1916

The North Sea

The role of the Royal Navy at this point in history was critical.

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"The price of naval disaster would be starvation"

Admiral Sir John Fisher

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It was a confused and bloody action involving 250 ships and around 100,000 men.  Opportunities were missed on both sides. The British suffered serious losses, including HMS Indefatigable, Invincible and Queen Mary; over 6,000 British sailors died. The Germans lost about half that number of men and tonnage, but only 6 of their ships were undamaged. When the Germans were outgunned by the Grand Fleet they turned for home. The battle for control of the North Sea was over. The rest of the war at sea focussed almost entirely on the U-boat threat.

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"The spell of Trafalgar is broken"

....boasted Kaiser Wilhelm II

Photo: firstworldwar.com/Wikipedia • Believed to be in the Public Domain (Age - Copyright expired)