Battle of Heligoland Bight
Encyclopedia
The First Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first naval battle
of the First World War
, fought on 28 August 1914, after the British
planned to attack German
patrols off the northwest German coast.
The German High Seas Fleet remained largely in safe harbours on the north German coast while the British Grand Fleet
remained in the northern North Sea. Both sides engaged in long-distance sorties with cruiser
s and battlecruiser
s, and close reconnaissance of the area of sea near the German coast—the Heligoland Bight
—by destroyer
. The British devised a plan to ambush some of these destroyers on their regular daily patrols, and a fleet of 31 destroyers and two cruisers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt
and submarines commanded by Commodore Roger Keyes was dispatched. They were supported at longer range by an additional six light cruisers commanded by William Goodenough
, and five battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral
David Beatty
.
Three German light cruisers and one destroyer were sunk. Three more light cruisers were damaged, 712 sailors killed, 530 injured and 336 taken prisoner. The British suffered one light cruiser and three destroyers damaged, 35 killed and 40 wounded. The battle was regarded as a great victory in Britain, where the returning ships were met by cheering crowds. Publicly, Vice Admiral Beatty was regarded as a hero, although he had taken little part in the action or planning of the raid, which was led by Commodore Tyrwhitt and conceived by him and Keyes, who had persuaded the Admiralty
to adopt it. However, the raid might have led to disaster had the additional forces under Beatty not been sent by Admiral John Jellicoe
at the last minute.
The effect upon the German government and in particular the Kaiser was to restrict the freedom of action of the German fleet, instructing it to remain in port and avoid any contact with superior forces.
The German fleet had expected that Britain would adopt its traditional approach, and had prepared by investing in submarines and coastal defences. The main body of the German navy—the High Seas Fleet
—was smaller than the British Grand Fleet stationed around home waters and could not expect victory in a head to head fight. It therefore adopted a strategy of waiting in defended home ports for opportunities to attack the larger British force when the anticipated attack came. The British, appreciating this situation chose to adopt a strategy of patrolling the North Sea
rather than waters close to Germany. Any German ships seeking to leave their home ports on the German coast must either pass the 20 mi (17.4 nmi; 32.2 km)-wide Straits of Dover
, defended by British submarines and mines, or the North Sea, where the British fleet was stationed around its main wartime base at Scapa Flow
in Scotland
, defending the 200 mi (173.8 nmi; 321.9 km)-wide narrowest point between Britain and Norway
. This led to a standoff, with neither fleet doing more than hold the other endlessly waiting. The German ships were contained in an area where they could not attack merchant shipping arriving on the west of Britain, which was vital for British survival. To encourage the German fleet to stay at home, the British would make occasional forays with the Grand Fleet and patrol with smaller cruiser
and battlecruiser
squadrons.
The bulk of the British Expeditionary Force was transported to France between 12 and 21 August. This operation was protected from German attack by British destroyers and submarines patrolling Heligoland Bight
, which German ships would have to cross when leaving their home ports. The Grand Fleet remained in the centre of the North Sea ready to move south should any German attack commence, but none came. Although the German army had anticipated a rapid transfer of the British army to aid France, German naval planning had anticipated it would take longer for the British to organise. Thus they were caught by surprise when it commenced, with submarines which might have been ordered to attack the British transports away on patrols seeking the main British fleet.
Two British officers believed they had determined an opening to carry the war to the German fleet. Commodore
Roger Keyes commanded a squadron of long-range submarines that regularly patrolled Heligoland Bight, while Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt
commanded a destroyer patrol, both operating from Harwich
. They observed that German destroyers had adopted a regular pattern of patrols where each evening cruisers would escort out destroyers, which would patrol for British ships during the night before being met and escorted home each morning. Their idea was to send in a superior force during darkness to catch the German destroyers as they returned. Three British submarines would surface in a position to draw the destroyers back out to sea while a larger British force of 31 destroyers accompanied by nine submarines would cut them off from Germany. Other submarines would wait for any larger German ships leaving the Jade estuary to help. Keyes impressed First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill
by the daring of his plan, which was adopted but not without changes. An attack at 08:00 on the German daytime patrol was preferred. Keyes and Tyrwhitt requested support for their operation, in particular bringing the Grand Fleet south and the support of the squadron of six light cruiser
s commanded by Commodore William Goodenough
. This was refused by the Chief of Staff—Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee
—who instead agreed to place only lighter forces; "Cruiser Force K" under Rear Admiral Gordon Moore
consisting of two battlecruiser
s and 40 mi (34.8 nmi; 64.4 km) to the northwest, and "Cruiser Force C" a squadron of five Cressy-class
armoured cruisers—, , , and —100 mi (86.9 nmi; 160.9 km) west.
It was decided that the attack would take place on 28 August. The submarines were to leave to take up their positions on 26 August, while Keyes would travel on the destroyer Lurcher. The surface ships would depart at dawn on 27 August. Tyrwhitt—aboard the brand new light cruiser —would command the 3rd Flotilla of 16 modern L-class destroyer
s, whilst his subordinate, Captain
Wilfred Blunt—aboard the light cruiser —would command the 1st Flotilla of 16 older destroyers. Tyrwhitt had for some time been requesting replacement of his previous cruiser because she was too slow to keep up with his destroyers, but Arethusa did not arrive until 26 August. Her crew were inexperienced, and it was discovered that her new 4 in (101.6 mm) Mk V guns jammed when fired.
Although the plan had been agreed by the Admiralty, Admiral John Jellicoe
commanding the Grand Fleet was not informed until 26 August. Jellicoe immediately requested permission to send reinforcements to join the raid and to move the fleet closer to the action, but received permission only to send battle cruisers in support. He dispatched Vice Admiral David Beatty
with the battlecruisers , and , and Goodenough with the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, made up of the light cruisers , , , , and . He then sailed south from Scapa Flow with the remainder of the fleet.
Jellicoe despatched a message advising Tyrwhitt that he should expect reinforcements, but this was delayed at Harwich and never received. Tyrwhitt did not discover the additional forces until Goodenough’s ships appeared through the mist, leading to immediate concern whether they were friend or foe at a time when he was expecting to meet only enemy vessels.
A number of British submarines were deployed. E-class submarine
s , and were ordered to attack reinforcing or retreating German vessels. , and were positioned 4 mi (3.5 nmi; 6.4 km) further out to draw the German destroyers out to sea. and were stationed off the river Ems to attack reinforcements should they come from that direction.
, commander of the German destroyer squadron. Maass informed Rear Admiral Franz Hipper
who commanded the German battlecruiser squadron, and who was responsible for local defense. Hipper was unaware of the scale of the attack, but ordered the light cruisers and to defend the destroyers. Six other light cruisers were ordered to raise steam and join the defense as soon as they could: moored on the river Ems; , , , and Kolberg from the river Jade
; Danzig and München from Brunsbüttelkoog on the river Elbe
.
Tyrwhitt ordered four destroyers to detach and attack G-149. The sound of firing alerted the remaining German destroyers, who had been moving north, but turned south towards home. Before they could complete the turn, they were sighted by British destroyers who commenced firing. The trailing destroyer V-1 was hit, followed by the destroyer-minesweepers D-8 and T-33. G-9 called for fire against the attacking ships from coastal artillery, but the mist meant the artillery were unable to determine which ships were which. At 07:26, Tyrwhitt turned east, attempting to follow the sound of gunfire and his four destroyers. He sighted 10 German destroyers which he chased through increasing mist for 30 minutes until the ships reached Heligoland and he was forced to turn away. At 07:58, Stettin and Frauenlob arrived, reversing the situation so that the British destroyers were obliged to retreat toward their own cruisers Arethusa and Fearless. Stettin withdrew, since the German destroyers had now escaped, but Frauenlob was engaged by Arethusa. While Arethusa was theoretically the better armed ship, two of her four 4 in (101.6 mm) guns were jammed, while another was damaged by fire. Frauenlob—armed with ten 4 in (101.6 mm) guns—was able to cause considerable damage before a shell from one of Arethusas two 6 in (152.4 mm) guns destroyed her bridge, killing 37 men including the captain, and forcing her to withdraw. Although badly damaged, she returned to Wilhelmshaven
.
At 08:12, Tyrwhitt returned to the original plan, which was to sweep across the area from east to west. Six returning German destroyers were sighted but turned to flee, when one—V-187—turned back. The German ship had seen two cruisers, Nottingham and Lowestoft from Goodenough's squadron ahead of her and turned back in the hope of passing through the British destroyers by surprise. This was partially successful, but V-187 was surrounded by eight destroyers and sunk. As British ships attempted to rescue survivors from the water, the German light cruiser Stettin approached and opened fire, forcing the British to abandon the rescue, leaving behind British sailors. The British submarine E4 had observed the action and launched a torpedo at Stettin, but missed. Stettin attempted to ram the submarine, which dived to escape. When she resurfaced all the larger ships had gone, and the submarine rescued the British crewmen, still afloat in small boats together with German sailors. The Germans were left behind with a compass and direction toward the mainland as the submarine was too small to take them.
Tyrwhitt turned back to assist Keyes on receipt of the signal that he was being chased. He sighted Stettin, but lost her in the mist before coming upon Fearless and her destroyer squadron. Arethusa was badly damaged, so at 10:17 Fearless came alongside and both cruisers were stopped for 20 minutes while repairs were made to the boilers.
Beatty had been following the events by radio 40 mi (34.8 nmi; 64.4 km) to the north west. By 11:35, the British ships had still not completed their mission and withdrawn, and with the rising tide larger German ships would be able to leave harbour and join the engagement. He decided to intervene and took his five battlecruisers southeast at maximum speed, an hour away from the engagement. While the advantages of using his more powerful ships to rescue the others was clear, this had to be weighed against the possibility of mischance by torpedo or of meeting German dreadnought
s once the tide permitted them to sail, and losing one or more of the important battlecruisers.
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At 11:30, Tyrwhitt's squadron came upon another German cruiser, Mainz. The ships engaged for 20 minutes, before the arrival of Goodenough caused Mainz to attempt escape. Goodenough gave chase, but in attempting to lose him Mainz came back across the path of Arethusa and her destroyers. Her steering was damaged, causing her to turn back into the path of Goodenough's ships and she was hit by shells and torpedo. At 12:20, her captain ordered his ship to be scuttled and the crew to abandon ship. Keyes had now joined the main body of ships and brought Lurcher alongside Mainz to take off the crew. Three British destroyers had been seriously damaged in the engagement.
Strassburg and Köln now attacked together, but the battle was interrupted by the further arrival of Beatty and the battlecruisers. An officer on one of the destroyers described the moment: "There straight ahead of us in lovely procession, like elephants walking through a pack of ... dogs came Lion, Queen Mary, Princess Royal, Invincible and New Zealand ...How solid they looked, how utterly earthquaking. We pointed out our latest aggressor to them ... and we went west while they went east ... and just a little later we heard the thunder of their guns."'
Four German cruisers survived the engagement, which they would not have done except for the mist. Strassburg nearly approached the battlecruisers, but saw them in time and turned away. She had four funnels, like the Town-class British cruisers, which caused sufficient confusion to allow her time to disappear into the mist. The German battlecruisers Moltke and Von der Tann left the Jade at 14:10 and began a cautious search for other ships. Rear Admiral Hipper arrived with Seydlitz at 15:10, but by then the battle was over.
, and 336 prisoners of war. The Royal Navy had lost no ships and only 35 men killed, with 40 wounded.
The most significant result of the battle was the effect on the attitude of the Kaiser. To preserve his ships the Kaiser determined that the fleet should, "hold itself back and avoid actions which can lead to greater losses". Admiral Pohl
, Chief of the German Naval Staff, wired Ingenohl that, "in his anxiety to preserve the fleet [William] ... wished you to wire for his consent before entering a decisive action."
Tirpitz
was outraged by this decision. He wrote after the war, "The Emperor did not wish for losses of this sort ... Orders [were] issued by the Emperor ... after an audience with Pohl, to which I as usual was not summoned, to restrict the initiative of the Commander-in-Chief of the North Sea Fleet. The loss of ships was to be avoided; fleet sallies and any greater undertakings must be approved by His Majesty in advance. I took the first opportunity to explain to the Emperor the fundamental error of such a muzzling policy. This step had no success, but on the contrary there sprang up from that day forth an estrangement between the Emperor and myself which steadily increased."
Churchill
after the war observed:
But he also observed: "The Germans knew nothing of our defective staff work or the risks we had run."
One of the officers present on Southampton—Lieutenant Stephen King-Hall
—later wrote about the battle:
German light cruisers armed with larger numbers of faster firing 4 inch guns proved inferior to similar British cruisers with fewer but more powerful 6 in (152.4 mm) guns. However, their ships proved difficult to sink despite severe damage and impressed the British with the quality of their firing. Both British and German sources reported the determination and bravery of the defeated German ships when overwhelmed.
No one reported the presence of British cruisers to Admiral Hipper until 14:35. Had he known, he could have brought his own battlecruisers to sea faster and consolidated his fleet, possibly preventing the German losses and instead inflicting some on the departing British ships. The British operation had dragged out longer than anticipated so that the large German ships would have had sufficient high water to join the battle.
The British side also suffered from poor communications, with ships failing to report engagement with the enemy to each other. The initial failure to include Jellicoe in planning the raid could have led to disaster had he not sent reinforcements, although the subsequent communications failures which meant British ships were unaware of the new arrivals could then have led to British ships attacking each other. There was no way to warn off British submarines which might have targeted their own ships. It had been the decision of Admiral Sturdee—Admiralty chief of staff—not to inform Jellicoe and also not to send additional larger ships which had originally been requested by Keyes. Jellicoe in effect countermanded this decision once he knew of the raid by sending ships which were part of his command. Keyes was disappointed that the opportunity for a greater success had been lost by not including the additional cruisers properly into the plan as he had originally intended. Jellicoe was disturbed by the Admiralty failure to discuss the raid with their commander in chief of the fleet at sea.
The Germans appreciated that constant patrols by destroyers was both wasteful of time and resources of those ships, and left them open to attack. Instead, they designed defensive minefields to prevent enemy ships approaching and freed up the destroyers for duties escorting larger ships. In the future, ships were never to be sent out one by one. The British realised it was foolish to have sent Arethusa into battle with inadequate training and jammed guns. British ships were criticised for having fired considerable ammunition and torpedoes with little effect: this criticism later proved counter-productive when at the Battle of Dogger Bank
, ships became overly cautious of wasting ammunition and thus missed opportunities to damage enemy vessels.
Naval battle
A naval battle is a battle fought using boats, ships or other waterborne vessels. Most naval battles have occurred at sea, but a few have taken place on lakes or rivers. The earliest recorded naval battle took place in 1210 BC near Cyprus...
of the First World War
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...
, fought on 28 August 1914, after the British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
planned to attack German
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
patrols off the northwest German coast.
The German High Seas Fleet remained largely in safe harbours on the north German coast while the British Grand Fleet
British Grand Fleet
The Grand Fleet was the main fleet of the British Royal Navy during the First World War.-History:It was formed in 1914 by the British Atlantic Fleet combined with the Home Fleet and it included 35-40 state-of-the-art capital ships. It was initially commanded by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe...
remained in the northern North Sea. Both sides engaged in long-distance sorties with cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s and 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, and close reconnaissance of the area of sea near the German coast—the Heligoland Bight
Heligoland Bight
The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river...
—by 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...
. The British devised a plan to ambush some of these destroyers on their regular daily patrols, and a fleet of 31 destroyers and two cruisers under Commodore Reginald 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...
and submarines commanded by Commodore Roger Keyes was dispatched. They were supported at longer range by an additional six light cruisers commanded by 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...
, and five battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral
Vice Admiral
Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...
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...
.
Three German light cruisers and one destroyer were sunk. Three more light cruisers were damaged, 712 sailors killed, 530 injured and 336 taken prisoner. The British suffered one light cruiser and three destroyers damaged, 35 killed and 40 wounded. The battle was regarded as a great victory in Britain, where the returning ships were met by cheering crowds. Publicly, Vice Admiral Beatty was regarded as a hero, although he had taken little part in the action or planning of the raid, which was led by Commodore Tyrwhitt and conceived by him and Keyes, who had persuaded 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...
to adopt it. However, the raid might have led to disaster had the additional forces under Beatty not been sent by Admiral 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...
at the last minute.
The effect upon the German government and in particular the Kaiser was to restrict the freedom of action of the German fleet, instructing it to remain in port and avoid any contact with superior forces.
Prelude
The battle took place less than a month after Britain's declaration of war against Germany on 5 August 1914. Initially, the war on land went badly for the French and their allies, with German forces invading France and an urgent need to gather all possible troops to send to France to resist them. The government was in a position of having nothing but bad news, and looked to the navy, the largest in the world and traditionally the mainstay of British military power, for some success to report. British naval tactics had typically involved a close blockade of enemy ports, taking the fight to the enemy, and this had been the British plan for war against Germany up to 1913. Such an approach was still expected by the British population. However, it was realised that the advent of submarines armed with torpedoes and mines hidden in open sea meant that any operations involving stationing capital ships near enemy ports would place them at great risk of surprise attack and loss. Then, there was the issue of fuel for the ships: traditional sail-powered ships did not need refueling, but powered ships, obliged to keep moving to reduce their vulnerability as sitting targets, were continuously using fuel, and had to return to home ports every few days.The German fleet had expected that Britain would adopt its traditional approach, and had prepared by investing in submarines and coastal defences. The main body of the German navy—the High Seas Fleet
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...
—was smaller than the British Grand Fleet stationed around home waters and could not expect victory in a head to head fight. It therefore adopted a strategy of waiting in defended home ports for opportunities to attack the larger British force when the anticipated attack came. The British, appreciating this situation chose to adopt a strategy of patrolling 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...
rather than waters close to Germany. Any German ships seeking to leave their home ports on the German coast must either pass the 20 mi (17.4 nmi; 32.2 km)-wide Straits of Dover
Strait of Dover
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel. The shortest distance across the strait is from the South Foreland, 6 kilometres northeast of Dover in the county of Kent, England, to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near to Calais in the French of...
, defended by British submarines and mines, or the North Sea, where the British fleet was stationed around its main wartime base at Scapa Flow
Scapa Flow
right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...
in 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...
, defending the 200 mi (173.8 nmi; 321.9 km)-wide narrowest point between Britain 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...
. This led to a standoff, with neither fleet doing more than hold the other endlessly waiting. The German ships were contained in an area where they could not attack merchant shipping arriving on the west of Britain, which was vital for British survival. To encourage the German fleet to stay at home, the British would make occasional forays with the Grand Fleet and patrol with smaller cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
and 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...
squadrons.
The bulk of the British Expeditionary Force was transported to France between 12 and 21 August. This operation was protected from German attack by British destroyers and submarines patrolling Heligoland Bight
Heligoland Bight
The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river...
, which German ships would have to cross when leaving their home ports. The Grand Fleet remained in the centre of the North Sea ready to move south should any German attack commence, but none came. Although the German army had anticipated a rapid transfer of the British army to aid France, German naval planning had anticipated it would take longer for the British to organise. Thus they were caught by surprise when it commenced, with submarines which might have been ordered to attack the British transports away on patrols seeking the main British fleet.
Plan of attack
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:...
Roger Keyes commanded a squadron of long-range submarines that regularly patrolled Heligoland Bight, while Commodore Reginald 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...
commanded a destroyer patrol, both operating from Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. They observed that German destroyers had adopted a regular pattern of patrols where each evening cruisers would escort out destroyers, which would patrol for British ships during the night before being met and escorted home each morning. Their idea was to send in a superior force during darkness to catch the German destroyers as they returned. Three British submarines would surface in a position to draw the destroyers back out to sea while a larger British force of 31 destroyers accompanied by nine submarines would cut them off from Germany. Other submarines would wait for any larger German ships leaving the Jade estuary to help. Keyes impressed First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
by the daring of his plan, which was adopted but not without changes. An attack at 08:00 on the German daytime patrol was preferred. Keyes and Tyrwhitt requested support for their operation, in particular bringing the Grand Fleet south and the support of the squadron of six 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...
s commanded by Commodore 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...
. This was refused by the Chief of Staff—Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee
Doveton Sturdee
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet, GCB, KCMG, CVO was a British admiral.-Naval career:...
—who instead agreed to place only lighter forces; "Cruiser Force K" under Rear Admiral Gordon Moore
Gordon Moore (Royal Navy officer)
Admiral Sir Gordon Moore KCB CVO was a Royal Navy officer who went on to be Third Sea Lord.-Naval career:...
consisting of two 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 and 40 mi (34.8 nmi; 64.4 km) to the northwest, and "Cruiser Force C" a squadron of five Cressy-class
Cressy class cruiser
The Cressy class cruiser was a class of six armoured cruisers launched between December 1899 and May 1901, for the Royal Navy.-Service:...
armoured cruisers—, , , and —100 mi (86.9 nmi; 160.9 km) west.
It was decided that the attack would take place on 28 August. The submarines were to leave to take up their positions on 26 August, while Keyes would travel on the destroyer Lurcher. The surface ships would depart at dawn on 27 August. Tyrwhitt—aboard the brand new light cruiser —would command the 3rd Flotilla of 16 modern L-class destroyer
Laforey class destroyer (1913)
The Laforey class was a class of 22 torpedo boat destroyers of the Royal Navy, twenty of which were built under the Naval Programme of 1912 - 1913 and a further two under the War Emergency Programme of 1914. As such they were the last pre-war British destroyer design. All served during World War I...
s, whilst his subordinate, Captain
Captain (Royal Navy)
Captain is a senior officer rank of the Royal Navy. It ranks above Commander and below Commodore and has a NATO ranking code of OF-5. The rank is equivalent to a Colonel in the British Army or Royal Marines and to a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. The rank of Group Captain is based on the...
Wilfred Blunt—aboard the light cruiser —would command the 1st Flotilla of 16 older destroyers. Tyrwhitt had for some time been requesting replacement of his previous cruiser because she was too slow to keep up with his destroyers, but Arethusa did not arrive until 26 August. Her crew were inexperienced, and it was discovered that her new 4 in (101.6 mm) Mk V guns jammed when fired.
Although the plan had been agreed by the Admiralty, Admiral 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...
commanding the Grand Fleet was not informed until 26 August. Jellicoe immediately requested permission to send reinforcements to join the raid and to move the fleet closer to the action, but received permission only to send battle cruisers in support. He dispatched Vice Admiral 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...
with the battlecruisers , and , and Goodenough with the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron, made up of the light cruisers , , , , and . He then sailed south from Scapa Flow with the remainder of the fleet.
Jellicoe despatched a message advising Tyrwhitt that he should expect reinforcements, but this was delayed at Harwich and never received. Tyrwhitt did not discover the additional forces until Goodenough’s ships appeared through the mist, leading to immediate concern whether they were friend or foe at a time when he was expecting to meet only enemy vessels.
A number of British submarines were deployed. E-class submarine
British E class submarine
The British E class submarines started out as improved versions of the British D class submarine. All of the first group and some of the second group were completed before the outbreak of World War I....
s , and were ordered to attack reinforcing or retreating German vessels. , and were positioned 4 mi (3.5 nmi; 6.4 km) further out to draw the German destroyers out to sea. and were stationed off the river Ems to attack reinforcements should they come from that direction.
Battle
At around 07:00, Arethusa, steaming south towards the anticipated position of the German ships, sighted a German destroyer, G-194. Accompanying her were the 16 destroyers of the 3rd Flotilla. 2 mi (1.7 nmi; 3.2 km) behind were Fearless with the 1st Flotilla of 16 destroyers, and 8 mi (7 nmi; 12.9 km) behind them Goodenough with his six cruisers. Visibility was no more than 3 mi (2.6 nmi; 4.8 km). G-194 immediately turned towards Heligoland, radioing Rear Admiral Leberecht MaassLeberecht Maass
Leberecht Maass was the rear admiral who commanded the German naval forces at the first Battle of Heligoland Bight...
, commander of the German destroyer squadron. Maass informed Rear Admiral Franz Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
who commanded the German battlecruiser squadron, and who was responsible for local defense. Hipper was unaware of the scale of the attack, but ordered the light cruisers and to defend the destroyers. Six other light cruisers were ordered to raise steam and join the defense as soon as they could: moored on the river Ems; , , , and Kolberg from the river Jade
Jade River
The Jade is a 22 km long river in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany. Its source is near Oldenburg, and it flows into the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, near Varel.- Literature :* Klaus Dede: An der Jade...
; Danzig and München from Brunsbüttelkoog on the river Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
.
Tyrwhitt ordered four destroyers to detach and attack G-149. The sound of firing alerted the remaining German destroyers, who had been moving north, but turned south towards home. Before they could complete the turn, they were sighted by British destroyers who commenced firing. The trailing destroyer V-1 was hit, followed by the destroyer-minesweepers D-8 and T-33. G-9 called for fire against the attacking ships from coastal artillery, but the mist meant the artillery were unable to determine which ships were which. At 07:26, Tyrwhitt turned east, attempting to follow the sound of gunfire and his four destroyers. He sighted 10 German destroyers which he chased through increasing mist for 30 minutes until the ships reached Heligoland and he was forced to turn away. At 07:58, Stettin and Frauenlob arrived, reversing the situation so that the British destroyers were obliged to retreat toward their own cruisers Arethusa and Fearless. Stettin withdrew, since the German destroyers had now escaped, but Frauenlob was engaged by Arethusa. While Arethusa was theoretically the better armed ship, two of her four 4 in (101.6 mm) guns were jammed, while another was damaged by fire. Frauenlob—armed with ten 4 in (101.6 mm) guns—was able to cause considerable damage before a shell from one of Arethusas two 6 in (152.4 mm) guns destroyed her bridge, killing 37 men including the captain, and forcing her to withdraw. Although badly damaged, she returned to Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
.
At 08:12, Tyrwhitt returned to the original plan, which was to sweep across the area from east to west. Six returning German destroyers were sighted but turned to flee, when one—V-187—turned back. The German ship had seen two cruisers, Nottingham and Lowestoft from Goodenough's squadron ahead of her and turned back in the hope of passing through the British destroyers by surprise. This was partially successful, but V-187 was surrounded by eight destroyers and sunk. As British ships attempted to rescue survivors from the water, the German light cruiser Stettin approached and opened fire, forcing the British to abandon the rescue, leaving behind British sailors. The British submarine E4 had observed the action and launched a torpedo at Stettin, but missed. Stettin attempted to ram the submarine, which dived to escape. When she resurfaced all the larger ships had gone, and the submarine rescued the British crewmen, still afloat in small boats together with German sailors. The Germans were left behind with a compass and direction toward the mainland as the submarine was too small to take them.
Confusion of ships
At 08:15, Keyes—with Lurcher and another destroyer—sighted two four-funneled cruisers. Still unaware that any additional British ships had been sent to support the action, he signalled Invincible that he was chasing two German cruisers. Goodenough received the signal and abandoning his own search for enemy vessels to attack, steamed to assist Keyes against his own ships, Lowestoft and Nottingham. Keyes, seeing he was now being chased by four more enemy cruisers attempted to lead them towards Invincible and New Zealand, reporting them as enemy ships. Eventually, Keyes recognised Southampton, and the ships attempted to rejoin Tyrwhitt. However, the danger to Goodenough's ships was not over, since the British submarines were still unaware the additional ships were present. At 09:30, one of the British submarines attacked Southampton with two torpedoes, missing and in turn escaping when Southampton tried to ram. Lowestoft and Nottingham remained out of communication range, and separated from the rest of their squadron took no further part in the action.Tyrwhitt turned back to assist Keyes on receipt of the signal that he was being chased. He sighted Stettin, but lost her in the mist before coming upon Fearless and her destroyer squadron. Arethusa was badly damaged, so at 10:17 Fearless came alongside and both cruisers were stopped for 20 minutes while repairs were made to the boilers.
Actions with German cruisers
By now, Köln, Strassburg and Ariadne had sailed from Wilhelmshaven to join the German defence, while Mainz was approaching from a different direction. Admiral Maass was still unaware of the nature of the attack, so spread his ships in search of the enemy. Strassburg was first to find Arethusa and attacked with shells and torpedoes, but was driven off by torpedo attacks from the destroyers. As Tyrwhitt turned away to the west, Köln—with Admiral Maass—approached from the southeast, and was also chased away by torpedoes. Tyrwhitt signalled Beatty requesting reinforcements, and Goodenough with the four cruisers remaining with him came to assist. The force turned west.Beatty had been following the events by radio 40 mi (34.8 nmi; 64.4 km) to the north west. By 11:35, the British ships had still not completed their mission and withdrawn, and with the rising tide larger German ships would be able to leave harbour and join the engagement. He decided to intervene and took his five battlecruisers southeast at maximum speed, an hour away from the engagement. While the advantages of using his more powerful ships to rescue the others was clear, this had to be weighed against the possibility of mischance by torpedo or of meeting German dreadnought
Dreadnought
The dreadnought was the predominant type of 20th-century battleship. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her were referred to as "dreadnoughts", and earlier battleships became known as pre-dreadnoughts...
s once the tide permitted them to sail, and losing one or more of the important battlecruisers.
Strassburg and Köln now attacked together, but the battle was interrupted by the further arrival of Beatty and the battlecruisers. An officer on one of the destroyers described the moment: "There straight ahead of us in lovely procession, like elephants walking through a pack of ... dogs came Lion, Queen Mary, Princess Royal, Invincible and New Zealand ...How solid they looked, how utterly earthquaking. We pointed out our latest aggressor to them ... and we went west while they went east ... and just a little later we heard the thunder of their guns."'
Battlecruisers
Strassburg managed to disengage and escape when the battlecruisers approached, but Köln was not so fortunate. Cut off from escape she was quickly disabled by the much larger guns of the battlecruisers. She was saved from immediate sinking by the sighting of another German light cruiser, , to which Beatty gave chase and again quickly overcame. Ariadne was left to sink, which she eventually did at 15:00, attended by the German ships Danzig and Stralsund who took off survivors. At 13:10, Beatty turned northwest and ordered all the British ships to withdraw since the tide had now risen sufficiently for larger German ships to pass out through the Jade estuary. Passing Köln again, he opened fire, sinking her. Attempts to rescue the crew were interrupted by the arrival of a submarine; one survivor was rescued by a German ship two days later out of some 250 who had survived the sinking. Rear Admiral Maass perished with his ship.Four German cruisers survived the engagement, which they would not have done except for the mist. Strassburg nearly approached the battlecruisers, but saw them in time and turned away. She had four funnels, like the Town-class British cruisers, which caused sufficient confusion to allow her time to disappear into the mist. The German battlecruisers Moltke and Von der Tann left the Jade at 14:10 and began a cautious search for other ships. Rear Admiral Hipper arrived with Seydlitz at 15:10, but by then the battle was over.
Aftermath
The battle was a clear British victory. Germany had lost the three light cruisers , and and the destroyer V-187 sunk; light cruiser had been severely damaged. The light cruisers and had also been damaged. German casualties were 1,242 with 712 men killed, including Rear Admiral MaassLeberecht Maass
Leberecht Maass was the rear admiral who commanded the German naval forces at the first Battle of Heligoland Bight...
, and 336 prisoners of war. The Royal Navy had lost no ships and only 35 men killed, with 40 wounded.
The most significant result of the battle was the effect on the attitude of the Kaiser. To preserve his ships the Kaiser determined that the fleet should, "hold itself back and avoid actions which can lead to greater losses". Admiral Pohl
Hugo von Pohl
Hugo von Pohl was a German admiral who during the First World War commanded the German High Seas Fleet from 1915 until shortly before his death from illness in 1916....
, Chief of the German Naval Staff, wired Ingenohl that, "in his anxiety to preserve the fleet [William] ... wished you to wire for his consent before entering a decisive action."
Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz
Alfred von Tirpitz was a German Admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussia never had a major navy, nor did the other German states before the German Empire was formed in 1871...
was outraged by this decision. He wrote after the war, "The Emperor did not wish for losses of this sort ... Orders [were] issued by the Emperor ... after an audience with Pohl, to which I as usual was not summoned, to restrict the initiative of the Commander-in-Chief of the North Sea Fleet. The loss of ships was to be avoided; fleet sallies and any greater undertakings must be approved by His Majesty in advance. I took the first opportunity to explain to the Emperor the fundamental error of such a muzzling policy. This step had no success, but on the contrary there sprang up from that day forth an estrangement between the Emperor and myself which steadily increased."
Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
after the war observed:
But he also observed: "The Germans knew nothing of our defective staff work or the risks we had run."
One of the officers present on Southampton—Lieutenant Stephen King-Hall
Stephen King-Hall
Sir William Stephen Richard King-Hall, Baron King-Hall of Headley was a British naval officer, writer, politician and playwright. -Life:...
—later wrote about the battle:
Deficiencies
Both sides had lessons to learn from the battle. The Germans had assumed that their cruisers, leaving port one by one, would not meet larger ships or major forces. They failed to keep their ships together so they might have better odds in any engagement. Beatty—when faced with the choice of leaving one of his ships to finish off disabled enemies—had elected to keep his squadron together and only later return in force to finish off those ships. Goodenough, on the other hand, had managed to lose track of two cruisers, which therefore played no further part in the battle.German light cruisers armed with larger numbers of faster firing 4 inch guns proved inferior to similar British cruisers with fewer but more powerful 6 in (152.4 mm) guns. However, their ships proved difficult to sink despite severe damage and impressed the British with the quality of their firing. Both British and German sources reported the determination and bravery of the defeated German ships when overwhelmed.
No one reported the presence of British cruisers to Admiral Hipper until 14:35. Had he known, he could have brought his own battlecruisers to sea faster and consolidated his fleet, possibly preventing the German losses and instead inflicting some on the departing British ships. The British operation had dragged out longer than anticipated so that the large German ships would have had sufficient high water to join the battle.
The British side also suffered from poor communications, with ships failing to report engagement with the enemy to each other. The initial failure to include Jellicoe in planning the raid could have led to disaster had he not sent reinforcements, although the subsequent communications failures which meant British ships were unaware of the new arrivals could then have led to British ships attacking each other. There was no way to warn off British submarines which might have targeted their own ships. It had been the decision of Admiral Sturdee—Admiralty chief of staff—not to inform Jellicoe and also not to send additional larger ships which had originally been requested by Keyes. Jellicoe in effect countermanded this decision once he knew of the raid by sending ships which were part of his command. Keyes was disappointed that the opportunity for a greater success had been lost by not including the additional cruisers properly into the plan as he had originally intended. Jellicoe was disturbed by the Admiralty failure to discuss the raid with their commander in chief of the fleet at sea.
The Germans appreciated that constant patrols by destroyers was both wasteful of time and resources of those ships, and left them open to attack. Instead, they designed defensive minefields to prevent enemy ships approaching and freed up the destroyers for duties escorting larger ships. In the future, ships were never to be sent out one by one. The British realised it was foolish to have sent Arethusa into battle with inadequate training and jammed guns. British ships were criticised for having fired considerable ammunition and torpedoes with little effect: this criticism later proved counter-productive when at the Battle of Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
, ships became overly cautious of wasting ammunition and thus missed opportunities to damage enemy vessels.