The German fleet had an advantage because their gunners were far more accurate than the British. Their shells were far more destructive as well. They annihilated two battle cruisers- the Indefatigable and the Queen Mary. Enormous internal explosions sank them.
The German shells pierced the gun turrets and started fires on the British ships. The fire exploded the magazines and the ammunition, which was kept stored below decks.
The British navy were more likely to suffer damage to their magazines as their ships were poorly designed. The magazines that were stored below decks were vulnerable because the shaft that led down to the magazines was accessible by fire. This was because the shaft was bare and not protected by double closed doors. Whereas the German ships on the other hand were fitted with anti-blast doors in the shaft. So if an enemy shell hit a gun turret the magazine was protected from the blast and did not explode.
Soon the rest of the fleets joined together. Jellicoe and Scheer arrived on the scene. 250 ships of the Grand Fleet faced 150 ships of the German High Sea’s Fleet. Jellicoe had the upper- hand in numbers and also in position. His line of ships came at right angles to the German ships. In naval terms this is referred to a ‘crossing the T’.
The British fleet could fire guns at the Germans as they passed at right angles to their ships. Unfortunately for the Germans their guns were positioned at the back of the vessel so the structure of the ship blocked their aim of fire at the British. This meant that the Germans were disadvantaged. Four battle cruisers immediately were destroyed. Scheer knew that he was unfavourably positioned, so he tried to withdraw his fleet however he bumped straight back into Jellicoe and experienced even heavier losses, as well as the English.
Jellicoe then had the opportunity to ‘cross Sheer’s T’ and cause further damage to the High Sea’s Fleet. However Jellicoe feared a torpedo attack from the German destroyers. He threw away the chance for a decisive victory at Jutland. Scheer managed to escape from the British at Nightfall. He withdrew from the attack and headed home for port.
There is some debate over who won. The Germans assumed they won, as their losses were lighter than the British. Only 2500 German sailors died whereas the British lost 6000. Germany never returned to the fighting at sea. Instead she stayed safely inside her harbour at Kiel for the remainder of the war. This meant that the Grand Fleet dominated the seas and could blockade Germanys supplies.
Jellicoe in some ways did throw away a chance for victory at Jutland by not advancing on the Germans further. In the end however I think it was a better victory this way. Even though Britain couldn’t say that they had officially triumphed at Jutland. Yet in the long run they had control of the seas. If they had engaged the German fleet again they would have suffered heavier losses to their Fleet. Who knows that maybe the Germans would have resorted to torpedoes, as Jellicoe had feared. Britain won in reality. Even though they did suffer heavier losses. They won the sea.
