In the summer of 1914, an unprecedented war broke out in Europe. It unfolds on land, in the sky and at sea. Although Britain had the most powerful navy, Caesar's Germany dared to challenge her.
The German Navy, also known as the High Seas Fleet, was inferior in number of ships to the British Grand Fleet. In terms of the ratio of dreadnoughts to battlecruisers, the Royal Navy's advantage is almost double. Aware of this, the British Admiralty decided to adopt a naval blockade strategy for Germany.
German commanders, in turn, did not even want to defeat the enemy in direct combat. They proposed the following options: a direct "blockade" of the British forces; mine-laying, including along the British coast; and the active use of submarines. As war broke out, the two sides began to carefully gather information about each other and slowly turned to positive action.
German light cruiser Mainz
The first major naval battle took place a month after the declaration of war. The situation on the land front was not in favour of the Allies — the Allies. The British command decided to land a commando force in the Ostend region of Belgium. In order to conceal the operation from the Germans, the Grand Fleet had to attack German ships in the Helgoland Gulf area.
The British did not want to go to the enemy's coast without reconnaissance. This task was assigned to the commander of the 8th Submarine Fleet, Brigadier General Kizu. His squad coped with this perfectly. The commander himself planned to attack the returning night patrol in the early morning. By 26 August, the upcoming plan of action had been announced to the Commander of the Grand Fleet. However, Admiral John Jellicoe and his staff made their own adjustments. The raid should therefore be carried out around 8 a.m., targeting German ships patrolling during the day.
British light cruiser Aretuza
In this operation, the naval forces assigned 2 destroyer fleets: Arethusa, Fearless, and the leader of 35 destroyers. The battlecruisers Invincible and New Zealand accompanied them. The day before the operation began, the Admiralty decided to send additional troops to the Gulf of Helgoland: the British were very afraid to go to the Hochseeflotte Sea. Dispatching warships, however, was too wasteful, and Admiral Jericho entrusted the task to The First Battlecruiser Squadron under Vice Admiral David Beatty: Lion, Queen Mary, Royal Princess. Meanwhile, there are 6 Commodore Goodenough light cruisers.
As for the Germans, Major General Hipper's Enemy 1 Reconnaissance Group was engaged in general protection work. His battlecruiser docked at Wilhelmshaven. The light forces patrolling the harbor were directly subordinate to Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass, including the light cruisers Coln, Stralsund, Strassburg, Stettin, Frauenlob and Hela. There are also several boats, Mainz and Ariadne, located near the mouths of the Weser and Ems rivers. There are 9 destroyers at sea and 10 more ready to leave the base.
The flagship battlecruiser Lion of Lieutenant General David Beatty
The morning of August 28 was hazy. The adversaries' first contact took place around 5 a.m., when the British submarine E-7 attacked the German destroyer G-194, but to no avail. The Germans, in turn, transmitted information about the attack to headquarters. Admiral Hipper ordered one of the destroyer fleets to go to sea and raised their planes for reconnaissance.
A few hours later, the same G-194 spotted an enemy ship detachment. These were destroyers led by their leader Aretusa. To help with the patrol ships, Admiral Maas dispatched light cruisers. If Stetting hadn't arrived in time, skirmishes with German destroyers could have ended in their deaths. The German ship, led by the Intrepid, led LinkedIn national squad. Therefore, the second cruiser, The Frauenlob, had to fight areethusa. The Englishman, though stronger, was greatly hampered by his lack of experience. The battle lasted 25 minutes, and almost all of the ship's artillery failed, which made it impossible for him to continue fighting. The German cruiser suffered minor damage and retreated to Helgoland.
Once it was spotted that the Intrepid was too close to the shore, the fleet commander ordered a U-turn and leave the bay. On the way, they encountered a lone German destroyer V-187. The Germans retreated without engaging a large number of opponents. But he mistakenly believed that the two large ships on the horizon were his own. In fact, they turned out to be the British light cruisers Nottingham and Lowestofte. The destroyers had no chance to deal with them. Moreover, the British destroyers were already approaching from behind. The German ships fought fiercely and did not lower the flag to the end.
The next few hours were very foreign to the British. Brigadier General Case mistakenly saw the Allied light cruisers as enemies. When ordered to gather everyone together, more chaos ensued. The submarine E-6 was almost destroyed by the cruiser Southampton, whose commander did not know how many Allied submarines were present in the area.
At about 11 o'clock, a fleet of British destroyers was shelled by the German cruiser Strasbourg. He fired from a distance because he believed the British were a cruising squad. The British commander requested assistance. David Beatty answered the call. The admiral decided to take the plunge out of his character, sending a squad of battlecruisers to approach the enemy. It was near noon and the tide was about to end. This meant that the German battlecruisers would soon be able to leave Wilhelmshaven and take part in battle.
British sailors watch the burning Cruiser Mainz
The locations of Arethusa and Fearless became dangerous as Stettin and Mainz soon approached the battlefield, and later Coln. Brigadier General Goodenough's light cruisers saved the situation, concentrating their fire on Mainz. The German ship was covered in a shower of shells. Soon, his turn failed and the cruiser began to circle in place. Nevertheless, his guns continued to fire on the British destroyers. However, the fate of the ship was soon decided. The torpedo hit the engine compartment, turning the cruiser into an easy target. Near 13:00 p.m., the Mainz, engulfed in flames, sank. The British took almost all of their crew on board.
Around this time, Beatty's battlecruiser entered the scene. The balance of power has changed dramatically in favor of the Grand Fleet. On Maas's orders, Cohen began to retreat, but it was too late. The flagship Lion, equipped with a 343 mm gun, left no chance of salvation for the German cruisers. The burning ship disappeared in the fog for a few seconds. This distracted Beatty, and his battlecruiser turned to another target— the outdated light cruiser Ariadne. The German ship was incapacitated after several impacts and tight cover, and was later abandoned by its crew.
The German light cruiser Ariadne sank in battle.
Considering that the mission had been completed, and that it was taking unreasonable risks further, Beatty deployed his squadron and began to retreat. Then he accidentally encounters a previously damaged Coln. It took only a few volleys to kill the "wounded" enemy. The German cruiser sank along with Admiral Leberecht Maass. Only 1 sailor survived the ship's crew.
In the afternoon, the battle was over. The Grand Fleet returned triumphantly and declared a decisive victory. In fact, in the battle, the British fleet did not lose a single ship. The cruisers Arethusa and Featherless and 3 destroyers were damaged. The number of casualties was 32 deaths and 55 wounded. Admiral David Beatty was seen as a hero, and the victory in the first major naval battle boosted British morale.
The High Seas Fleet lost 3 light cruisers and 1 destroyer in this battle. Another 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers were damaged. On the German side, the total loss of death, injury and prisoners was about 1,000.
Considering the battle, one could notice the mistakes of the German command: light cruisers were sent to intercept the enemy, without reconnaissance, one after the other. The High Seas Fleet Command modified the armament composition of their ships, deciding to equip all cruisers with 150 mm guns and destroyers with 105 mm guns. It was also decided to involve aviation and trawlers in the reconnaissance and protection of their territorial waters.
The naval battles of the First World War largely determined the direction of the ship and the rules of the arms race between the two world wars. The largest battleships were built , the American Iowa , the Japanese Yamato and the German Tirpitz. That's right, these ships have never met in battle! The question "Which of them will win?" That's interesting.