It’s 104 years since the Battle of Jutland

Its Jutland day this 31 May – 1 June; 104 years since the biggest naval battle of the First World War. My great uncle, H. C. Wright, was in it – safely behind 12 inches of armour aboard the super-dreadnought HMS Orion, with a Graham Navyphone clamped against one ear, passing on targeting information to the men tending a Heath-Robinson gizmo with whirling bicycle chains that told the gun-layers where to shoot.

*The super-dreadnought HMS* Marlborough.

I’ve written quite a bit about Jutland over the years, mostly about the fact that the debate over who won it has been raging ever since. This anniversary I’d like to point everybody to two pieces I wrote for the Navy General Board. First is on ‘who won’ Jutland – a question that is usually answered with a glib ‘tactical German victory, strategic British’. Really? Click through and check out the issues:

Who won the Battle of Jutland?

And then click through to this piece on the British Commander in Chief, Admiral Sir John Jellicoe – who, if you look at the map I added to the article, clearly won the battle hands-down in every sense. Check it out: