Content area
Full text
"Our Bloody Ships" or "Our Bloody System"? Jutland and the Loss of the Battle Cruisers, 1916*
Beatty came into the Lion's chart-house. Tired and depressed, he sat down on the settee, and settling himself in a corner he closed his eyes. Unable to hide his disappointment at the result of the battle, he repeated in a weary voice, "There is something wrong with our ships," then opening his eyes and looking at the writer, he added, "And something wrong with our system." Having thus unburdened himself he fell asleep.
-Rear Admiral W. S. Chalmers1
ON the afternoon of 31 May 1916, a force of six British battle cruisers and four fast battleships led by Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty encountered five German battle cruisers of the First Scouting Group commanded by Rear Admiral Franz Hipper, closely supported by the main body of the High Sea Fleet. In a running engagement lasting over two and a half hours, Beatty succeeded in luring the German fleet northward into contact with a much stronger British battle fleet advancing behind the flag of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. But at a high price. Beatty lost two of his battle cruisers while inflicting only light damage on his pursuers. It was the loss of the second ship, HMS Queen Mary, that first prompted Beatty into famously remarking: "There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today!"2 In the ensuing fleet action, during which Jellicoe's ships scored numerous hits on the German fleet, the British lost a third battle cruiser, HMS Invincible, flagship of Rear Admiral Horace Hood (Third Battle Cruiser Squadron). Although none of the three big ships had been subject to heavy punishment-suffering few hits-all were lost as the result of sudden catastrophic internal explosions that destroyed the ships in a matter of seconds.
Much has been written about the loss of HM ships Invincible, Indefatigable, and Queen Mary at the Battle of Jutland. The cause or causes of the explosions has been the subject of considerable informed and uninformed speculation. About the only point on which nearly all authorities are agreed is the inadequacy of the armour protection given to British battle cruisers.3 The standard explanation is that in each case a single German shell...