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Battle of Jutland 1916

Map of the Battle of Jutland, 1916
Image: Grandiose, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date31 May 1916 – 1 June 1916Wikidata
Year1916Wikidata P580 (start time)
EraWorld War I era (1914–1918)derived from year
Nearest landmassAt sea (nearest continent: Europe)Natural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
War / conflictWorld War IWikidata P361
ParticipantsAustralia, Canada, German Empire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandWikidata P710
Coordinates56.7000, 5.9000Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Jutland (German: Skagerrakschlacht, lit. 'Battle of the Skagerrak') was a naval battle between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, during the First World War. The battle unfolded in extensive manoeuvring and three main engagements from 31 May to 1 June 1916, off the North Sea coast of Denmark's Jutland Peninsula. It was the largest naval battle and only full-scale clash of battleships of the war. Jutland was also the last major naval battle, in any war, fought primarily by battleships.

Germany's High Seas Fleet intended to lure out, trap, and destroy a portion of the British Grand Fleet. The German naval force was insufficient to openly engage the British fleet. This was part of a larger strategy to break the British blockade of Germany and allow German naval vessels access to the Atlantic. Britain's Royal Navy pursued a strategy of engaging and destroying the High Seas Fleet, thereby keeping German naval forces contained and away from Britain and her shipping lanes.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Jutland (revision 1379095584), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

56.7000, 5.9000 · At sea

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the World War I

All 138 battles of the World War I →

Browse more: battles at sea · Europe · World War I era battles

Further reading