Good morning all & OTD in 1916, the Battle of Jutland commenced in the North Sea between the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet & the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet. It would end indecisively albeit the German fleet would not challenge the Royal Navy's command of the sea again.
The hero of Jutland was Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, RN (1859-1935), later the 1st Earl Jellicoe, the hero of Jutland & a methodical, quiet but determined - and very popular with his sailors - leader by his good example
Commend this excerpt from Andrew Gordon's "Rules of the Game" on Jellicoe as an unpretentious fighting admiral versus the showboating David Beatty who would succeed Jellicoe. Jellicoe was also 'by the book' and safe, unlike Beatty who madly risked the lives of his men for speed.
Good morning all & OTD in 1916, the Battle of Jutland continued in the North Sea between the Royal Navy & the Imperial German Navy.
Prince Albert, the future King George VI, served as a turret officer in the dreadnought HMS Collingwood at Jutland. Recall reading he had one of the very worst jobs when Collingwood got alongside of collecting the dead & their remains from the ship's turrets and compartments
Jack, the loyal and brave dog of Admiral Sir Hugh Evan-Thomas, was wounded during the Battle of Jutland in 1916. In the sketch for his official portrait, the Admiral included the heroic Jack.
Peggy, the bulldog, served in the Battle of Jutland as the mascot of the dreadnought, HMS Iron Duke, which was Admiral Jellicoe's flagship. Peggy did her duty bravely and helped maintain the ship's morale. She was buried at sea with honours when she died in 1923.
By the late morning of 1 June 1916, the German High Seas Fleet had, mostly, returned, battered and bruised, to Kiel or Wilhelmshaven. What was Jutland like? See the battered Imperial German battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz here alongside & suffering severe damage and flooding.
After Jutland, King George V went to Rosyth dockyard in Scotland, where the most damaged ships were being repaired, to inspect the battered fleet. The King (whose son served in Collingwood) thanked the Royal Navy, “mourning with them the loss of the brave men who had fallen.”
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