Jutland 1916

The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield

By Innes McCartney

This 272-page hardbacked book is a detailed look in to the Naval Archaeology of the ships that were lost during the battle of Jutland. The book begins by noting that this battle was more of a skirmish than a set-piece battle. We learn that the German High Seas Fleet “blundered” into the stronger British Grand Fleet while chase what is assumed was an isolated portion of that same fleet. We learn right away that although that this was a seemingly strategic victory for the Royal Fleet, it cost the Battlecruiser Fleet 25 ships sunk and claimed 8,500 lives. The Royal Navy’s share of these losses were 14 ships and 6000 lives.

HMS Queen Mary

More than 5000 of the British casualties were from the loss of the five largest warships which were.

Battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable

Battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary

Battlecruiser HMS Invincible

Armored Cruiser HMS Defence

Armored Cruiser HMS Black Prince

The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the First World War. For years the myriad factors contributing to the loss of many of the ships remained a mystery, subject only to speculation and theory.

The contents of this book are;

• Preface

• Introduction

• Part One: The Battlecruiser Action

  • Battlecruiser HMS Indefatigable

  • Battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary

  • Destroyer Wrecks of the Battlecruiser Action

• Part Two: The Fleet Action

  • Armored Cruiser HMS Defence

  • Battlecruiser HMS Invincible

  • Light Cruiser SMS Wiesbaden

  • Destroyer Wrecks of the Fleet Action

• Part Three: The Night Action

  • Light Cruiser SMS Frauenlob

  • Armored Cruiser HMS Black Prince

  • Battlecruiser SMS Lutzow

  • Light Cruiser SMS Elbing

  • Pre-Dreadnought Battleship SMS Pommern

  • Light Cruiser SMS Rostock

  • Destroyer Wrecks of the Night Action

• Part Four: Jutland One Hundred Years On

• Conclusions: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield

• Bibliography

• Index

Cordite and Shells

In this book, marine archaeologist and historian Dr. Innes McCartney reveals for the first time what became of the warships that vanished on the night of 31st May 1916, examining the circumstances behind the loss of each ship and reconciling what was known in 1916 to what the archaeology is revealing today. The knowledge of what was present was transformed in 2015 by a groundbreaking survey using the modern technology of multi-beam. This greatly assisted in unravelling the details behind several Jutland enigmas, not least the devastating explosions which claimed five major British warships, the details of the wrecks of the 13 destroyers lost in the battle and the German warships scuttled during the night phase. The British and German losses during this Naval action were;

Ship Losses

• HMS Invincible

• HMS Ardent

• HMS Queen Mary

• SMS V27

• HMS Tipperary

• HMS Defence

• HMS Black Prince

• SMS V29

• SMS Pommern

• HMS Shark

• HMS Fortune

• HMS Turbulent

• HMS Nomad

• SMS Elbing

• SMS Frauenlob

• SMS Rostock

• HMS Indefatigable

• SMS V48

• HMS Nestor

• SMS Lutzow

• SMS Wiesbaden

• SMS S35

• HMS Sparrowhawk

• SMS V4

This is the first book to identify the locations of many of the wrecks, and – scandalously – how more than half of these sites have been illegally plundered for salvage, despite their status as war graves. As you read this book your eyes are opened to how violent naval warfare can be. You learn that a few of the ships that were sunk, did so in about 12 seconds. You also learn that with the archaeology of the Jutland battlefield that the final resting places of the ships and the manner in which the various pieces of the ship were scattered, defined the manner in which the ship was destroyed. Jutland 1916, The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield, is an essential and revelatory read for anyone who has an interest in naval history and marine archaeology.

This 272-page book is available from Osprey Publications.