Action of 19 August 1916
Encyclopedia
The Action of 19 August 1916 was one of only two further attempts made by the German High Seas Fleet
to engage elements of the British Royal Navy
following the mixed results of the Battle of Jutland
in World War I
. The lesson of Jutland for Germany had been the vital need for reconnaissance so as to avoid the unexpected arrival of the British Grand Fleet during any raid, so on this occasion four Zeppelin
s were deployed to scout the North Sea
between Scotland
and Norway
for signs of British ships, while four more scouted immediately ahead of German ships. Twenty four submarines were also deployed, off the English coast, in the southern North Sea and off the Dogger Bank
.
Although Jutland had been officially hailed as a success, the German commander Admiral Reinhard Scheer
felt it important that another raid should be mounted as quickly as possible to maintain morale in his severely battered fleet. It was decided that the raid should follow the pattern of previous ones, with the battlecruiser
s carrying out a dawn artillery bombardment of an English town, in this case Sunderland. Only two battlecruisers were still serviceable after Jutland, Moltke and Von der Tann
, so the force was boulstered by the addition of three battleships, Bayern
, Markgraf
and Großer Kurfürst
. The remainder of the High Seas Fleet, comprising 16 dreadnought battleships, was to carry out close support 20 miles behind. The fleet set sail at 9.00pm on 18th August from the Jade river.
Information about the upcoming raid was obtained by British Intelligence in Room 40
through intercepted and decoded radio messages. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
, commander of the British fleet, was on leave so had to be recalled urgently and boarded the light cruiser
Royalist
at Dundee
to meet his fleet in the early hours of 19th August off the river Tay
. In his absence, Admiral Cecil Burney
took the fleet to sea on the afternoon of 18th August. Vice-Admiral
David Beatty
left the Firth of Forth
with his squadron of six battlecruisers to meet the main fleet in the Long Forties
. The Harwich Force
of 20 destroyer
s and 5 light cruisers commanded by Commodore
Tyrwhitt
was ordered out, as were 25 British submarines which were stationed in likely areas to intercept German ships. The battlecruisers together with the 5th Battle Squadron of five fast battleships were stationed 30 miles ahead of the main fleet to scout for the enemy. The assembled fleet now moved south seeking the German fleet, but suffered the loss of one of the light cruisers screening the battlecruiser group, , which was hit by three torpedoes from submarine SM U-52
at 6:00 am.
At 6:15 am Jellicoe received information from the Admiralty
that one hour earlier the enemy had been 200 miles to his south east. However, the loss of the cruiser caused him to first head north for fear of endangering his other ships. No torpedo tracks or submarines had been seen, so it was unclear whether the cause had been a submarine or entering an unknown minefield. He did not resume a south-easterly course until 9.00 am when William Goodenough
, commanding the light cruisers, advised that the cause had been a submarine attack. Further information from the admiralty indicated that the battlecruisers would be within 40 miles of the main German fleet by 2.00 pm., and Jellicoe increased to maximum speed. Weather conditions were good, with plenty of time for a fleet engagement before dark.
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The German force had received reassurances about Jellicoe's position, when a zeppelin had spotted the Grand Fleet heading north away from Scheer, at the time it had been avoiding the possible minefield. Unfortunately for the British, Zeppelin L13 sighted the Harwich force approximately 75 miles ENE of Cromer, mistakenly identifying the cruisers as battleships. This was precisely the sort of target Scheer was seeking, so he changed course at 12.15 pm also to the south-east and away from the approaching British fleet. No further reports were received from zeppelins about the British fleet, but it was spotted by a U-boat just 65 miles north of Scheer. Scheer turned for home at 2:35 pm abandoning his potential target. By 4.00 pm Jellicoe had been advised that Scheer had abandoned the operation and so turned north himself.
A second cruiser attached to the battlecruiser squadron, Falmouth
, was hit by two torpedoes from SM U-63
at 16:52 and sank the following day while being towed to the Humber
, when hit by two more torpedoes fired by SM U-66
. By 17:45 the Harwich force had sighted German ships, but was too far behind for any prospect of an attack before nightfall so abandoned the chase.
A British submarine E23
commanded by Lieutenant-Commander R.R Turner managed to hit the German battleship Westfalen
at 5:05 am on the 19th, but the ship was able to return home.
Scheer was unimpressed by the efficiency of the zeppelin reconnaissance. Only three zeppelins had spotted anything, and from seven reports four had been wrong.
On 18–19 October Scheer once again led a brief sortie into the North Sea and British intelligence gave warning. However, the Grand Fleet declined to prepare an ambush, staying in port with steam raised ready to sail. The German sortie was abandoned after a few hours when SMS München
was hit by a torpedo fired by E38
, Lieutenant-Commander J. de B. Jessop, and it was feared other submarines might be in the area. Scheer suffered further difficulties when in November he sailed with Moltke and a division of dreadnoughts to rescue SM U-20 and SM U-30
which had become stranded on the Danish coast. British submarine J1, Commander J. Laurence, managed to hit battleships Großer Kurfürst and Kronprinz. The failure of these operations reinforced the belief, created at Jutland, that the risks involved in such operations were not justified by the outcomes. Both sides feared the loss of their capital ships to submarines or mines.
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
to engage elements of the British Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
following the mixed results of the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The lesson of Jutland for Germany had been the vital need for reconnaissance so as to avoid the unexpected arrival of the British Grand Fleet during any raid, so on this occasion four Zeppelin
Zeppelin
A Zeppelin is a type of rigid airship pioneered by the German Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin in the early 20th century. It was based on designs he had outlined in 1874 and detailed in 1893. His plans were reviewed by committee in 1894 and patented in the United States on 14 March 1899...
s were deployed to scout the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
between Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
for signs of British ships, while four more scouted immediately ahead of German ships. Twenty four submarines were also deployed, off the English coast, in the southern North Sea and off the Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank
Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. It extends over approximately , with its dimensions being about long and up to broad. The water depth ranges from 15 to 36 metres , about shallower than the surrounding sea. It is a...
.
Although Jutland had been officially hailed as a success, the German commander Admiral Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer
Reinhard Scheer was an Admiral in the German Kaiserliche Marine. Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet; he progressed through the ranks, commanding cruisers and battleships, as well as major staff positions on land. At the outbreak of World War I, Scheer was the commander of the II...
felt it important that another raid should be mounted as quickly as possible to maintain morale in his severely battered fleet. It was decided that the raid should follow the pattern of previous ones, with the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s carrying out a dawn artillery bombardment of an English town, in this case Sunderland. Only two battlecruisers were still serviceable after Jutland, Moltke and Von der Tann
SMS Von der Tann
SMS Von der Tann"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was the first battlecruiser built for the German Kaiserliche Marine, as well as Germany's first major turbine-powered warship. At the time of her construction, Von der Tann was the fastest dreadnought-type...
, so the force was boulstered by the addition of three battleships, Bayern
SMS Bayern (1915)
SMS Bayern "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" was the lead ship of the class of battleships in the German Imperial Navy. The vessel was launched in February 1915 and entered service in July 1916, too late to take part in the Battle of Jutland...
, Markgraf
SMS Markgraf
SMS Markgraf"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" was the third battleship of the four-ship . She served in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The battleship was laid down in November 1911 and launched on 4 June 1913...
and Großer Kurfürst
SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1913)
SMS Grosser Kurfürst"SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" was the second battleship of the four-ship . Grosser Kurfürst served in the German Imperial Navy during World War I. The battleship was laid down in October 1911 and launched on 5 May 1913...
. The remainder of the High Seas Fleet, comprising 16 dreadnought battleships, was to carry out close support 20 miles behind. The fleet set sail at 9.00pm on 18th August from the Jade river.
Information about the upcoming raid was obtained by British Intelligence in Room 40
Room 40
In the history of Cryptanalysis, Room 40 was the section in the Admiralty most identified with the British cryptoanalysis effort during the First World War.Room 40 was formed in October 1914, shortly after the start of the war...
through intercepted and decoded radio messages. Admiral Sir John Jellicoe
John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe
Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO was a British Royal Navy admiral who commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in World War I...
, commander of the British fleet, was on leave so had to be recalled urgently and boarded the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
Royalist
HMS Royalist (1915)
HMS Royalist was an Arethusa-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 14 January 1915 at William Beardmore and Company's shipyard....
at Dundee
Dundee
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
to meet his fleet in the early hours of 19th August off the river Tay
River Tay
The River Tay is the longest river in Scotland and the seventh-longest in the United Kingdom. The Tay originates in western Scotland on the slopes of Ben Lui , then flows easterly across the Highlands, through Loch Dochhart, Loch Lubhair and Loch Tay, then continues east through Strathtay , in...
. In his absence, Admiral Cecil Burney
Cecil Burney
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Cecil Burney, 1st Baronet GCB GCMG was a British Royal Navy admiral.-Early life and service before flag rank:...
took the fleet to sea on the afternoon of 18th August. Vice-Admiral
Vice Admiral (Royal Navy)
Vice admiral is a flag officer rank of the British Royal Navy. It equates to the NATO rank code OF-8 and is immediately superior to rear admiral and is subordinate to the full admiral rank.The Royal Navy has had vice admirals since at least the 16th century...
David Beatty
David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty, GCB, OM, GCVO, DSO was an admiral in the Royal Navy...
left the Firth of Forth
Firth of Forth
The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea, between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh and East Lothian to the south...
with his squadron of six battlecruisers to meet the main fleet in the Long Forties
Long Forties
200px|rightThe Long Forties is an area of the northern North Sea that is fairly consistently forty fathoms deep . It is located between the northeast coast of Scotland and the southwest coast of Norway, centred about 57°N 0°30′E...
. The Harwich Force
Harwich Force
The Harwich Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War, that went on to play a significant role in the war.-History:...
of 20 destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s and 5 light cruisers commanded by Commodore
Commodore (Royal Navy)
Commodore is a rank of the Royal Navy above Captain and below Rear Admiral. It has a NATO ranking code of OF-6. The rank is equivalent to Brigadier in the British Army and Royal Marines and to Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force.-Insignia:...
Tyrwhitt
Reginald Tyrwhitt
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet, GCB, DSO was a senior officer of the Royal Navy in World War I who commanded light forces stationed at Harwich on the east coast of England during the first part of the war.-Naval career:Tyrwhitt entered the Navy as a cadet in July, 1885...
was ordered out, as were 25 British submarines which were stationed in likely areas to intercept German ships. The battlecruisers together with the 5th Battle Squadron of five fast battleships were stationed 30 miles ahead of the main fleet to scout for the enemy. The assembled fleet now moved south seeking the German fleet, but suffered the loss of one of the light cruisers screening the battlecruiser group, , which was hit by three torpedoes from submarine SM U-52
SM U-52
|SM U-52 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-52 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
at 6:00 am.
At 6:15 am Jellicoe received information from the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
that one hour earlier the enemy had been 200 miles to his south east. However, the loss of the cruiser caused him to first head north for fear of endangering his other ships. No torpedo tracks or submarines had been seen, so it was unclear whether the cause had been a submarine or entering an unknown minefield. He did not resume a south-easterly course until 9.00 am when William Goodenough
William Goodenough
Admiral Sir William Edmund Goodenough GCB, MVO was a senior Royal Navy officer of World War I.-Naval career:Goodenough joined the Royal Navy in 1882. He was appointed Commander of the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth in 1905...
, commanding the light cruisers, advised that the cause had been a submarine attack. Further information from the admiralty indicated that the battlecruisers would be within 40 miles of the main German fleet by 2.00 pm., and Jellicoe increased to maximum speed. Weather conditions were good, with plenty of time for a fleet engagement before dark.
HMS Falmouth (1910)
HMS Falmouth was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 20 September 1910 from the yards of William Beardmore and Company. She was part of the Weymouth subgroup.She saw action in a number of major naval engagements of the war...
, was hit by two torpedoes from SM U-63
SM U-63
SM U-63 was one of the 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I.U-63 was engaged in the naval warfare and took part in the First Battle of the Atlantic....
at 16:52 and sank the following day while being towed to the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
, when hit by two more torpedoes fired by SM U-66
SM U-66
SM U-66 was the lead ship of the Type U 66 submarines or U-boats for the German Imperial Navy during the First World War. The submarine had been laid down in November 1913 as U-7, the lead ship of the U-7 class for the Austro-Hungarian Navy but was sold to Germany, along with the others in her...
. By 17:45 the Harwich force had sighted German ships, but was too far behind for any prospect of an attack before nightfall so abandoned the chase.
A British submarine E23
HMS E23
HMS E23 was a British E class submarine built by Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness. She was laid down on the 28 September 1914 and was commissioned on 6 December 1915.-Service history:...
commanded by Lieutenant-Commander R.R Turner managed to hit the German battleship Westfalen
SMS Westfalen
SMS Westfalen "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff", or "His Majesty's Ship" was one of the s, the first four dreadnoughts built for the German Imperial Navy. Westfalen was laid down at AG Weser in Bremen on 12 August 1907, launched nearly a year later on 1 July 1908, and commissioned into the...
at 5:05 am on the 19th, but the ship was able to return home.
Outcomes
This was the last occasion on which the German fleet travelled so far west into the North Sea. On 6 October a decision was made in Germany to resume attacks against merchant vessels by submarine, which meant the submarine fleet was no longer available for combined attacks against surface vessels. On 13 September a conference took place on Jellicoe's flagship to discuss recent events and it was decided that it was unsafe to conduct fleet operations south of latitude 55.5° North (approximately level with Horn's reef and where the battle of Jutland had taken place), except in extreme emergency such as a German invasion force.Scheer was unimpressed by the efficiency of the zeppelin reconnaissance. Only three zeppelins had spotted anything, and from seven reports four had been wrong.
On 18–19 October Scheer once again led a brief sortie into the North Sea and British intelligence gave warning. However, the Grand Fleet declined to prepare an ambush, staying in port with steam raised ready to sail. The German sortie was abandoned after a few hours when SMS München
SMS München
SMS München was a of the Kaiserliche Marine, named after the city of Munich....
was hit by a torpedo fired by E38
HMS E38
HMS E38 was a British E class submarine built by Fairfield, Govan, Clyde. She was laid down on 13 June 1916 and was commissioned on 10 July 1916.HMS E38 was sold in Newport on 6 September 1922....
, Lieutenant-Commander J. de B. Jessop, and it was feared other submarines might be in the area. Scheer suffered further difficulties when in November he sailed with Moltke and a division of dreadnoughts to rescue SM U-20 and SM U-30
SM U-30 (Germany)
SM U-30 was one of 329 submarines serving in the Imperial German Navy in World War I. She engaged in commerce warfare as part of the First Battle of the Atlantic...
which had become stranded on the Danish coast. British submarine J1, Commander J. Laurence, managed to hit battleships Großer Kurfürst and Kronprinz. The failure of these operations reinforced the belief, created at Jutland, that the risks involved in such operations were not justified by the outcomes. Both sides feared the loss of their capital ships to submarines or mines.