Battle of Jutland

The 31st May 2026 is the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland. It took place on the 31st May 1916 and was the largest naval battle of the First World War. Henry Ernest Digby Hugh Willoughby was the eldest son and heir of Godfrey Willoughby, 10th Lord Middleton. Henry was a Commander in the Royal Navy and specifically on the HMS Indefatigable. He was killed in action when the Indefatigable was sunk at the Battle of Jutland. As a result of Henry’s death, it was his younger brother Michael who subsequently became the 11th Lord Middleton and inherited Middleton.

The Battle of Jutland was between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet. It took place in the North Sea just off the coast of Denmark’s Jutland Peninsula. This Battle came about as a response to a German plan to lure out, trap and destroy a part of the British Grand Fleet and in doing so break the British blockade of Germany. They had planned to lure Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty’s Battlecruiser Fleet into the path of the main German Fleet. However, the British had intercepted communications and Admiral Sir John Jellicoe set off with the Grand Fleet to rendezvous with Beatty, whilst Beatty’s squadron left early, actually before the Germans had put to sea. The Indefatigable was one of Beatty’s battleships.

At 15:20 on 31st May, Admiral Franz von Hipper’s battlecruisers spotted the British Battlecruiser Fleet to their west, but Beatty’s ships did not spot the Germans until 15:30. Two minutes later Beatty ordered a course change, but it soon became apparent that the British Fleet was still too far north to cut off Hipper. This began what was later called the “Run to the South”. Beatty changed course at 15:45 to steer east south-east, paralleling Hipper’s course. At 15:48 the Germans opened fire, whilst the British ships were still turning. The Indefatigable was at the rear and the furthest to the west.

At about 16:00, the Indefatigable was hit around the rear turret by two or three shells from the Von der Tann and began to sink. After more hits, one on the forecastle and another on the forward turret, her magazines exploded at 16:03. Only 3 of her crew of 1,019 survived.

The sinking of the HMS Indefatigable after being struck by German shells, photograph taken by LT CMDR H. T. Day, 1916, Collections of the Imperial War Museums, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

The wreck of the Indefatigable was only identified in 2001. Subsequent archaeological evidence revealed that the ship was actually blown in half within the opening minutes of the engagement. The initial hits had caused the ‘X’ turret magazine to detonate and this then blew off a 40m (130ft) long portion of the ship from the forward of the turret to the stern. The forepart of the ship then drifted on under its own momentum, still under fire, until it sank. The two halves of the ship are separated on the seabed by a distance of over 500m (1,600ft).

By the time Beatty sighted the larger German High Seas Fleet, which the British had not realised were in the open sea, and turned back to the British main fleet, two of his battlecruisers had been sunk. Beatty’s withdrawal reversed the battle by drawing the Germans toward the British Grand Fleet. Between 18:30 and 20:30 the two Fleets directly engaged twice. After sunset Jellicoe manoeuvred aiming to prevent the Germans from returning to base in order for the Battle to continue in the morning, but under darkness the Germans managed to break through the rear-guard of the Grand Fleet and return to base.

In total, the British Fleet involved at Jutland numbered 151 combat ships and, of these, 14 were sunk, which resulted in the deaths of 6,094 servicemen with a further 674 wounded and 177 captured. On the other side, the German Fleet numbered 99 combat ships and, of these, 11 were sunk, which resulted in the deaths of 2,551 servicemen with a further 507 wounded. In the aftermath, both sides claimed victory, although it soon became clear that neither had won. The losses were high on both sides and although the British losses were significantly greater, especially in terms of lives, the German losses meant that their surface navy could pose no threat and were contained for the remainder of the War.

Author - Debbie Jordan, Middleton Hall Volunteer.

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