The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea that took place on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet. Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... Jump to: navigation, search January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100km off the coast of the United Kingdom. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936), born in County Wexford, Ireland, was an admiral in the Royal Navy. ... Franz Ritter von Hipper (September 13, 1863- May 25, 1932) was a German admiral. ... Battle of Heligoland Bight - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... The Battle of Jutland, known in Germany as the Battle of the Skagerrak (Skagerrakschlacht), was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. ... The Second Battle of Heligoland Bight was a naval battle of World War I. On 17 November 1917, German minesweepers clearing a path through the British minefield in the Heligoland Bight of the North Sea near the coast of Germany was intercepted by two Royal Navy cruisers Calypso and Caledon... Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100km off the coast of the United Kingdom. ... The North Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, located between the coasts of Norway and Denmark in the east, the coast of the British Isles in the west, and the German, Dutch, Belgian and French coasts in the south. ... Jump to: navigation, search January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Jump to: navigation, search World War I was primarily a European conflict with many facets: immense human sacrifice, stalemate trench warfare, and the use of new, devastating weapons - tanks, aircraft, machineguns, and poison gas. ... Jump to: navigation, search Grand Fleet during WWI Grand Fleet ships in formation During World War I, the British Home Fleet was renamed the Grand Fleet. ... The Kaiserliche Marine or Imperial Navy was the German Navy created by the formation of the German Empire and existed between 1871 and 1919; it grew out of the Prussian Navy and the Norddeutsche Bundesmarine. ...

Origins

With the German home fleet effectively bottled up by Admiral Beatty's success at Heligoland Bight, German Admiral Franz von Hipper decided to launch a raid upon three British East coast towns using the German Battlecruiser Squadron, comprising five battlecruisers supported by light cruisers and destroyers. The raid took place on 16 December 1914 at 9am, and resulted in the death of 18 civilians at Scarborough, causing further damage at Whitby and Hartlepool. David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936), born in County Wexford, Ireland, was an admiral in the Royal Navy. ... Battle of Heligoland Bight - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Franz Ritter von Hipper (September 13, 1863- May 25, 1932) was a German admiral. ... HMS Hood (left) and HMS Barham (right), in Malta, 1937. ... A light cruiser is a warship that is not so large and powerful as a regular (or heavy) cruiser, but still larger than ships like destroyers. ... Jump to: navigation, search USS Lassen, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range attackers (originally torpedo boats, later submarines and... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1914 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... The South Bay at Scarborough Scarborough lies on the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire, England. ... Jump to: navigation, search Map sources for Whitby at grid reference NZ898109 Whitby is a historic town in North Yorkshire on the north-east coast of England. ... Hartlepool (pronounced HART-le-pool) is a North Sea port in North East England. ...

British public and political reaction was outraged that the German Fleet could sail so close to the British coast and proceed to shell coastal towns.

Buoyed by the success of the raid, Admiral Hipper resolved to repeat the exercise the following month. He was however intercepted by the British on 24 January 1915 at the Dogger Bank, midway between Germany and Britain. Jump to: navigation, search January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Dogger Bank is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100km off the coast of the United Kingdom. ...

Through intercepted German radio traffic the British had learnt of Hipper's proposed sortie on 23 January. Admiral Beatty set sail with five battlecruisers to meet Hipper's three, supported by a further six light cruisers. Joined by additional cruisers and destroyers from Harwich, Beatty headed south before meeting Hipper's outlying vessels at 7.20am on the morning of 24 January. Jump to: navigation, search January 23 is the 23rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search January 24 is the 24th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Battle

Realising he was overpowered, Hipper attempted to escape, believing the British battlecruisers to be slower than his. Beatty's cruisers, however, were notably faster than their German counterparts, and succeeded in reaching their extreme firing range by 9am. Battle started half an hour later.

The sinking SMS Blücher rolls over onto her side

The British fire was concentrated on Hipper's flagship, battlecruiser Seydlitz which was soon damaged with the loss of 192 of her crew. The slower armoured cruiser SMS Blücher was also damaged early in the action and began to fall behind the faster German battlecruisers. The German return fire in turn succeeded in hammering Beatty's flagship, Lion, to a standstill. Lion took no further part in the battle after 11:00. Description: Sinking of the SMS Blücher Size: 662 &times 411 pixels Source: International News Service photo, 1915. ... Description: Sinking of the SMS Blücher Size: 662 &times 411 pixels Source: International News Service photo, 1915. ... SMS Blücher was an armoured cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine, and was the last vessel of its class built by Germany. ... SMS Seydlitz was a 25,000 ton battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built at Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned in May 1913. ... The armored cruiser was a naval cruiser protected by armor on its sides as well as on the decks and gun positions. ... SMS Blücher was an armoured cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine, and was the last vessel of its class built by Germany. ... HMS Lion was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy launched in 1910, the lead ship of her class. ...

Nevertheless, a major British success appeared likely until Beatty, believing his ships had seen a submarine’s periscope, ordered a sharp turn to avoid it. (It seems probable that the periscope was surfacing torpedo launched by a German destroyer). Beatty then gave an order which, thanks to the destruction of Lion's electrics and the damage to her flag hoists, was both vague and hard to see. As a result of the misunderstaning, the remaining British battlecruisers broke off the pursuit of the German battlecruisers and rounded on the crippled Blücher, which had fallen behind the rest of the German ships, sinking her with the loss of 782 men. In the meantime the damaged German battlecruisers were able to make good their escape. 15 British sailors were killed in the battle. SMS Blücher was an armoured cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine, and was the last vessel of its class built by Germany. ...

Aftermath

Although the battle was not greatly consequential of itself, it boosted British morale and concerned the German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, enough to issue an order stating that all further risks to surface vessels were to be avoided. Jump to: navigation, search Wilhelm II of Germany (born Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert von Preußen 27 January 1859–4 June 1941), was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and the last King (König) of Prussia, ruling from 1888 to 1918. ...

But the Germans took the lessons of the battle to heart, particularly the damage to the Seydlitz which revealed flaws in the protection of her magazines. The British failed to do the same and signalling on board the Lion was equally shambolic in the early stages of the Battle of Jutland the following summer. The Battle of Jutland, known in Germany as the Battle of the Skagerrak (Skagerrakschlacht), was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war. ...

The rival squadrons

Britain

1st Battlecruiser Squadron: Lion, Tiger and Princess Royal. HMS Lion was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy launched in 1910, the lead ship of her class. ... HMS Tiger was a battlecruiser of the Royal Navy, launched in 1913, the most heavily armoured battlecruiser of the Royal Navy in World War I. A sister ship, Leopard, was planned but not completed. ... HMS Princess Royal was a Royal Navy battlecruiser of the World War I era. ...

2nd Battlecruiser Squadron: New Zealand and Indomitable. HMS New Zealand was the battlecruiser flagship of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland in World War I. She was a gift to Britain from the people of New Zealand. ... HMS Indomitable was an Invincible-class battlecruiser, basically a smaller sized replica of the revolutionary Dreadnought. ...

Germany

1st Scouting Group: Seydlitz, Moltke, Derfflinger and Blücher. SMS Seydlitz was a 25,000 ton battlecruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built at Hamburg, Germany, and commissioned in May 1913. ... SMS Moltke was a Moltke-class battlecruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine (German Navy). ... Jump to: navigation, search SMS Derfflinger was a German Kaiserliche Marine battlecruiser in World War I named after prussian Field Marshal Georg Reichsfreiherr von Derfflinger. ... SMS Blücher was an armoured cruiser of the German Kaiserliche Marine, and was the last vessel of its class built by Germany. ...

External link

• Battle of Dogger Bank