The Great War (mod 1914)

Since the beginning of the Great War, the German High Seas Fleet had raided British waters, trying to British forces into battle in conditions advantageous to the Germans. Since the Kanalkampf and the Waddenzee battle which led to the devastating defeat of the German navy, the raids of the Hochseeflotte had been dropped when the submarine warfare began in earnest. Then, in late 1916, with the new submarine campaign and the bombing raids against England working at full steam, a proposal was made to bombard military targets along on the east coast of England along with air raids by zeppelins, which would prompt British units to intervene. A similar raid had been planed to coincide with the expected Easter Rebellion by Irish Nationalists, who had requested German assistance, but in the end it had proved to be impossible.

Finally, it was decided to carry on with the discarted proposal: A German force would bombard military targets along the English coast, and then the bombardment force would attack whatever British force showed first. With a little luck, the German battlecruisers could engage the light forces based on Norwich and after defeating it would run to join there the High Seas Fleet and defeat any force which dared to persue them. If successful, the High Seas Fleet would be able to destroy significant elements of the British fleet before the main body of the Grand Fleet could assist, reducing or eliminating the Royal Navy's numerical superiority. If the British did not take the bait, then merchant ships could be captured and British units off the coast of Belgium destroyed.


The plan was to bombard military targets in Lowestoft (Norfolk) and Great Yarmouth (Suffolk). Lowestoft was a base of operations for mine laying and sweeping, while Gt. Yarmouth was a base for the submarines that disrupted German movements in the Heligoland Bight. The destruction of the these military establishments would assist the German war while weakening the closer blockade of the German shores, even if the raid failed to bait the British heavy units. Eight zeppelins would—after dropping their bombs—provide reconnaissance for the battlecruisers, which would in turn provide rescue operations should an airship be lost over the water. The so-called Action Group -consisting of the battlecruisers SMS Seydlitz, Lützow, Derfflinger, Moltke and Von der Tann and commanded by Rear-Admiral Bödicker- would be supported by the four light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group, and two fast torpedo boat flotillas (VI and IX). The Main Fleet -consisting of Battle Squadrons I, II and III, Scouting Division IV, and the remainder of the torpedo flotillas commanded by Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer- was to accompany the battlecruisers until the bombardment was over, in order to protect them against superior enemy forces if necessary.

The raid began when the Action Group left their bases at 18:00 pm, August 10th, 1916, followed by the rest of the German main battleforce. Apparently, the German ships had no problem to avoid the British patrols off Heligoland Bight due to a thick fog which had kept most of the British light forces in their bases. Nevertheless, the British had already been aware that the German fleet had sailed at midday (due to the work of Room 40 decoding the enemy communications.) and, at 20:15 pm, the Grand Fleet had been ordered to sail south from Scapa Flow, and the the Harwich squadron was ordered to move north. However, the reality of naval warfare soon took over the best plans of both sides.

True: the zeppelins bombed Norwich, Lincoln, Harwich and Ipswich, as planned, but they saw no enemy ships. Then the bombarment began: Seydlitz, Blücher and Moltke proceeded toward Lowestoft, while Derfflinger, Von der Tann and the light cruiser Kolberg approached Great Yarmouth. At 08:00, Derfflinger and Von der Tann began shelling the town. Panicking, people crowded to the railway station and the roads leading out of the town. Thirty minutes later (08:30am), the Seydlitz, Blücher and Moltke opened fire against Great Yarmouth. However, the shelling was to met and untimely end.

At about 08:50 am, August 11th, the light cruiser SMS Rostock -one of Bödicker's screen ships- sighted British ships in a west-northwest direction. It was Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt's Harwich command, that was patrolling the British shores. As soon as Rostock saw the enemy force, she alerted Bödicker and the four battlecruisers turned away north, ceasing the bombardment, while Tyrwithh did the same, attempting to draw the German ships to the Grand Fleet. Bödicker's force followed suit. Their targets had suffered little damages, in spite of the shelling, as they were covered by the fog (1). At 09:10 the four German battlecruisers opened fire upon Tyrwhitt's ships, but they were out of range and no damaged was caused. Then Tyrwhitt received some distressing news.

Apparently, the Grand Fleet had departed to counter the foreseable German raid, but, for some unknown reason, Admiral John Jellicoe's ships were steaming to the Central North Sea and not to the south (2) even if, as soon as the Admiral discovered the mistake, he began to correct it at once. For a while, the Norwich Group was to be supported by the Australian Force detached in Europe (one battleship and four light cruisers under the command of Vice Admiral Patey), and Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty's Battlecruiser Force (six battlecruisers and 27 destroyers), that were steaming at full speed to meet the Germans. Thus, after several hours of running north and finding no friend forces, Tyrwhitt decided to fight the enemy to win time for Jellicoe. It was a short action, as he broke off the action when he found seriously outgunned after the battlecruisers returned. However, he was lucky. Even if he lost a whole destroyer flotilla -the 12th-. his light ships managed to hit with four torpedos the heavy cruiser SMS Prinz Albert, which, with a huge bang, vanished under the dark waters of the Nortern Sea.

Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Patey was an unlucky mean, as one of his cruisers, the HMAS Encounter, was damaged by one of the five German Uboaten deployed to intercept any Allied force comming from Scapa Flow. Facing this underwater threat, Patey turned north, hoping to link with Jellicoe. By this time, the British admiral felt, in some uncanny way, like the Grand Old Duke of York but without a hill. Fumming, he discovered then that Beatty was already on the way and Patey going on the opposite direction. Then, after ordering the fleet to turn south, the bridge of Jellicoe's flagship, the battleship HMS Iron Duke, was filled with Jellicoe's colorful and expressive tirade which lasted a couple of minutes.


Had he know that the German commander, Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer's Hochseeflotte was unknowingly steaming to meet Jellicoe, perhaps the British admiral would have been felt slightly better. By sheer chance, the two main fleets were to meet again.



(1) Who said that bad weather was a British weapon?
(2) Well, don't look at me in that way. Napoleon wasn't so good at sea, either!





@Enewald: And Finland should have conquered Russia by that date, too

@trekaddict: Darn it, Baldrick! I told you to keep secret the plans for the invasion of France!

@quaazi: Of course you are...

@trekaddict -2-: Don't make me think about the tank, don't make me think...

@Nathan Madien: Not everybody can be named Robert Edward or Ulysses Simpson...

@c0d5579: That's when I confess that Kirk Douglas is one of my top favourite actors. Simply awesome.

@Razgriz 2K9 and @TheExecuter: Just read my answer to Viden. About Nivelle... it's just 1916... give him time

@Viden: Why making footnotes, why?!?!?! Anyway, by your loyal service, hereby and therefore and henceorth I shall award thee with the Order of the Petti Pizza, 1st class with Swords, Oaks Leaves and Golden Farts! Congratz, man!

@Zhuge Liang: Soon, my dear boy, soon...

In fact, it came as a surprise that the German navy had come so close to British waters, as it proved Jellicoe by navigating towards the Skagerrak. British reconnaissance was provided by the Battlecruiser Fleet under Beatty. Air scouting was to be provided for by the attachment of the seaplane tender HMS Campania. However, she was left behind, with only three weeks in service, her untrained crew judged unready for battle. The course of the British battlecruiser fleet took it directly into the path of the Hochseeflotte and Beatty, with the best spirit of the Light Brigade, charged against the enemy battleships with a daring courage that Lord Cardigan would had approved. Unfortunately for Beatty, Bödicker's Action Group changed its current course and sailed to join Scheer's Main Fleet. Ironically, the Germans' plan included to lure Beatty's battlecruisers into the path of the main German fleet became a reality thanks to Beatty's reckless bravado.

As soon has the German destroyers spotted the English battlecruisers (11:22 am), led by Beatty aboard his flagship, HMS Lion, heading south at full speed, the German main battle line turned north to face them while Bödicker's ships and the British battlecruisers traded shots. In this initial engagement, all the British ships fired far over their German opponents, due to adverse visibility conditions, before finally getting the range. However, the Germans had not such a problem and SMS Moltke fired with deadly accuracy during this time, putting nine shells into HMS Tiger in 12 minutes. Aided by superior visibility, Bödicker's five battlecruisers quickly registered hits on three of the six British battlecruisers. Seven minutes passed before the British managed to score their first hit.


The first near-kill occurred at 12:00 pm, when a 305 mm shell from SMS Lützow wrecked the "Q" turret amidships on Beatty's flagship, HMS Lion. HMS Queen Mary was not so lucky; at 12:32, she was smashed aft by three 280 mm shells from SMS Von der Tann, causing damage sufficient to knock her out of line, although she managed to limp back home. Then, out of nowhere, the German Hochseeflotte made a sudden appearance and before any British ships could react, the battleships of the Kaiser fired three salvos from under 10,000 yards (9,000 m). At once Beatty turned north and made a general signal to retire, extracting his main ships from the murderous German fire, even if Princess Royal was hit at least twice and one of the destroyers flotillas of the Forth Patrol was decimated by the German fire. Although two of his ships -the BCs Princess Royal and Queen Mary- had received huge damage and HMS Invincible was heavily damaged -in fact, the German gunners would later claim that they had sunk her, as she vanished under a ball of fire after being hit by two shells from SMS Bayern; although damage was huge, HMS Invincible was true to her name and managed to sail back home while evading Scheer's fire. She even to disable the old battleship SMS Brandenburg with a well aimed salvo shortly after 12:56 pm (Brandenburg became a sitting duck and was sunk by a British destroyer).


Jellicoe was now aware that full fleet engagement was nearing and the Grand Fleet was racing SSE, with Rear-Admiral Horace Hood's 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron well in advance of Jellicoe's northern force. At 13:33 pm, the armoured cruiser HMS Black Prince, on the far southwest flank of Jellicoe's force, came within view of Beatty's battered line. At 13:38 pm, the scout cruiser HMS Chester, screening Jellicoe's vanguard, was intercepted by the van of the German scouting forces. On his part, seeing the full array of the Grand Fleet in front of him, Bödicker turned back toward Scheer at around 14:00 pm., and the battle between the two main forces began.

Jellicoe still did not know the location of the German fleet, so he was not sure about when and how to deploy his battleships from their cruising formation (six columns of four ships each) into a single battle-line. The deployment had to be carried out before the Germans arrived; but early deployment could mean losing any chance of a decisive encounter. In one of the most critical and difficult tactical command decisions of the entire war, Jellicoe ordered deployment to the east at 15:15 pm. Meanwhile, Bödicker had rejoined Scheer, and the combined Hochseeflotte headed north, directly toward Jellicoe. Numerous British light cruisers and destroyers on the southwestern flank of the deploying battleships were also crossing each others' courses in attempts to reach their proper stations, often barely escaping collisions, and under fire from some of the approaching German ships. Finally, Jellicoe had found the enemy.





(1) Although he succumbed to his injuries seconds later, Harvey's dying act may have saved over a thousand lives. His bravery in the face of certain death did not go unnoticed; he was mentioned by name in Admiral Jellicoe's post-battle dispatch and he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. Winston Churchill was to comment about Harvey's action: "In the long, rough, glorious history of the Royal Marines there is no name and no deed which in its character and consequences ranks above this". Harvey's widow, Ethel, was presented with the award at Buckingham Palace by King George V on 15 September 1916.



@quaazi: Even the Armada would do better

@Enewald: They're after the Camels

@Nathan Madien: I prefer the X wing. Even the Spaniards have it!





@MastahCheef117: True. According to Private Baldrick, the Huns are building a tank that they call it Maus.



Distressing news.



@Agent Larkin: Welcome aboard.

@Zhuge Liang: Hey, it's fine for me. But after this battle, I don't think that they will keep comming.

@Nathan Madien: Like the Somme, but more wet

@GulMacet: Absolutely!

@c0d5579: "That's disgusting, darling!"

@quaazi (2): Puzzling, to say the least.

@Nathan Madien (2): And it was for free!

@SiirCliveWolfe: Following with Blackadder's cannon, "the Flanders Pigeon Murderer" will be appearin the next year, 1917 -we're still in 1916.