After the naval battle, Scheer said in his report to the Kaiser that the German imperial navy could "make great achievements for the enemy, but ... even if it achieved the most favorable results on the high seas, it could not force Britain to reconcile ... Compared with the island countries, the disadvantages of our geographical position ... could not be compensated by our fleet ...". He finally said. Infinite submarine warfare is essential, "even if you are afraid of taking the risk of going to war with the United States."
The inability of the British navy to destroy the German navy shattered all hopes of opening the Baltic Sea to Russia, which may have accelerated the collapse of the czar's government. In 2006 19 1 1 One month before Jellicoe was replaced, Betty sadly admitted that if the Germans attacked Denmark, the British main fleet could not provide any assistance. When talking about the effective use of naval power, the admiral asserted that "the correct strategy of the British main fleet is no longer to try to get enemy ships into the war at any cost, but to keep them at the base until ... the situation becomes more favorable to us."
But in terms of strategy, the German navy failed to break the blockade of the British navy, and the global ocean was still dominated by the British navy. The ocean fleet is still an "existing fleet" because it is trapped in the harbor. Britain's lost ships, with its strong industrial and economic strength, were quickly replenished, as The New York Times commented: "The German fleet attacked its prison guards, but they are still in prison."
2. As a result of the Jutland naval battle, the local fleet of the Royal Navy returned to the base, and the Jutland naval battle officially ended. In this naval battle, the brave Germans achieved their goal-exchanged their own small costs for the other side's greater losses. However, the strategic victory undoubtedly belongs to the British side. They successfully chased Schell's fleet back and continued to block the North Sea. . In the battle, the British army lost 3 battle cruiser, 3 armored cruisers and 8 destroyers, with 6,800 casualties. German losses 1 battleship, 1 battle cruiser, 4 light cruisers and 5 destroyers, with nearly 3 100 casualties.
3. Introduce Jutland naval battle, also known as Scarqufeng Geraker naval battle.
This is the largest naval battle during the First World War, and it is also the only contest between the main fleet of the British Navy and the ocean fleet of the German Navy. After the outbreak of World War I, Britain imposed a sea blockade on Germany by virtue of its naval superiority, forcing the German ocean-going fleet to dare not leave the port rashly.
The passive situation at the beginning of the war made the Germans initially pin their hopes of winning the war on the army with traditional military strength, while the navy only carried out guerrilla warfare at sea with small forces and attacked the allied maritime transport ships. However, after a year of fighting, the situation has not improved, and the war situation is still deteriorating sharply.
After the Battle of Verdun, the Germans were caught in a long struggle, and the hope of ending the land war was dashed. The German high command had to change its original intention and began to shift its strategic focus to the sea.
In order to break through the British sea blockade, ensure Germany's freedom of action at sea and reverse the passive situation, the German ruling authorities are ready to look for opportunities to fight with Britain at sea. 1916 65438+10, Admiral Schell became the commander of the ocean fleet.
As soon as Schell took office, he began to plan an active attack on the British fleet. Its core content is: first attack the British coast with a few battleships and cruisers, induce some British fleets to attack, and then concentrate on the main battle of the ocean fleet to completely destroy the main British fleet. In order to achieve this goal, Schell concentrated some warships and spent four months carrying out the plan of sneak attack and harassment of Britain.
In mid-May, Scheer felt that the time was ripe, so he ordered Admiral hippel to lead five battle cruiser, five light cruisers and 30 destroyers to form a campaign feint fleet to lure the British fleet out of port. Scheer personally led the main force of the ocean-going fleet, and the heavy group consisting of 265,438+0 battleships, 6 light cruisers and 365,438+0 destroyers was hidden 50 nautical miles behind the feint fleet, ready to annihilate the enemies who took the bait.
In addition, the reconnaissance support force consisting of 16 large submarine, 6 small submarines and 10 large zeppelin has also been deployed in the British sea area and the North Sea area in advance to closely monitor the movements of the British navy. However, Schell never imagined that his seamless battle plan had been noticed by the British Navy.
As early as August 19 14, Russia sank the German "magdeburg" light cruiser at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, and Russian divers accidentally found a codebook and semaphore manual of the German Navy in the wreckage of the warship. According to the relevant war agreements of the Allies, the British navy easily deciphered the radio code of the German navy and accurately grasped the whereabouts of the German navy.
In view of the battle plan of the German Navy, Admiral John Jellicoe, the commander of the main fleet of the British Navy, made an "identical" battle plan with the German Navy overnight according to the intelligence of the German Navy. Four battleships led by vice admiral Betty.
Six battle cruiser, 14 light cruisers and 27 destroyers, as avant-garde fleets, pursued the incoming hippel fleet first. When the German ocean-going fleet led by Schell came in, they pretended to be defeated and lured the enemy deeper. Jellicoe led the main fleet consisting of 24 battleships, 4 battle cruiser ships, 20 cruisers and 50 destroyers, and then followed suit, forming an encirclement of the German ocean-going fleet, which was completely annihilated.
On May 30th, Betty's avant-garde fleet had just sailed out of Rosetta Harbor when it was discovered by German submarines. The whereabouts of the "bait" fleet have long been under the surveillance of the British.
Both sides believe that the enemy has taken the bait, and the two fleets are carefully moving closer to each other. The generals pay close attention to the development of the war situation anxiously, and an unprecedented sea battle will begin in this silent voyage. On the afternoon of May 3 1 Sunday 14, the avant-garde fleets of the two sides met in the waters near the Gerakel Strait in scarborough. The British capital ship is twice as large as the enemy, and the German fleet dare not continue fighting. Hippel turned to the southeast as scheduled and ran towards the main force of the ocean fleet.
Betty was about to slip away when she saw the fat on her lips. At this time, he had already thrown the scheduled mission to the outside of the cloud nine, and only led six battle cruiser ships to chase her desperately, causing the powerful but slow battleship to lag behind 10 nautical miles. This was called a "fatal mistake" by British historians after the war, which caused great losses to the British fleet.
15: 20, the avant-garde fleets of both sides maneuvered in the same direction and different sides. Because the German ship adopted the advanced all-ship unified azimuth shooting command system, its firepower was also superior to that of the British ship. At this time, the strength ratio was 6:5, so the British ship had no advantage. 15: 48, both sides in 2.
At the distance of 10000 yards, the shooting started. 12 minutes later, Betty's flagship "lion" took the lead. 16: 05, the British battle cruiser unyielding was sunk.
At this critical moment, the four battleships left behind arrived in time, and at that time the giant guns roared and rained down. In the face of the strong firepower of the British army, hippel was as cool as a cucumber and ordered the concentrated firepower to bombard the British "Queen Mary" battle cruiser. The "Queen Mary" was shot one after another at 16: 26, accompanied by a violent explosion, 2.
The 70,000-ton "Queen Mary" broke in two and sank quickly. 1275 crew members, only 9 survived. In just a few minutes, the British ship sank 1, causing heavy losses. When Betty found the oncoming German main force, she realized that she had been cheated, which made the whole avant-garde fleet retreat.
Scheer, seeing this, hurried to pursue all fronts. He didn't know that the "fish" he caught was also bait set by others. In the nearly three-hour chase, neither side achieved any results.
18 or so, the British avant-garde fleet joined the main fleet, and the two sides fought fiercely in the afterglow of the sunset. 18: 20, two old British armored ships were hit by German battle cruiser, one exploded and the other sank; 18: 33, 1.
The 70,000-ton flagship "Invincible" of the British Third Combat Cruiser Squadron was hit by a German ship again and was immediately blown in two. Admiral Hood, commander of the fleet, sank to the bottom of the sea with the crew. However, the loss of the British fleet did not affect the advantage of the main fleet in number, and the British ships gradually seized the favorable attack position, and the operational situation immediately changed in favor of the British.
German ships suffered heavy losses one after another, and hippel's flagship "Lutsov" and another battle cruiser were hit, forcing Scheer to give up the original plan and try to rush out and return to the base. When the last warship rushed out of the enemy, heep.
4. Introduction to the Battle of jutland (Battle of jutland; Germany is called Skagerrakschlacht, 1 965438+May 31-June1.In 2006, it was a great naval battle between Britain and Germany in the North Sea near jutland, Denmark. This was the largest naval battle in the First World War and the only decisive battle of the main force of the fleet in this war, thus ending the history of naval battles with battleships as the main ships. In the end, the German high seas fleet led by Admiral Schell sank more British ships with relatively little tonnage loss, thus achieving tactical victory; The local fleet of the Royal Navy under the command of Admiral Jellicoe successfully blocked the German Navy in German Ports, making it almost useless in the later period of the war, thus achieving the final strategic victory.
The Battle of jutland Since the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Britain has always maintained its position as a maritime hegemon, and its huge fleet sailed triumphantly around the world.
After the outbreak of World War I, although Germany strengthened its naval power, it still lagged behind Britain in the number of ships and the tonnage of drainage, and the caliber and quantity of artillery were not as good as Britain. Therefore, in the two and a half years after the start of the war, the British navy imposed a sea blockade on Germany by virtue of its superiority.
Britain's main fleet crouched like a watchdog in Flo Port, Scappa, keeping a close eye on the German ocean-going fleet, making it trapped in Port William and bremerhaven for most of the time, becoming a veritable "existing fleet". 1916 65438+10, Admiral reinhard Schell was appointed commander of the German ocean fleet.
Facing the powerful British main fleet, Schell, a "rough and aggressive" old sailor, believes that although war is a contest of strength, there is only one realistic choice before him, either to be trapped in the harbor and do nothing or to repel the British main fleet. How to repel the strong enemy with the dominant German navy? After some hard thinking, an aggressive and bold plan matured in Scheer's mind: first attack the British coast with a few battleships and cruisers, lure some British fleets out, then concentrate the main force of the ocean fleet to annihilate, and then defeat the main British fleet in the decisive battle.
In order to realize this plan, Schell spent four months sending battle cruisers, submarines and Led Zeppelin to attack the east coast of Britain. And carry out mine laying and reconnaissance operations.
1965438+In the early morning of May 3, 2006/kloc-0, hippel vice admiral led a "decoy fleet" consisting of 5 battle cruiser, 5 light cruisers and 30 destroyers to sail out of William Harbor as planned. According to Scheer's orders, this "decoy fleet" will sail north along the Danish west coast to the Geraker Strait in scarborough.
In this way, many British spies on both sides of the Taiwan Strait will report the position of hippel's fleet to London. During the voyage, hippel also let the radio transmitters of various ships send messages constantly to lure the British into taking the bait.
Two hours after leaving hippel, Schell personally led the main force of the ocean fleet and quietly left Port William. This is a huge fleet consisting of 2 1 battleships, 6 light cruisers and 3 1 destroyers, hidden 50 nautical miles behind the "bait fleet" fleet, ready to assemble the hooked enemies at any time.
In addition, the reconnaissance support force composed of 16 large submarine, 6 small submarines and 10 large zeppelin has been deployed in the British sea and the North Sea in advance to closely monitor the movements of the British navy. Contrary to hippel's high-profile sailing as bait, Schell's main formation kept a strict radio silence when sailing.
At the same time, the radio station in Port William continued to use the call sign of Schell's flagship-"Fidler the Great" to contact with the outside world, creating the illusion that Admiral Schell and the main force of the ocean fleet were still in the port. Scheer's plan seems impeccable, however, he never thought that the secret of this operation had been leaked.
This is because 19 14 In August, after Russia sank the German "magdeburg" light cruiser at the mouth of the Gulf of Finland, Russian divers accidentally found a code book and semaphore manual of the German navy in the wreckage of the German warship and provided them to Britain, so that the British could easily decipher the radio code of the German navy. On the afternoon of May 30, Admiral John Jellicoe, commander of the main fleet of the British Navy, received a top secret telegram from London: "The German ocean fleet will set sail tomorrow."
After learning the information, Jellicoe made a battle plan exactly like Scheer overnight: Betty vice admiral led the avant-garde fleet from Rosetta Harbor, Scotland, and arrived in the waters near jutland, east of Norway, on the afternoon of March1to join forces with the German fleet. Jellicoe personally led the main fleet from Flo Port in Scappa and arrived at the sea area 60 nautical miles northwest of Betty's fleet on the afternoon of March1. If Betty is angry with the German fleet at the moment, after taking the initiative to show weakness, he should lead the other side to the direction of the main fleet, so that Jellicoe's huge fleet will appear behind the German ship.
With the huge firepower and speed of the British fleet, Jellicoe thought it was completely sure to annihilate the German fleet that appeared in the expected sea area. At 20: 30 pm on May 30th, Jellicoe led a huge fleet consisting of 24 battleships, 4 battle cruiser, 20 cruisers and 50 destroyers out of Flo Port in Scappa.
After that, Betty led an avant-garde fleet consisting of four battleships, six battle cruiser, 14 light cruisers and 27 destroyers to leave the port of Rosetta. A few hours later, the German submarine ambushing outside Rosetta Port sent back a telegram of "Enemy Fleet Sailing" to the Ocean Fleet.
And Germany's "bait fleet" is also under the surveillance of the British. Almost two fleets in their nests think that their "bait tactics" have been successful, and they are heading in the opposite direction to the scheduled battlefield.
At this point, neither Schell nor Jellicoe expected that the other fleet had been fully deployed. What is even more unexpected is that in the near future, they will personally participate in the decisive battle of the world's largest fleet.
On May 3 1 day 14, the British avant-garde fleet led by Betty vice admiral arrived in the waters north of Cape Horn Reef. At this point, in the waters east of Betty's fleet, the German avant-garde fleet led by hippel vice admiral is also heading north on the parallel route, and 40 nautical miles is the main force of the German ocean fleet led by Admiral Schell.
Betty and hippel who also don't know the enemy is not far away, see two hostile fleet will pass by, but the mysterious arrangement of fate just pull the two bitter rivals together. 14: 20, a Danish cargo ship "Voyol" blew its horn when passing through the sea south of jutland.
With a sharp whistle, a thick steam soared into the sky. The British cruiser "Galati" and the German corvette "Elpin" discovered this abnormal steam at the same time, and they all went to check it out.
When the two ships approached the freighter in the same direction, they quickly recognized each other, so they immediately issued a warning to their respective fleet commanders: "Enemy ships found!" Signal. 14: 28, "Galac" fired at the German ship first, and the German ship "Pinger" also returned fire. The two sides launched a brief artillery battle.
After this prelude, there are 265 warships of various types, including the British 149.
6. Battle of jutland (Battle of jutland; Germany's name is Skagerrakschlacht,1916may31-June1,which was a naval battle between Britain and Germany in the North Sea near jutland, Denmark. This is the largest naval battle in the First World War, and it is also the only decisive battle of the main fleets of the two warring parties in this war. In the end, the German high seas fleet led by Admiral Schell sank more British ships with relatively little tonnage loss, thus achieving tactical victory; The local fleet of the Royal Navy under the command of Admiral Jellicoe successfully blocked the German Navy in German Ports, making it almost useless in the later period of the war, thus achieving the final strategic victory.
Reinhart, Germany? Admiral Schell
British John? Admiral Jellicoe.
7. Is Jutland the largest naval battle in the history of world naval warfare? To be honest, Jutland didn't fight much at all. The Germans didn't even look at those broken ships, and people were stuck in the base and couldn't get out, which was equivalent to China's "Three Fleet" and the Pacific Fleet PK of the United States. So, yes, but the Germans are still smart, so they traded a few ships for more British ships, which was quite successful tactically (mainly because the British were too stupid to ambush the North Sea, but from a strategic point of view, the British continued to block the North Sea, so it is difficult to say who won or lost. It is not so much a mobilization of the main force as a mistake. Actually, that's it. It may not be as fierce as Midway Island or Leyte Bay, but it is undeniable that the Jutland naval battle is indeed the first real naval battle in modern warfare. That is to say, in the past naval battles, warships were basically used to hit fishing boats, which was the first time in history to launch such a campaign, so the Jutland naval battle was still relatively classic and well-known.