The Battle Of Jutland

The battle of Jutland is believed to be the largest naval battle of World War One. The battle began on May 31st, 1916. The countries that were involved during this battle were Britain and Germany. The battle took place off the coast of Britain. The battle was fought because the German High Seas Fleet Commander had returned the policy of making sorties against the British coast. The battle started when Admiral Beatty, commanding the British battle cruisers encountered the weaker German equivalent under command, Admiral Hipper. The battle was intended to destroy Reinhard Sheer's naval fleet, the German high seas fleet. Admiral Beatty fled north pursued by German dreadnoughts. The Germans got a nasty surprise when Jellicoe's British fleet intervened which they thought was too far north to help. In a night of intense fighting the retreat of the German battle ships were covered by their lighter ships, while Jellicoe lost time after turning to avoid a potential torpedo attack. The Germans lost one battle cruiser, one pre dreadnought, four armoured cruisers and eight destroyers, while the British lost two battle cruisers. Jutland was the last and largest of all the great naval ship battles. Never again did battle fleets meet in such numbers.