an enemy agent near their base in the ] was responsible, and did not suspect that their ] codes had been compromised.<ref>Massie, 423-424</ref>
At first the Germans thought that ''Tiger'' had been sunk, because of a large fire that had been seen on her decks, but it was soon clear that the battle was a serious German reverse. ] issued an order that all risks to surface vessels were to be avoided. Ingenohl was sacked and replaced by Admiral ]. The damage to ''Seydlitz'' revealed flaws in the protection of her magazines and dangerous ammunition-handling procedures. Some of these failings were remedied in the HSF before the ] {{nowrap|(31 May – 1 June 1916)}}.{{sfn|Campbell|1998|p=374}} The Germans thought that the appearance of the British squadron at dawn was too remarkable to be a coincidence and concluded that a spy near their base in ] was responsible, not that the British were reading their encrypted ] communications.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=423–424}} (In 1920, Scheer wrote that the number of British ships present suggested that they had known about the operation in advance, but that this was put down to circumstances, although "other reasons" could not be excluded.){{sfn|Scheer|1920|p=86}}


Beatty had lost control of the battle and he judged that the opportunity of an overwhelming victory had been lost. The Admiralty—erroneously believing that ''Derfflinger'' had been badly damaged—later reached the same conclusion.{{sfn|Roskill|1980|pp=118–119}} Jutland later showed that the British battlecruisers were still vulnerable to ammunition fires and magazine explosions, if hit by plunging fire. Had Moore's three fast battlecruisers pursued Hipper's remaining three (leaving the slower ''Indomitable'' behind as Beatty intended), the British might have been at a disadvantage and been defeated. ''Blücher'' demonstrated the ability of the German ships to absorb great punishment; all of Hipper's remaining ships were larger, faster, newer, more heavily armed, and far better armoured than ''Blücher''; only ''Seydlitz'' had suffered serious damage. Apart from the sinking of ''Blücher'', the Germans out-hit the British by over three to one, with 22 heavy-calibre hits—16 on ''Lion'' and six on ''Tiger''—against seven British hits.{{sfn|Roskill|1980|pp=118–119}}
Although the battle was not greatly consequential in itself, it boosted British morale.
But while the Germans learned their lessons, the British did not. The unfortunate Rear-Admiral Moore was quietly replaced, but Beatty’s flag lieutenant (responsible for hoisting Beatty's two commands on one flag hoist, thereby allowing them to be read as one) remained. Signalling on board the ''Lion'' would again be poor in the first hours of Jutland, with serious consequences for the British. Nor did the battlecruisers learn their lesson about fire distribution, as similar targeting errors were made at Jutland.<ref>Massie, 413-415</ref>


The battle, although inconclusive, boosted British morale. Rear-Admiral Moore was quietly replaced and sent to the Canary Islands and Captain Henry Pelly of ''Tiger'' was blamed for not taking over when ''Lion'' was damaged. ] remained Beatty's flag lieutenant, although he was responsible for hoisting Beatty's two commands on one flag hoist, allowing them to be read as one. The use of wireless allowed centralised control of ships from the Admiralty, which cramped the initiative of the men on the spot. Signals between ships continued to be by flag but there was no revision of the signal book or the assumptions of its authors.{{sfn|Strachan|2003|pp=434–435}} Signalling aboard ''Lion'' was again poor in the first hours of Jutland, with serious consequences for the British. The battlecruisers failed to improve fire distribution and similar targeting errors were made at Jutland.{{sfn|Massie|2003|pp=413–415}}
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}


==References== ===Casualties===
]
*{{cite book |last=Bennett |first=Geoffrey |authorlink=Geoffrey Bennett |title=Naval Battles of the First World War |year=1968 |location=London}}
In 1929, Julian Corbett, the official naval historian, recorded {{nowrap|792 men}} killed and {{nowrap|45 wounded}} out of the {{nowrap|1,026 crew}} on ''Blücher'', {{nowrap|189 of}} the men being rescued by the British. ''Seydlitz'' lost {{nowrap|159 men}} killed and {{nowrap|33 wounded}} and ''Kolberg'' lost three men killed and two wounded.{{sfn|Corbett|2009|p=102}} In 1965, Marder wrote that over {{nowrap|1,000 German}} sailors had been killed or captured, for British casualties of fewer than {{nowrap|50 men}} killed or wounded.{{sfn|Marder|1965|p=166}} In 2003, Massie wrote that German casualties were an estimated {{nowrap|951 men}} killed and {{nowrap|78 wounded,}} most in ''Blücher''; {{nowrap|153 men}} were killed and {{nowrap|33 were}} wounded in the fire in the two after turrets of ''Seydlitz''. The British rescued {{nowrap|189 unwounded}} prisoners and {{nowrap|45 wounded}} from ''Blücher''. British casualties were {{nowrap|15 killed}} and {{nowrap|80 men}} wounded. On ''Lion'', two men had been killed and eleven wounded, most by a shell hit in the A turret lobby. Ten men were killed on ''Tiger'' with nine men wounded and on ''Meteor'', four men were killed and two were wounded.{{sfn|Massie|2003|p=413}}
*{{cite book |last=Campbell |first=John |title=Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting |year=1998 |publisher=Lyons Press |isbn=1-55821-759-2}}

*{{cite book |last=Corbett |first=Sir Julian S. |authorlink=Julian Corbett |title=Naval Operations, Volume II |series=Official History of the War |location=London |year=1922}}
===Gunnery records===
*{{cite book |title=The King's Ships Were At Sea: The War in the North Sea August 1914&ndash;February 1916 |last=Goldrick |first=James |year=1984 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=0-87021-334-2 }}
{|class="wikitable" align="centre" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="3" style="margin:10px; border:solid 1px #bbb;"
*{{cite book |last=Gordon |first=Andrew |authorlink=Andrew Gordon (naval historian) |title=The Rules of the Game - Jutland and British Naval Command |isbn=0-7195-5542-6}}
|+Gunnery records{{sfn|Roskill|1980|pp=118–119}}
*{{cite book |last=Marder |first=Arthur J. |authorlink=Arthur Marder |title=Volume II |series=From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow |publisher=] |year=1965}}
!Ship
*{{cite book |last=Massie |first=Robert K. |authorlink=Robert Massie |title=] |year=2003 |publisher=Random House |isbn=0-345-40878-0}}
!Shells fired
!Target hits
!Hits received
!Casualties
|-
|''Lion''
|243 × 13.5-in
|''Blücher'' 1 <br /> ''Derfflinger'' 1 <br /> ''Seydlitz'' 2
|16 × 11- and 12-in <br /> 1 × 8.2-in
|1 killed <br />20 wounded
|-
|''Tiger''
|355 × 13.5-in
|''Blücher'' – <br /> ''Derfflinger'' 1 <br /> ''Seydlitz'' 2
|6 × 11- and 12-in <br /> 1 × 8.2-in
|10 killed <br />11 wounded
|-
|''Princess Royal''
|271 × 13.5-in
|''Blücher'' – <br /> ''Derfflinger'' 1
|0
|0
|-
|''New Zealand''
|147 × 12-in
|''Blücher'' —
|0
|0
|-
|-
|''Indomitable''
|134 × 12-in
|''Blücher'' 8
|1 × 8.3-in
|0
|-
|''Seydlitz''
|390 × 11-in
|''Lion'' and ''Tiger'' 8,
|3 × 13.5-in <br /> (1 ''Tiger'', 2 ''Lion'')
|159 killed <br /> 33 wounded
|-
|''Moltke''
|276 × 11-in
|''Lion'' and ''Tiger'' 8
|0
|0
|-
|''Derfflinger''
|310 × 12-in
|''Lion'', ''Tiger'', and <br /> ''Princess Royal'' 5 or 6
|3 × 13.5-in <br /> (1 each ''Lion'' <br /> ''Tiger'' and ''Princess Royal'')
|0
|-
|''Blücher''
|12 × 8.2-inch
|''Lion'' 1 <br /> ''Tiger'' 1 <br /> ''Indomitable'' 1
|about 70 <br /> 7 torpedoes{{sfn|Roskill|1980|p=119}}
|792 killed <br /> 234 prisoners <br /> 45 wounded
|}

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{Reflist|20em}}

== General and cited references ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Beesly |first=Patrick |year=1982 |editor-last1=Epkenhans |editor-first1=M. |title=Room 40: British Naval Intelligence, 1914–1918 |publisher=Hamish Hamilton |location=London |isbn=978-0-241-10864-2}}
* {{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=N. J. M. |title=Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting |year=1998 |publisher=Lyons Press |location=New York |isbn=978-1-55821-759-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=Corbett |first=J. S. |author-link=Julian Corbett |year=2009 |orig-year=1929 |title=Naval Operations |volume=II |series=History of the Great War based on Official Documents |publisher=Longmans, Green |location=London |edition=2nd, Naval & Military Press repr. |url=https://archive.org/details/navaloperations00newbgoog |access-date=25 January 2016 |oclc=220474040}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hillman |first1=J. |last2=Nägler |first2=F. |editor-last1=Epkenhans |editor-first1=M. |year=2011 |title=Skagerrakschlacht: Vorgeschichte – Ereignis – Verarbeitung |trans-title=Battle of Jutland: Prelude, Event, Analysis |series=Beiträge zur Militärgeschichte |number=66 |language=de |publisher=Oldenburg |location=Berlin |isbn=978-3-48670-270-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Goldrick |first=James |year=1984 |title=The King's Ships Were at Sea: The War in the North Sea August 1914 – February 1916 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |location=Annapolis, MD |isbn=978-0-87021-334-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/kingsshipswereat0000gold}}
* {{Cite book |last=Marder |first=Arthur J. |author-link=Arthur Marder |title=From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow: The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919 |volume=II: ''The War Years to the Eve of Jutland: 1914–1916'' |publisher=] |location=London |year=1965 |oclc=865180297}}
* {{Cite book |last=Massie |first=Robert K. |author-link=Robert K. Massie |title=Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany and the Winning of the Great War at Sea |year=2003 |publisher=Ballantine |location=New York |isbn=978-0-345-40878-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Roskill |first=Stephen W. |author-link=Stephen Roskill |title=Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty, the Last Naval Hero: An Intimate Biography |year=1980 |publisher=Collins |location=London |isbn=978-0-00-216278-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Scheer |first=Reinhard |author-link= Reinhard Scheer |year=1920 |title=Germany's High Seas Fleet in the World War |publisher=Cassell |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/germanyshighseaf00sche |access-date=29 January 2016 |oclc=2765294}}
* {{Cite book |last=Strachan |first=H. |author-link=Hew Strachan |year=2003 |orig-year=2001 |title=The First World War: To Arms |volume=I |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |edition=pbk. |isbn=978-0-19-926191-8}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bennett |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Bennett (historian) |title=Naval Battles of the First World War |year=1968 |publisher=Batsford |location=London |oclc=464091851}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=Andrew |author-link=Andrew Gordon (naval historian) |title=The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command |year=2000 |publisher=John Murray |location=London |isbn=978-0-7195-5542-8}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Groos |first1=O. |last2=Lorey |first2=H. |last3=Mantey |first3=E. von |year=1920 |title=Der Krieg in der Nordsee |trans-title=The War in the North Sea |volume=III |series=Der Krieg zur See, 1914–1918, herausgegeben vom Marine-Archiv |language=de |location=Berlin |publisher=Mittler & Sohn |oclc=715186632}}
{{Refend}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commonscat|Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)}} {{Commons category|Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)}}
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{{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 13:51, 10 December 2024

Part of World War I

Battle of Dogger Bank
Part of the First World War

Battle of Dogger Bank by Arthur Burgess
Date24 January 1915
LocationDogger Bank, North Sea54°33′28″N 05°27′50″E / 54.55778°N 5.46389°E / 54.55778; 5.46389
Result British victory
Belligerents
 United Kingdom  Germany
Commanders and leaders
David Beatty Franz Hipper
Strength
5 battlecruisers
7 light cruisers
35 destroyers		 3 battlecruisers
1 armoured cruiser
4 light cruisers
18 torpedo boats
1 Zeppelin
Casualties and losses
47 killed and wounded
1 battlecruiser disabled
1 destroyer disabled		 1,034 killed and wounded
189 captured
1 armoured cruiser sunk
1 battlecruiser damaged
Battle is located in North SeaBattleBattleclass=notpageimage| The Battle of Dogger Bank location in the North Sea
North Sea 1914–1918

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 had intercepted and decoded German wireless transmissions, gaining advance knowledge that a German raiding squadron was heading for the Dogger Bank and ships of the Grand Fleet sailed to intercept the raiders.

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 British disabled Blücher, the rearmost German ship and the Germans put the British flagship HMS Lion out of action. Due to inadequate signalling, the remaining British ships stopped the pursuit to sink Blücher; by the time the ship had been sunk, the rest of the German squadron had escaped.

The German squadron returned to harbour with some ships in need of extensive repairs. Lion made it back to port but was out of action for several months. The British had lost no ships and suffered few casualties; the Germans had lost Blücher and most of her crew. 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.

Background

Room 40

Main article: Room 40

Before 1914, international communication was conducted via undersea cables laid along shipping lanes, most of which were under British control. Hours after the British ultimatum to Germany in August 1914, they cut the German cables. German messages could be passed only by wireless, using cyphers to disguise their content. The Signalbuch der Kaiserlichen Marine (SKM) was captured from the German light cruiser SMS Magdeburg after she ran aground in the Baltic Sea on 26 August 1914. The German-Australian steamer Hobart was seized near Melbourne, Australia on 11 August and the Handelsverkehrsbuch (HVB) codebook, used by the German navy to communicate with merchant ships and within the High Seas Fleet, was captured. A copy of the book was sent to England by the fastest steamer, arriving at the end of October. During the Battle off Texel (17 October), the commander of the German destroyer SMS S119 threw overboard his secret papers in a lead lined chest as the ship sank but on 30 November, a British trawler dragged up the chest. Room 40 gained a copy of the Verkehrsbuch (VB) codebook, normally used by Flag officers of the Kaiserliche Marine.

The Director of the Intelligence Division of the Admiralty, Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, established a code breaking organisation to decipher German signals, using cryptographers from academic backgrounds and making use of the windfalls taken from the German ships. At first, the inexperience of the cryptanalysts in naval matters led to errors in the understanding of the material. This lack of naval experience caused Oliver to make personal decisions about the information to be passed to other departments, many of which, particularly the Operations Department, had reservations about the value of Room 40. The transfer of an experienced naval officer, Commander W. W. Hope, remedied most of the deficiencies of the civilians' understanding. On 14 October, Oliver became Chief of the Naval War Staff, but continued to treat Room 40 more as a fiefdom and a source for the informal group of officers around the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, which received decoded messages but had insufficient authority to use them to best advantage.

German ships had to report their position every night by wireless and British listening posts along the east coast took cross-bearings to find the positions of the ships when they transmitted. This signals intelligence meant that the British did not need wasteful defensive standing patrols and sweeps of the North Sea but could economise on fuel and use the time for training and maintenance. The Admiralty also uncovered the German order of battle and tracked the deployment of ships, which gave them an offensive advantage. The lack of a proper war staff at the Admiralty and poor liaison between Room 40, Oliver and the operations staff meant that the advantage was poorly exploited in 1915; it was not until 1917 that this was remedied. When German ships sailed, information from Room 40 needed to be passed on quickly but Oliver found it hard to delegate and would not routinely supply all decrypts; commanders at sea were supplied only with what the Admiralty thought they needed. Information could reach the Grand Fleet late, incomplete or mistakenly interpreted. When Jellicoe asked for a decryption section to take to sea, he was refused on security grounds.

German raid

Main article: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby

With the German High Seas Fleet (HSF) confined to port after the British success at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1914, Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl, the Commander-in-Chief of the HSF planned a raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on the east coast of England, with the I Scouting Group (Admiral Franz von Hipper), a battlecruiser squadron of three battlecruisers and a large armoured cruiser, supported by light cruisers and destroyers. Hipper opened fire at 08:00 on 16 December 1914, eventually killing 108 and wounding 525 civilians. British public and political opinion was outraged that German warships could sail so close to the British coast, shelling coastal towns with impunity; British naval forces had failed to prevent the attacks and also failed to intercept the raiding squadron. The British fleet had sailed but the German ships escaped in stormy seas and low visibility, assisted by British communication failures. The Germans had made the first successful attack on Britain since the 17th century and suffered no losses but Ingenohl was unjustly blamed for missing an opportunity to inflict a defeat on the Royal Navy, despite creating the chance by his offensive-mindedness.

British counter-action

The British had let the raid occur and appeared to the public to have been surprised (having been forewarned by decoded wireless messages) and then to have failed to sink the German raiding force on its way back to Germany. In 1921, the official historian Julian Corbett wrote,

Two of the most efficient and powerful British squadrons...knowing approximately what to expect...had failed to bring to action an enemy who was acting in close conformity with our appreciation and with whose advanced screen contact had been established.

The British had escaped a potential disaster, because the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty) was unsupported by the 2nd Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender), when it failed to make contact with the raiding force. The worst British failure was in the exploitation of the intelligence provided by the code breakers at Room 40 (Sir Alfred Ewing), that had given the British notice of the raid. Some intercepts decoded during the action had taken two hours to reach British commanders at sea, by when they were out of date or misleading. News of the sailing of the HSF was delivered so late that the British commanders thought that the Germans were on the way, when they were returning. At sea, Beatty had sent ambiguous signals and some commanders had not used their initiative. On 30 December, the commander of the Home Fleet, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, gave orders that when in contact with German ships, officers were to treat orders from those ignorant of local conditions as instructions only but he refused Admiralty suggestions to loosen ship formations, for fear of decentralising tactical command too far.

Plan

German plan

Hipper suspected that the British had received advanced warning about earlier operations of the HSF from spy ships mingling with British and Dutch fishing boats, operating near the German Bight and the Dogger Bank, to observe German fleet movements. Hipper considered that with the Dogger Bank mid-way on the short route to the English coast, a signal from a trawler could reach the British in time for the British battlecruisers to intercept a German sortie, certainly on the return journey. Hipper ordered German ships vigorously to enforce search and seizure rules, fishing boats being brought into Cuxhaven to be searched. Buoyed by the success of the raid on the English coast, Admiral Hipper planned an attack on the British fishing fleet on the Dogger Bank. The German fleet had increased in size since the outbreak of war, with the arrival in service of the König-class dreadnought battleships SMS König, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf and Kronprinz of the 3rd Battle Squadron and the Derfflinger-class battlecruiser Derfflinger.

Hipper intended to clear the bank of British fishing vessels and dubious neutrals and to attack any small British warships in the area, with the HSF covering the withdrawal of the battlecruisers. The limited nature of the operation conformed to the ban by the Kaiser on operations by the High Seas Fleet, that had been reiterated on 10 January. A slightly more aggressive strategy was permitted, within the policy of keeping the HSF in being, in which the fleet could sortie to attempt to isolate and destroy advanced British forces or to attack the Grand Fleet if in greater strength. On 19 January, Beatty had reconnoitred the area west of the German Bight and been seen by a German aircraft. The reconnaissance and British activity at the Dogger Bank led Ingenohl to order Hipper and the I Scouting Group to survey the area and surprise and destroy any light forces found there. The I Scouting Group contained the battlecruisers Seydlitz (flagship), Moltke, Derfflinger and armoured cruiser Blucher, four light cruisers and eighteen destroyers.

British plan

Area of the Dogger Bank

Wireless transmissions from German ships in the Jade Bight on 23 January 1915, intercepted and decoded by Room 40, alerted the British to a German sortie in force as far as the Dogger Bank. At the Admiralty, Wilson, Oliver and Churchill arranged a plan to confront the Germans with a superior opponent. A rendezvous was set for 24 January at 07:00, 30 nmi (35 mi; 56 km) north of the Dogger Bank and about 180 nmi (210 mi; 330 km) west of Heligoland. The battlecruisers comprised the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (Beatty) with Lion (flagship), Tiger and Princess Royal. The new 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron (Rear-Admiral Gordon Moore deputy to Beatty) had New Zealand as flagship and Indomitable. Harwich Force (Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt) sailed from Harwich with three light cruisers and 35 destroyers, to rendezvous with the battlecruisers at 07:00 on 24 January.

To cover the East Coast and act as distant support, the 3rd Cruiser Squadron and the seven pre-dreadnoughts of the 3rd Battle Squadron (Admiral Edward Eden Bradford) sailed from Rosyth for an area in the North Sea, from which they could cut off the German force if it moved north. The Grand Fleet left Scapa at 21:00 on 23 January, to sweep the southern North Sea but could not be expected to arrive on the scene until the afternoon of 24 January. Soon after the German force sailed, the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (Commodore William Goodenough) and the battlecruisers departed Rosyth, heading south; at 07:05 on 24 January, a clear day with good visibility, they encountered German screening vessels at the Dogger Bank.

Orders of battle

Main article: Order of battle at Dogger Bank (1915)

Royal Navy

Imperial German Navy

Battle

24 January

Positions in the battle

Sighting the smoke from a large approaching force, Hipper headed south-east by 07:35 to escape but the battlecruisers were faster than the German squadron, which was held back by the slower armoured cruiser Blücher and the coal-fuelled torpedo boats. By 08:00, the German battlecruisers had been sighted from Lion but the older battlecruisers of the British 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron were lagging behind the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. Chasing the Germans from a position astern and to starboard, the British ships gradually caught up—some reaching a speed of 27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h)—and closed to gun range. Beatty chose to approach from this direction so that the prevailing wind blew the British ships' smoke clear, allowing them a good view of the German ships, while German gunners were partially blinded by their funnel and gun smoke blowing towards the British ships. Lion opened fire at 08:52, at a range of 20,000 yd (11 mi; 18 km) and the other British ships commenced firing as they came within range, while the Germans were unable to reply until 09:11, because of the shorter range of their guns. No warships had engaged at such long ranges or at such high speeds before, and accurate gunnery for both sides was an unprecedented challenge but after a few salvos, British shells straddled Blücher.

The British fire was concentrated on the battlecruiser Seydlitz at the head of the line and Blücher at the rear. With five British ships against four German, Beatty intended that his two rear ships, New Zealand and Indomitable, should engage Blücher, while his leading three engaged their opposite numbers. Captain Henry Pelly of the new battlecruiser Tiger assumed that two ships should concentrate on the leading German ship and engaged Seydlitz, leaving Moltke free to fire at Lion. Tiger's fire was ineffective, as she mistook the shell splashes from Lion for her own, when the fall of shot was 3,000 yd (1.7 mi; 2.7 km) beyond Seydlitz. At 09:43, Seydlitz was hit by a 13.5 in (340 mm) shell from Lion, which penetrated her after turret barbette and caused an ammunition fire in the working chamber. This fire spread rapidly through other compartments, igniting ready propellant charges all the way to the magazines and knocked out both rear turrets with the loss of 165 men. Only the prompt action of the executive officer, Wilhelm Heidkamp, in flooding the magazines saved Seydlitz from a magazine explosion that would have destroyed the ship.

German battlecruisers (L–R) Derfflinger, Moltke and Seydlitz en route to Dogger Bank.

The British ships were relatively unscathed until 10:18, when Derfflinger hit Lion with several 30.5 cm (12.0 in) shells, damaging her engines and causing flooding; Lion lost speed and began to fall behind. At 10:41, Lion narrowly escaped a disaster similar to that on Seydlitz, when a German shell hit the forward turret and ignited a small ammunition fire but it was extinguished before causing a magazine explosion. A few minutes later, taking on water and listing to port, Lion had to stop her port engine and reduce speed to 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) and was soon out of action, having been hit 14 times. At 10:30, Blücher was hit by a shell from Princess Royal, which caused an ammunition fire and boiler room damage. Blücher had to reduce speed to 17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h) and lagged behind the rest of the German force. Beatty ordered Indomitable—his slowest ship—to intercept Blücher.

Painting of SMS V5 engaging HMS Lion, by Willy Stöwer

With his ships running short of ammunition, Hipper chose to steam for home, leaving the disabled Blücher behind, to save his remaining ships. The annihilation of the German squadron appeared likely to the British until 10:54, when Beatty—believing he saw a submarine periscope on Lion′s starboard bow—ordered a 90° turn to port, to avoid a submarine ambush (The "periscope" may have been a surfacing, run-out torpedo which had been launched 15 minutes earlier by the German destroyer V5). At 11:02, realising that so sharp a turn would open the range too much, Beatty ordered "Course NE" to limit the turn to 45° and then added "Engage the enemy's rear", to clarify his intent that the other ships, which had now left Lion far behind, should pursue the main German force. With Lion′s electric generators out of action, Beatty could only signal using flag hoists and both signals were flown at the same time.

The combination of the signal "Course NE"—which happened to be the direction of Blücher—and the signal to engage the rear was misunderstood by Beatty's second-in-command, Rear-Admiral Moore on New Zealand, as an order for all the battlecruisers to finish off Blücher. The British battlecruisers broke off the pursuit of the German squadron and attacked Blücher, with most of the British light cruisers and destroyers joining in. Beatty tried to correct this obvious misunderstanding by using the order from Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar "Engage the enemy more closely" but this order was not in the signal book and Beatty chose "Keep nearer to the enemy" as the closest equivalent. By the time this signal was hoisted, Moore's ships were too far away to read Beatty's flags and the correction was not received.

SMS Blücher rolls over onto her side

Despite the overwhelming odds, Blücher put the British destroyer HMS Meteor out of action and scored two hits on the British battlecruisers with her 21 cm (8.3 in) guns. Blücher was hit by about 70 shells and wrecked. When struck by two torpedoes from the light cruiser Arethusa, Blücher capsized at 54 25' N. Lat., 5 25' E. Long and sank at 13:13, with the loss of 792 crew. British ships began to rescue survivors, but they were hindered by the arrival of the Zeppelin L-5 (LZ-28) and a German seaplane which attacked with small bombs. No damage was done but the British ships put on speed and withdrew to avoid further aerial attack, leaving some of the survivors behind. By this time, the rest of the German ships were too far away for the British to catch up.

Lion made 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) at the beginning of the 300 nmi (350 mi; 560 km) return voyage, escorted by Indomitable. Beatty contemplated leaving a flotilla of destroyers to guard Lion and sending the rest to the German Bight, to make a night attack on the German ships, but the damage to Lion caused more problems. As she crept home, the ship suffered further engine-trouble from saltwater contamination in the boiler-feed-water system and her speed dropped to 8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h). Lion was taken in tow by Indomitable, an operation which took two hours, in which the battlecruisers were exceedingly vulnerable to submarine attacks. At 17:00, the voyage resumed, the ships eventually managing 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h) and when the Grand Fleet arrived, Jellicoe increased the screen to thirteen light cruisers and 67 destroyers. A message from the Admiralty arrived that the Germans were planning a night destroyer attack but that the destroyers with the two scouting groups were low on fuel and those with the HSF were too far away.

25 January

Lion and Indomitable slowed to 7 kn (8.1 mph; 13 km/h) overnight when Lion had more engine-trouble and at dawn were still 100 nmi (120 mi; 190 km) short of the Firth of Forth. The destroyers reformed into an anti-submarine screen and the ships reached the firth at midnight; the destroyer Meteor was towed into the Humber Estuary. Lion was out of action for four months, Fisher having decreed that the damage be repaired at Armstrong's on the Tyne, without her going into dry dock, making for an extremely difficult and time-consuming job. The surviving German ships reached port; Derfflinger was repaired by 17 February but Seydlitz needed a drydock and was not ready for sea until 1 April.

Aftermath

Analysis

1916 advertisement for a film of the Blücher sinking. Proceeds from the premiere showing of the film went to orphans of artists and writers lost to the war.

At first the Germans thought that Tiger had been sunk, because of a large fire that had been seen on her decks, but it was soon clear that the battle was a serious German reverse. Kaiser Wilhelm II issued an order that all risks to surface vessels were to be avoided. Ingenohl was sacked and replaced by Admiral Hugo von Pohl. The damage to Seydlitz revealed flaws in the protection of her magazines and dangerous ammunition-handling procedures. Some of these failings were remedied in the HSF before the Battle of Jutland (31 May – 1 June 1916). The Germans thought that the appearance of the British squadron at dawn was too remarkable to be a coincidence and concluded that a spy near their base in Jade Bay was responsible, not that the British were reading their encrypted wireless communications. (In 1920, Scheer wrote that the number of British ships present suggested that they had known about the operation in advance, but that this was put down to circumstances, although "other reasons" could not be excluded.)

Beatty had lost control of the battle and he judged that the opportunity of an overwhelming victory had been lost. The Admiralty—erroneously believing that Derfflinger had been badly damaged—later reached the same conclusion. Jutland later showed that the British battlecruisers were still vulnerable to ammunition fires and magazine explosions, if hit by plunging fire. Had Moore's three fast battlecruisers pursued Hipper's remaining three (leaving the slower Indomitable behind as Beatty intended), the British might have been at a disadvantage and been defeated. Blücher demonstrated the ability of the German ships to absorb great punishment; all of Hipper's remaining ships were larger, faster, newer, more heavily armed, and far better armoured than Blücher; only Seydlitz had suffered serious damage. Apart from the sinking of Blücher, the Germans out-hit the British by over three to one, with 22 heavy-calibre hits—16 on Lion and six on Tiger—against seven British hits.

The battle, although inconclusive, boosted British morale. Rear-Admiral Moore was quietly replaced and sent to the Canary Islands and Captain Henry Pelly of Tiger was blamed for not taking over when Lion was damaged. Ralph Seymour remained Beatty's flag lieutenant, although he was responsible for hoisting Beatty's two commands on one flag hoist, allowing them to be read as one. The use of wireless allowed centralised control of ships from the Admiralty, which cramped the initiative of the men on the spot. Signals between ships continued to be by flag but there was no revision of the signal book or the assumptions of its authors. Signalling aboard Lion was again poor in the first hours of Jutland, with serious consequences for the British. The battlecruisers failed to improve fire distribution and similar targeting errors were made at Jutland.

Casualties

Royal Scots Territorials firing a salute over the grave of Captain Erdmann, Commander of SMS Blücher

In 1929, Julian Corbett, the official naval historian, recorded 792 men killed and 45 wounded out of the 1,026 crew on Blücher, 189 of the men being rescued by the British. Seydlitz lost 159 men killed and 33 wounded and Kolberg lost three men killed and two wounded. In 1965, Marder wrote that over 1,000 German sailors had been killed or captured, for British casualties of fewer than 50 men killed or wounded. In 2003, Massie wrote that German casualties were an estimated 951 men killed and 78 wounded, most in Blücher; 153 men were killed and 33 were wounded in the fire in the two after turrets of Seydlitz. The British rescued 189 unwounded prisoners and 45 wounded from Blücher. British casualties were 15 killed and 80 men wounded. On Lion, two men had been killed and eleven wounded, most by a shell hit in the A turret lobby. Ten men were killed on Tiger with nine men wounded and on Meteor, four men were killed and two were wounded.

Gunnery records

Gunnery records
Ship Shells fired Target hits Hits received Casualties
Lion 243 × 13.5-in Blücher 1
Derfflinger 1
Seydlitz 2 		16 × 11- and 12-in
1 × 8.2-in 		1 killed
20 wounded
Tiger 355 × 13.5-in Blücher –
Derfflinger 1
Seydlitz 2 		6 × 11- and 12-in
1 × 8.2-in 		10 killed
11 wounded
Princess Royal 271 × 13.5-in Blücher –
Derfflinger 1 		0 0
New Zealand 147 × 12-in Blücher — 0 0
Indomitable 134 × 12-in Blücher 8 1 × 8.3-in 0
Seydlitz 390 × 11-in Lion and Tiger 8, 3 × 13.5-in
(1 Tiger, 2 Lion) 		159 killed
33 wounded
Moltke 276 × 11-in Lion and Tiger 8 0 0
Derfflinger 310 × 12-in Lion, Tiger, and
Princess Royal 5 or 6 		3 × 13.5-in
(1 each Lion
Tiger and Princess Royal) 		0
Blücher 12 × 8.2-inch Lion 1
Tiger 1
Indomitable 1 		about 70
7 torpedoes 		792 killed
234 prisoners
45 wounded

Explanatory notes

  1. Supposedly, a sailor named Wilhelm Heidkamp saved the ship, when he flooded the magazine by opening the red hot valves, burning his hands and lungs, injuries from which he never recovered, leading to his early death in 1931. The Kriegsmarine named the destroyer Z21 in his honour.

Citations

  1. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 6.
  2. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 8.
  3. Beesly 1982, pp. 4–5.
  4. Beesly 1982, pp. 3–4.
  5. Beesly 1982, pp. 6–7.
  6. Strachan 2003, p. 422.
  7. Strachan 2003, pp. 422–423.
  8. Campbell 1998, p. 5.
  9. Massie 2003, pp. 319–328.
  10. ^ Strachan 2003, p. 430.
  11. Strachan 2003, pp. 430–431.
  12. Massie 2003, p. 376.
  13. Massie 2003, p. 375.
  14. Marder 1965, p. 156.
  15. ^ Marder 1965, p. 157.
  16. ^ Campbell 1998, p. 7.
  17. Massie 2003, pp. 388–389.
  18. Massie 2003, p. 392.
  19. Massie 2003, pp. 393–394.
  20. Campbell 1998, pp. 373–374.
  21. Massie 2003, p. 394.
  22. Hillman & Nägler 2011, p. 239.
  23. Massie 2003, p. 397.
  24. Massie 2003, pp. 396–397.
  25. Corbett 2009, p. 94.
  26. Massie 2003, p. 403.
  27. Massie 2003, pp. 398–401.
  28. Massie 2003, p. 398.
  29. Scheer 1920, p. 85.
  30. Massie 2003, p. 407.
  31. Corbett 2009, p. 97.
  32. Massie 2003, pp. 410–411.
  33. Massie 2003, p. 412.
  34. Goldrick 1984, p. 296.
  35. Massie 2003, pp. 404, 410–413.
  36. ^ Corbett 2009, p. 102.
  37. Campbell 1998, p. 374.
  38. Massie 2003, pp. 423–424.
  39. Scheer 1920, p. 86.
  40. ^ Roskill 1980, pp. 118–119.
  41. Strachan 2003, pp. 434–435.
  42. Massie 2003, pp. 413–415.
  43. Marder 1965, p. 166.
  44. Massie 2003, p. 413.
  45. Roskill 1980, p. 119.

General and cited references

Further reading

  • Bennett, Geoffrey (1968). Naval Battles of the First World War. London: Batsford. OCLC 464091851.
  • Gordon, Andrew (2000). The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-5542-8.
  • Groos, O.; Lorey, H.; Mantey, E. von (1920). Der Krieg in der Nordsee [The War in the North Sea]. Der Krieg zur See, 1914–1918, herausgegeben vom Marine-Archiv (in German). Vol. III. Berlin: Mittler & Sohn. OCLC 715186632.

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