Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland (German: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought from 31 May to 1 June 1916 between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, under Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer, in the North Sea west of the Jutland Peninsula. It was the largest naval battle of the First World War and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that conflict. The encounter involved 151 British and 99 German warships and resulted in heavy losses on both sides: the British lost 14 ships and 6,094 men, while the Germans lost 11 ships and 2,551 men. Both sides claimed victory, but the strategic outcome favoured Britain, which maintained its naval blockade of Germany.

Background and strategic situation

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the Royal Navy imposed a long-range blockade on Germany, cutting off maritime trade and gradually weakening the German economy. The German High Seas Fleet, though powerful, was inferior in numbers to the British Grand Fleet and was largely kept in