MAGAZINE FORCES-WAR-RECORDS.CO.UK THE PROFESSIONAL MILITARY GENEALOGY SPECIALISTS SEARCH OVER 9 MILLION RECORDS 1916 - 2016 Battle of Jutland ARCHIVE EXTRACT: Commander Bingham All you need to know... SPOTLIGHT ON... Admiral John Jellicoe QUICK GUIDE TO... Royal Navy Ranks & Trades... and more! IT’S ABOUT YOUR FAMILY JUTLAND YOUR ANCESTORS SPECIAL EDITION: YOU YOUR HISTORY JUNE 2016 GET HELP FROM OUR TUTORIALS SEARCH OUR COLLECTIONS IN THIS JUTLAND ISSUE... SEARCH OUR ARCHIVE 2 HISTORIC FEATURE: The Battle of Jutland WELCOME... 6 ARCHIVE EXTRACT: The heroic extract from Search over 9 million individuals’ Commander Bingham, who went down with his military records, covering 300 ship during the Battle of Jutland years of battle and conflict, including all services VIEW OUR EXCLUSIVE 9 MONTHLY MEMORIAL: Jutland Memorial Park Over 2 million records you won’t RECORDS find anywhere else online 10 QUICK GUIDE TO... Royal Navy ranks & trades Military specialists on tap to help 12 HISTORY IN PICTURES: Jutland you break down your brick walls Thousands of original documents, 14 SPOTLIGHT ON: Jellicoe: Hero or hindrance? photos, personal war diaries and publications to enrich HIRE AN EXPERT 18 THEN & NOW... Jutland wrecks found in your research RESEARCHER Portsmouth Harbour by Maritime Archealogy Trust All the resources you need to research your military 22 YOUR RESOURCES: Collection of the month ancestor ! Royal Naval Division Casualties of The Great War, 1914 - 1924 UPLOAD DID YOU KNOW?... YOUR PHOTO The Battle of Jutland began at 4:48 p.m on 31st May 1916, lasted for 72 hours, involved 250 ships and 100,000 sailors. 6,000 British sailors and 2,500 German sailors were lost. Four Victoria Crosses were awarded; including the youngest to be awarded a VC - Jack Cornwell, aged just 16. Henry Allingham, a British RAF airman, was the last surviving JOIN OUR veteran of the battle, and ultimately WW1, he died on 18th July FORUM 2009, aged 113. George VI, the then Prince Albert, Duke of York took part. The battle was the first time in history that a carrier (HMS Engadine) used aeroplanes in naval combat. GET YOUR REPLICA Forces War Records Magazine is published by Clever Digit Media Ltd. MEDAL Editor: Neil White, Staff Writer: Nicki Giles, Designer: Jennifer Holmes HISTORIC FEATURE The Battle of Jutland The only major Naval engagement of the First World War Sir John Jellicoe The Battle of Jutland took place The Royal Navy, true to form, had flagship HMS Lion was struck by a in the North Sea, North West of previously decrypted German Naval salvo of 12 Inch shells that destroyed Sir David Beatty Denmark. It was the first time that communications with the help one of her turrets and very nearly the new Dreadnought Battleships, of a codebook captured by the detonated her magazine if not for developed in the early 1900s had Russians from the SMS Magdeburg. the timely intervention of the turret come to blows and only the third Intercepting the German signals commander, Major Francis Harvey of time that the big Steel Battleships they were alerted to the dispatch of the Royal Marines to seal the doors had engaged each other, following Hipper’s Battlecruiser squadron and and flood the magazine. the smaller battles in the Russo- the Grand Fleet was ordered to make Japanese War. sail and engage. The First of Many The battle was fought by the British The Grand Fleet composed of HMS Indefatigable, not to be Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet with 24 Dreadnought Battleships, confused with Horatio Hornblower’s elements of the Royal Australian 3 Battlecruisers, accompanied by HMS Indefatigable, was less lucky, Navy and Royal Canadian Navy 8 Armoured Cruisers, 4 Scout at 16.02 she was hit aft by three 11 commanded by Admiral Sir John Cruisers, 51 Destroyers, 1 Destroyer- Inch shells from SMS Von Der Tann Jellicoe and the German High Seas Minelayer and one of the first detonating her aft magazine. Soon Fleet commanded by Vice-Admiral Aircraft Carriers operational. The after at maximum range Von Der Rheinhard Scheer. Reconnaissance Cruiser Squadron Tann fired again putting a single shot was made up of 4 Fast Queen through her forward magazine. The The Germans, recognising their Elizabeth Class Dreadnoughts, 6 resulting explosion was devastating fleet was inferior to the Royal Navy, Battlescruisers, 14 Light Cruisers and and the ship sunk immediately with intended to draw out and destroy 27 Destroyers – are we sure this force almost all of her crew. Only two part of the Royal Navy’s Grand was for scouting? men survived. Fleet, which was a numerically superior force, and thereby break the The German High Seas Fleet was At 16.25 despite the increasingly crippling blockade of German ports. numerically smaller and composed desperate position of the Germans, of some outdated vessels. The main HMS Queen Mary was struck by The Royal Navy similarly wanted to force consisted of 16 Dreadnought combined fire from Defflinger and draw out the High Seas Fleet and Battleships and 6 Pre-Dreadnought Seydlitz, this again detonated the destroy it. Battleships accompanied by 6 Light magazines of the British Warship With that in mind Scheer dispatched Cruisers and 31 Torpedo Boats. resulting in her rapid sinking and all Vice-Admiral Franz Hipper’s The German Scouting Force under but nine of her 1275 man crew lost. Vice Admiral Hipper consisted of 5 Battlecruiser squadron to locate the Just a minute later HMS Princess Battlecruisers, 5 Light Cruisers and Grand Fleet and its’ own scouting Royal was struck by a salvo from the 30 Torpedo Boats. force of Cruisers. Reconnaissance German guns prompting Beatty to Planes were still in their infancy at At 15:48 on 31st May 1916, The Grand utter the famous phrase “Chatfield, this point and could not cover the Fleet’s reconnaissance squadron there seems to be something wrong North Sea effectively, hence the use HMS Kempenfelt commanded by Vice Admiral Sir with our bloody ships today!” of the fast and well-armed Cruisers. David Beatty, received the first flotilla leader At 16.40 the vanguard of the main fire from the High Seas Fleet Enigma this! – Ok so the Germans German force had been sighted and Reconnaissance squadron. Poor during the weren’t using enigma yet but “Naval Beatty ordered his squadron to turn visibility resulted in the British return Communication Encryption This!” North and draw the German fleet Battle of Jutland fire falling far beyond the attacking didn’t sound nearly as good! towards Admiral Jellicoe and the RN German Squadrons. At 16.00 Beatty’s Grand Fleet. SMS Seydlitz after the Battle of Jutland, John (Jack) Travers Cornwell, boy of 16, Wikimedia Commons mortally wounded on HMS Chester during the Battle of Jutland is the youngest to be posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. HMS Shark a destroyer disabled in The battle is also the subject of the opening action was continuing controversy notably around Jellicoe’s to engage four German destroyers action and the state of safety and was able to disabled SMS V98 procedures regarding ammunition before succumbing to a Torpedo hit handling in the Royal Navy. Jellicoe and sinking. Her captain Loftus Jones was criticised for being indecisive would be awarded the Victoria Cross and missing the chance to destroy for his heroism in continuing to fight the High Seas fleet. However, as despite the odds. Winston Churchill commented “Jellicoe was the only man on either As the night crept in the Germans side who could have lost the war began to withdraw, coupled with the in an afternoon.” If he had thrown indecisiveness of the Grand Fleet the Grand Fleet against the High due to night fighting deficiencies the Seas fleet even with its numerical Marynarz Wilhelmshaven Germans were able to disengage. advantage there was no guarantee SMS Westfalen Wikimedia commons Several German ships were of success and had the Grand Fleet damaged or destroyed during the failed and in turn been destroyed the disengagement. Lutzow, Admiral story of World War One would have Scheer’s flagship was actually been much different. You can read or download the original sunk under Scheer’s orders by a story from our extensive Archive... German Destroyer; SMS G38 . The The Losses At 18.30 with both fleets converging Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS and heavily engaged, HMS Invincible 6,784 British Sailors were killed in Pommem was sunk after being hit by the battle, the magazine explosions was identified as a lone target and torpedoes fired by HMS Onslaught. singled out by the Lutzow and of several large ships contributing These detonated her magazines significantly to that total. They gave Derfflinger. A 12 Inch shell struck resulting in a large explosion, one of her turrets amidships and their lives in an effort to bring about breaking the ship in half and killing a quick end to the war. The crippling detonated the magazine. She sank the entire crew. quickly; all but six of her 1032 crew longevity of the British Blockade were killed. of German ports was one of the Won or Lost? contributing factors to the German Don’t mess with The outcome of the battle is the surrender in November 1918. Had the subject of some debate amongst blockade been broken, potentially We pay our respects to the Shark historians. While the German High the war could have lasted longer As the fleets converged Scheer Seas fleet sank significantly more with the German Fleet being able the 9,823 who laid down and the German battle line were ships and tonnage than the Grand to challenge Allied Merchant and their lives in the pursuit taken completely by surprise when Fleet did, the damage inflicted on Supply ships.