On May 31 and June 1, 1916, English and German dreadnoughts – large battleships – each other near the Danish Jutland. The German fleet made an attempt to break out and the British attacked them. With its WWI newspaper, Het Historisch Nieuwsblad provides an overview of the reporting from that time about this violent confrontation, which would culminate in the largest naval battle in history.
During the First World War, the British blockade German ports to prevent the country from resupplying. The Germans try to escape this in every possible way. During the Battle of Jutland they put 22 battleships in position; the maritime superior English have 28 and also a lot more cruisers. The battle ends in a draw and both sides suffer huge losses. The newspapers of almost a hundred years ago are full of reports and accounts of eyewitnesses of the naval battle.
Report:Eyewitnesses on the Battle of Jutland
From our reporters, IJmuiden – June 3, 1916
“Twenty castaways were brought into IJmuiden, who had been fished out by the trawler Bertha (a fishing boat, ed.). They are Germans from the Elbing, a new cruiser of 4 to 5000 tons. It is suspected that the ship was damaged by English artillery fire and that the captain then threw it into the air himself. Those on board the Elbing were about to row their sloop to shore when they were picked up by the trawler. It is still impossible to write a clear story about the battle, because the battle took place over a great distance. According to the Germans, shots were fired over a distance of 20 to 25 miles. There was, of course, no scuffle here and the former boarding is no longer known.”
“The sight of the battlefield after the battle was described by the rescued as follows:Hundreds of bodies of drowned persons drifted among wreckage, overturned sloops and destroyed ship rigging. Nearly all wore swimming belts to keep them afloat, but which could not have prevented them from drowning from blood loss or from fatigue and intoxication. Heads and feet of the corpses hung down in the water. It was one big black swaying crowd of people, a floating island of corpses. 'Never,' said the men, 'shall we forget the terrible sight of this graveyard drifting into the sea, as we passed it in our dinghy!'”
“Captain Punt, captain of the steam trawler John Brown, which picked up fifteen German and one English castaway, also made a statement. He said that he had set out to fish. At two o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, he saw a considerable fleet of large battleships and destroyers steaming up in a northwesterly direction. She consisted of fifty German warships. About four hours later, the captain heard the first shot. The ships then turned and steamed about 30 miles north. It was probably a vanguard. A short but fierce battle ensued. The weather was hazy, so that the course of the battle could not be clearly discerned.”
“After that English warships came up and shots were fired on both sides. The parties met for the Skagerrak. It seemed as if the English fleet was holding up better then, while the Germans were steaming westward. On Wednesday evening the German ships changed positions again, after which the action between the two fleets developed further vigorously. According to Captain Punt, the Germans fled. He also stated that he had seen two large smoke columns, which he believed indicated that two German ships had been sunk. In the afternoon Captain Punt drew in his nets and remained afloat for a few hours in the same place in order to be able to warn ships of the high seas. At a quarter to eleven in the evening he saw a flare being fired by the German fleet. Our spokesman thinks this was a signal to flee south, because fifteen minutes later seven large German battleships passed his trawler at a speed of 30 miles.”
“Captain Punt wanted to swerve west with his trawler, but the pursuing English ships used their searchlights and opened fire on the fleeing German warships. The trawler was now in the midst of the warring vessels and the shells flew over the ship. The explosions of the guns were heard everywhere, the whole area was shrouded in smoke, dense columns of water rose up. The German ships continued their flight in the direction of Heligoland. According to Captain Punt, they were followed at a distance of 200 meters by English ships. The captain saw two ships on fire, but could not tell whether they were German or English vessels. The fire did not last long, however, because the ships were soon sunk.”
“At two o'clock in the morning the sky was still red from the firing. Early in the morning on Thursday, two more English destroyers and three English submarines sailed in the direction of Heligoland. The captain then saw English ships approaching from the west again. He thinks these English ships had been called in, because on Wednesday afternoon he had seen an English ship speeding past, presumably to get help. According to statements by those on board, the battle lasted 24 hours and the English squadron was still at the battle site when they left. The skipper said that the Germans were skeptical about the outcome of the battle. “No one has won,” they had said.”
The report comes from the WWI newspaper of May 2015, a bimonthly special of the Historisch Nieuwsblad, with news about the First World War from the newspapers of that time.
There will be a total of seven editions. More information about reordering previously published copies can be found on the website of the WWI newspaper.