German HSF Sortie March 1918 ~ V.III ~

Background - Background changes to the German Navy
Non-Historical changes to the High Seas Fleet after The Battle of Jutland


January 1918
In January 1918, Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff, the head of the Kaiserliche Admiralstab (German Imperial Admiralty) was informed in a meeting with General Paul von Hindenburg, the head of the German Oberste Heeresleitung or OHL (Supreme Army Command), that the Army was planning to conduct an assault in March against the Allies in the hope of capturing the three channel ports at the Eastern end of the English Channel. (The Lys Offensive) The three channel ports were Dunkirk, Calais & Boulogne and General Hindenburg asked Admiral Holtzendorff for any assistance that the navy could give in support of the offensive.

Admiral Holtzendorff ordered Admirals Reinhard Scheer and Franz von Hipper to report to him at the Admiralstab and together they discussed the options before them. They were all in agreement that the Unrestricted Submarine Warfare campaign should continue, as it seemed the most practical way of pushing England out of the war, and stopping American supplies and reinforcements from reaching the Allied front line. Admirals Scheer and Hipper returned to the fleet to consider options for the fleet in relations for a sortie and to draw up several outline proposals before returning to the Admiralstab on February 1st 1918 for discussions on the proposals with Admiral Holtzendorff.


February 1st 1918
Admirals Scheer and Hipper reported to the Admiralstab as ordered on 1st February with their proposals. They were as follows:

A) The HSF does nothing in support of the Lys Offensive. This would keep the fleet intact, but may decrease moral among the navy and army.

B) The HSF conducts limited sorties with small, fast craft. Destroyers (DD) and Light Cruisers (CA) that can sail at 25+ Knots. They will conduct operations into the English Channel to harass Allied shipping. This is a moderate risk operation due the presence of the HMS Dreadnought and the HMS Dominion and multiple smaller units. If the Channel Fleet could catch the Light German forces deployed, then the German forces could be destroyed by superior firepower. Also, the light craft sent may not locate any targets, making it a wasted operation.[

C) The same as above but including the Battlecruiser Squadron. The two surviving Derfflinger class (SMS Derfflinger & SMS Hindenburg), the SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke and SMS Von der Tann. All of these ships were capable of 26.5+ knots and so constituted a fast attack force. They would position themselves on the Eastern side of the Dover-Calais mine barrier and screen the light forces as they breached it to allow submarines into the English Channel to attack shipping. The light craft would also engage any allied ships sighted. The ships themselves would not enter the English Channel unless forced to do so to attack Allied intercepting forces. This option was risky as while they could defeat the Channel Fleet and any light forces thrown at them, if they were slowed down due to battle damage then they would be annihilated should a portion of the Grand Fleet intercept them. As this squadron was made up of Battlecruisers, it would be under the command of Admiral Hipper.

D) The same as above, but with the HSF covering the Eastern End of the English Channel should the Battlecruiser Squadron of the GF appear. This would give the HSF the opportunity to destroy a squadron of the GF, before the main portion of the GF arrived. The main fleet would be under the command of Admiral Scheer if this option was selected.

Option 'D' was the most attractive to Admiral Holtzendorff as it gave the opportunity to potentially destroy either the 1st or 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron of the GF, and sink four modern British Battlecruisers for minimum risk. There were problems with this plan however. Should the HSF sortie, then the GF would be aware of it through Radio Direction Finding, and the GF would sortie in an attempt to destroy the HSF. Precautions would therefore have to be taken to ensure that the HSF attacked the Channel Squadron by surprise, thus allowing the HSF to make port again before the GF could intercept. Also, due to the ongoing transfer of personnel to the submarine and small craft arms of the fleet, several ships had reduced crews. Finally, due to general supply shortages, there was not enough fuel available for the entire HSF to sortie.

As nothing could be done about the fuel shortage situation within the HSF, all three Admirals decided that although Option 'D' was the most desirable, Option 'C' would have to be chosen ~ Provided that the risks to the Battlecruisers could be minimized, and the British kept unaware until the fleet attacked the English Channel. Admirals Scheer and Hipper were therefore told to develop a rough plan for Option 'C' and return in a week with his proposal for submission to Admiral Holtzendorff. If he approved then the plan would be submitted to the Kaiser for final approval.


February 7th 1918
The meeting on February 7th went ahead with several Admiralstab planners in attendance with Admiral Holtzendorff, and Admirals Hipper and Scheer, along with several senior HSF Squadron Commanders. During discussions with his Squadron commanders, Admirals Scheer and Hipper had produced the following plan:

The Battlecruiser Squadron of the HSF would sortie on March 20th 1918, scheduled to arrive in the English Channel at midnight to begin sweeping the Dover-Calais mine barrier. This cannot be delayed until after the land offensive is due to begin as the night would shield the HSF ships from the Royal Navy and hamper them should they attack with ships or coastal artillery. The fleet would sail under complete radio silence until the naval attack began, and was to be controlled by flag and light signals prior to this.

It was also suggested that since the GF successfully intercepted the HSF at Jutland in 1916, then German naval codes may be broken. Although codes had been changed in 1917 all orders in relation to the sortie were be given by written orders, flag and light signals. The radio was not to be used to communicate any orders in relation to the sortie so as not to warn the Allies through increased radio traffic. Codes would be changed again, but the new codes would not be used until the sortie began, as it may warn the Allies that something was planned.

Zeppelin and seaplane patrols over the North Sea were to continue and report Allied shipping as usual, but the number of patrols were to gradually increase so as not to alarm the Allies.

It was also suggested that the HSF be re-organized. Older ships to be retired from the main fleet, and the remaining ships fully crewed. By doing this, it was hoped that all ships that sortied would have a full compliment, and high moral would be maintained in the remaining ships as the core ability of the fleet was to be maintained.

The overall plan was to sortie the fleet under a complete radio blackout. Light forces first to sweep for Allied submarines, followed by the heavier ships. These would form up and head West for their destination at 15 knots. It would take approximately 15 hours to reach the barrier at this speed so it would have to sail at 9am on the 20th at the latest. The fleet would also sail over the horizon and out of sight of land.

At midnight on the 20th/21st March, the Battlecruisers under Admiral Hipper would cover the destroyers and torpedo boats as they started to sweep the mines for the submarines that were to follow. The submarines would lay mines outside the main supply shipping ports on both the French and English coasts, and if the captains judged it safe, they would shell the harbors, sinking ships in the and destroying dockyard facilities. Some submarines would then continue into the Atlantic to attack Allied shipping, others would remain in the Channel to attack shipping there.

No later than 09:00 hours the fleet was to retire towards their own minefields at maximum speed regardless of whether the sweeping had been accomplished successfully or not. If they delayed any longer then there was the risk that the Grand Fleet would catch and destroy them before they were safe.

Admiral Scheer also recommended that new minefields be laid by submarine along the most probable lines of approach that the GF would take to intercept the HSF, and that submarines are placed outside GF harbours and along these lines of approach to attack the GF and report its position to him.

Admiral Holtzendorff approved the Admiral's general plan and asked them to draw up a list of ships that were to be retired for his approval, and the reasons for retiring them. They were also to draw up lists of ships to be used as part in the sortie. They were then to return to the Admiralstab as soon as possible to discuss this with Admiral Holtzendorff.

As he had given his approval to further develop the plan, Admiral Holtzendorff contacted the Kaiser's staff and requested a meeting for the following morning. The next day, at 10:00am sharp he entered the presence of Kaiser Wilhelm II and explained that General Hindenburg had requested the HSF's assistance in the March Offensive against the Allied Channel Ports.

Admiral Holtzendorff explained the proposed plan to the Kaiser, and told him that he had given Admirals Scheer and Hipper his approval to proceed with detailed plans for the operation, and that they had been ordered to report back as soon as detailed plans and ship lists had been made.

Kaiser Wilhelm II said that while he would wish for his navy to do everything possible to assist the Army in its offensive, he would not approve an outline plan. When Admirals Scheer and Hipper had drawn up their detailed plans and ship lists, then all three of them were to report to him and explain the plan to him. After hearing the plan, he would decide whether to risk his navy or not on the sortie against the English Channel.

February 17th 1918

As ordered, Admirals Scheer and Hipper reported back to the Admiralstab to meet Admiral Holtzendorff to submit to him their final plan and ship lists. Admiral Holtzendorff met them outside the meeting room to tell them that the Emperor had insisted on being present for the detailed plan presentation, and had invited General Hindenburg ~ So that the Army would know what support the Navy was planning ~ and Chancellor Georg Friedrich Graf von Hertling. Admiral Holtzendorff had therefore invited Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller ~ the Chief of the Naval Cabinet ~ in case his support was required to sway the Kaiser or Chancellor.

Upon entering the room and saluting the Emperor, they proceeded to elaborate on the plan that they had given to Admiral Holtzendorff ten days earlier, including the quantities of each type of ship that were to be included in each squadron. The finer details of ships could wait until their meeting with Admiral Holtzendorff afterwards.

On the 20th March 1918, a number of Torpedo Boats not involved with the operation would leave harbor to sweep for Allied submarines. Once the sweep was completed, the Destroyers and Torpedo Boats due to sortie would leave. Next the Cruisers and Battlecruisers slated to cover the sweeping operation. These would form up and head West for their destination through the swept channels in German minefields at 15 knots. All ships would sail 35 miles off the German and Dutch coasts so as to be out of sight of land.

The Admirals explained that the fleet would sortie under the strictest radio silence with no radio communication beforehand relating to the sortie what-so-ever, so that even if the British were aware that a sortie was planned through spies or aerial reconnaissance, then at least they would not be aware of the of details and timings of the impending sortie, and therefore be caught unaware by it. The sortie was to include ships capable of sustained 25+ knot speeds only, as a speedy exit may be required. The Battlecruisers SMS Derfflinger, SMS Hindenburg, SMS Seydlitz, SMS Moltke and SMS Von der Tann were to be included in the squadron along with 8 Cruisers of the Koln, Brummer and Königsberg Classes. They would be accompanied by 7 Destroyers and 54 Torpedo Boats. Only the 7 Destroyers and 10 Torpedo Boats would move to sweep the Dover-Calais mine barrier. The remainder of the craft would stay with the Battlecruisers to screen them.

The 17 assigned craft would begin sweeping the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier as soon as possible after the arrival of the fleet, to clear the way for the submarines that would be scheduled to start entering the swept channel whilst submerged at 9:30am. If required, they were allowed to break radio silence using the old codes to request assistance, but were not to request help from anybody in particular. Rather to make a generic signal sounding like there were other light forces in the area and not heavy forces.

At 09:00 hours on the 21st March, the fleet under Admiral Hipper was ordered to retire regardless of whether or not a channel had been swept in the Dover-Calais mine barrier. This was because if they delayed any longer, then there was the risk that they would be intercepted by the GF ~ Or a portion of it ~ before they made German minefields and safety again.

The Royal Navy's Channel Fleet was known to include HMS Dreadnought (10x12" Guns, 21 knots) and the old pre-dreadnought HMS Dominion (4x12" Guns, 18 knots). The five BCs selected were deemed to be sufficient to engage and destroy both ships if required. The SMS Derfflinger, Hindenburg and Seydlitz would engage HMS Dreadnought and the lighter armed SMS Moltke and Von der Tann would engage the older HMS Dominion.

If engaged, then once the Channel Fleet was destroyed the light craft could sweep without interruption. At the same time, any allied merchant shipping located would be attacked and sunk. It would be desirable to lay mines in merchant channels to further disrupt shipping, but this would be left to submarines as there was the risk that the Cruisers would lay mines in the path of a submarine by accident.

This also meant that submarine laid mines may sink merchant ships, leading to the Allies having to sweep their merchant routes before merchant shipping could recommence. This would delay the flow of Allied supplies in the Eastern Channel. It was also hoped that some minefields would be missed and merchant ships would be sunk by these later, forcing the Allies to re-sweep the channel adding further delays. Admirals Hipper and Scheer voiced their opinion that in the event of the sortie proceeding to plan, then the English would simply use their ports at the Western end of the English Channel, but if the HSF attempted to attack these ports then they would be trapped in the English Channel by the Grand Fleet and destroyed, so they would not attempt to disrupt this shipping at the current time.

Once the fleet retired, they would make for the swept channels through German minefields at full speed. Again, Admirals Hipper and Scheer voiced their opinion that it may be possible for a Battlecruiser Squadron of the GF to intercept them before they reached this point ~ If the German fleet was slowed down ~ but if they did then they would not pursue them into German minefields. They claimed that if British Battlecruisers intercepted them, then their own Battlecruisers were superior to known British designs and that they could easily defeat either the 1st or 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron before the bulk of the GF arrived. The 1st Battlecruiser Squadron comprised of four known Battlecruisers. The HMS Repulse (6x15" Guns), Renown (6x15" Guns), Princess Royal (8x13.5" Guns) and Tiger (8x13.5" Guns), and the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron comprised of HMAS Australia, HMS New Zealand, HMS Inflexible and HMS Indomitable. All of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron was armed with 8x12" Guns. Both Squadrons would have accompanying Cruisers and Destroyers.

Should this squadron intercept the retiring fleet, then after combat with them ended, the fleet would retire at maximum possible speed for home. They would not be lured North by the BC Squadron as they were at Jutland, and should the British ships attempt to do this, then they would break off the pursuit even if they could win.

Prior to the fleet sailing, submarines would be deployed under the strictest secrecy into the North Sea to lay minefields outside of the GF harbors, and along the most probable line of the GF to intercept a retiring HSF Fleet. Submarines would also be stationed outside the harbors and along the projected line of approach, to attack the advancing GF and only break radio silence to report the GF heading South.

They also said that they hoped to re-organize the HSF prior to the sortie to maximize efficiency. All pre-dreadnoughts and older CA & DDs were to be relegated to training purposes or retired from duty as a lack of fuel and crew ensured that they could not be manned properly after the restructuring of the HSF. Their age also made them a hindrance in any operation ~ As had been shown at Jutland. It was hoped that by doing this, then all ships that sortied would have a full compliment, and high moral as the core ability of the fleet was to be maintained, also if the fleet was detected, then as they were reducing the size of the HSF, the Allies may not consider the operation a full fleet sortie, and may not send out the entire GF. They wished to discuss this further, but at a later briefing with Admirals Holtzendorff and Müller.

Finally, they said that since the German Army was attacking three Channel ports over a large area, should the Army not concentrate on one or two only - say Nieuport and Dunkirk as they were the nearest to German lines. This way, they could be more assured of their capture, and after that submarines could dock at them and use them as a re-supply station to allow attacks on merchant shipping in the English Channel, and further interrupt the Allied supply lines, aiding the Army in it's offensive.

They hoped that the interruption to shipping in the English Channel by submarines, and the knock on effect to supply ships sailing would allow the Army to advance fast and capture Allied supply dumps and at least one port. The Navy should be ready to use the port to supply submarines making attacks in the English Channel, as while they may not be able to stop all Atlantic shipping, in the confined waters of the English Channel they stood a much better chance of finding and sinking ships and should not waste any time in doing this.

Once they had finished submitting their plan, they asked for questions from those present. Admirals Müller and Holtzendorff had none (Admiral Holtzendorff had told Admiral Müller the outline earlier), General Hindenburg took on board what they suggested about Dunkirk and Nieuport, and said he would consider assigning extra troops to that area of the assault, but that the German Army would attack all three ports as planned. However, he did like the idea of submarines operating in the Channel and disrupting Allied shipping at will as it would aid his Army in future operations.

Chancellor Hertling asked what chance the fleet had of succeeding in its proposed objectives and returning to port intact. Admiral Scheer voiced the opinion that if the GF was unaware of the operation and only sortied when they heard news of the attack, then not even their fastest units would have a chance of intercepting the fleet before it made German minefields again. As such, and given the force they were sending would overwhelm the Channel Fleet if it attacked them, then they could achieve their primary objectives and return to port successfully.

The Chancellor then asked what chance they would have of being able to defeat the GF Battlecruiser Squadrons, and still return to port before the GF intercepted them, if either Battlecruiser Squadron should manage to intercept them. Admiral Hipper said that since German Battlecruisers carried more armor than their British counterparts, and that since the German 11" guns were comparable in firepower to British 12" guns, should the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron of the GF intercept them, then they could defeat it relatively easily. If the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron of the GF intercept them, then they did have an edge on speed and firepower due to HMS Renown and HMS Repulse, but the other two units would need to close the range to open fire and this would be within German gun range and they could be sunk as the GF BCs were at Jutland. They again stressed that under no circumstances should the fleet be drawn North by the GF BCs into the waiting arms of the GF. If however the location of the GF was known to be far enough away not to be able to assist the BCs, then they should not waste the opportunity presented to destroy a portion of the GF if it was safe to do so.

Admirals Müller and Holtzendorff both agreed with Admirals Hipper and Scheer on this, but stressed that should the fleet choose to pursue the British ships, then they must be positive that the GF was not waiting for them as they were at Jutland as the fleet could not be un-necessarily risked for such a gain.

The Chancellor then asked what would happen if HMS Renown and Repulse just stayed out of German gun range and shelled them from afar. Would their own Battlecruisers be lost? To this Admirals Scheer and Hipper replied that Jutland had shown the British 15" shell to be inefficient against German armor. Also, through their own gunnery shoots it was known that to aim at a distance of 15 miles was difficult, and hitting a target steaming at 25+ knots would be next to impossible. Also, at that range, if a shell did score a hit then it would not do a great deal of damage due to a lower striking velocity than if it were fired at a closer range. As such, if the British ships stayed at extreme range, then they would be lucky to score a dozen hits between them even if they fired off their entire magazines, and that any hits scored would not do a great deal of damage.

Finally the Kaiser spoke. He said that he had listened intently to the plan, and had no questions regarding it, but asked all present if they believed that the gains to be had were worth the potential loss of all of the ships that sortied ~ Should the GF manage to intercept the fleet before it returned to port.

The four admirals present all assured the Kaiser that unless the GF were already at sea (to which their submarines or Zeppelins would inform them) at the time they sailed, then there was no chance of the GF intercepting the HSF in the sortie timescale as the HSF Fleet only had a quarter of the distance to go to return to German minefields that the GF had to go to intercept them, and since the HSF Fleet was faster than the GF, they would reach the safety of their minefields easily.

The Kaiser re-iterated his question: Were the gains to be achieved worth the potential sacrifice of the fleet?

General Hindenburg thought that they were, as the interruption of supplies should allow the Army to easily achieve its objectives, after which Britain and France would sue for peace under the onslaught of the German Army, and as such, a sacrifice of the HSF in allowing the war to end was worth it.

Chancellor Hertling replied that he did not believe that the fleet was worth sacrificing, but that every effort should be made to allow the Army Offensive to succeed, and if the Admirals did not believe that the GF could intercept them before they were safe behind their own minefields, then the sortie should be allowed to proceed.

The four Admirals all believed that the GF could never intercept the fleet, and as such, the Kaiser's question was moot so they all said yes.

With everybody in agreement that the sortie be allowed to proceed, Kaiser Wilhelm II said that providing that the GF was not at sea at the time the fleet sailed, and did not set to sea before the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier was attacked then he would allow the sortie to proceed. If however the GF put to sea before the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier was attacked, then he wished for the HSF Fleet to return to port so as not to risk itself in a pointless fight.

Late February and March 1918

With the Kaiser's permission, the required actions for the planned 20th March 1918 sortie proceeded at a rapid pace. All ships to be decommissioned or transferred to training duties were transferred through the Kiel Canal to the Baltic ports, and the crews returned to Wilhelmshaven to be stationed on other ships. This was followed by an intensive training period to familiarize the crews with their new ships. The rest of the fleet was re-organized into more condensed squadrons, and into the sections required for the operation, and flag and light signals practiced.

At the same time, new radio codes were developed and given to all HSF ships due to sail on the operation. They were sealed and were not to be opened until 09:00 hours on 21st March 1918 ~ When the fleet turned for home.

By the 10th March 1918, all ships were organized and crewed, and munitions and fuel were in the required areas of the harbors, ready to be loaded. The loading schedule was organized to be completed one day before the operation. Although some of the cruiser captains had asked for mines to lay, they were refused and as such, all ships would sail without mines. Also, on the 10th, the first of the submarines slated to scout and attack the GF slipped her moorings and headed for the sea. Over the next several days, another 30 submarines were to join her on allocated patrol lines. The mine-laying submarines were scheduled to lay their mines during the night of the 19th/20th March at the earliest, to attempt to avoid Allied sweeping measures, and so left several days later. All submarines were under radio silence and were prohibited from attacking allied ships unless they were reporting or attacking the GF, or any part of it, leaving harbor before the 21st March.

The aerial sweeps over the North Sea had detected no abnormal Allied activities that would indicate that the GF was aware of the impending sortie by the HSF. Increased anti-submarine patrols in the area North of the HSF harbors had also failed to detect any Allied submarines, but both Admirals Scheer and Hipper knew that this could change at any time.

With the entire fleet aware that something major was planned, moral was running high. The ships captains had been given sealed orders, to be opened on the evening of the 19th March. Everybody in the fleet ~ Regardless or not of whether they were sailing ~ Were confined to ship from the Morning of the 19th March, so hopefully the crews would not be able to talk to others about what ships were on the operation. The ships captains going on the sortie were only to inform their crews as to the nature of the operation once they made the open sea, so the exact details could not leak out that way.

Certainly, Admirals Hipper and Scheer were sure they had covered all possible options regarding secrecy, but also knew that they would only be absolutely positive once they returned to port after a successful operation, and they testified to this when they reported to Admiral Holtzendorff in Berlin on the 18th March for their final meeting before the operation, during which they were reminded of the Kaiser's instruction regarding the Grand Fleet. Since no reports regarding it's sailing had been received from either the submarine stationed off the GF harbors, or from the seaplanes and zeppelins flying over the North Sea, this was not yet a worry and they were told that they could proceed with the operation.

Once back in harbor, the Admirals called all ships captains aboard their respective flagships during the morning of the 19th March to inform them about the details of the operation, give them their sealed orders and codebooks and to address any final issues that there may be before the fleet sailed the next day. Admiral Scheer talked to those not going on the operation and pressed upon them the requirement for secrecy so that those ships sailing had the maximum possible chance to make port again.

After this, Admiral Scheer joined Admiral Hipper and they detailed the plan to those ships captains going on the operation. Many of those captains couldn't believe that they were going to make port again before the GF intercepted, but they were assured that it had been worked out so that if the GF only sailed after midnight on the 20th/21st March, then even at maximum speed, they would not catch the fleet before it was safe behind its own minefields again.

With all fears allayed, and munitions and provisions loading completed, the fleet waited, quietly holding its breath, in the lull before the coming storm.

March 20th 1918 - The Day History Changed

As dawn broke in the Schillig Roads off Wilhelmshaven Admiral Reinhard Scheer looked out from the bridge wing over the ships at anchor there waiting to slip their mooring lines and head to sea. Although he couldn't see many of his ships due to the thick fog, he could hear some of them. He knew that he had over 150 ships, the bulk of the High Seas Fleet, ready to set to sea. Only 74 of his ships would actually sail that morning under the command of Admiral Hipper if everything went to plan. He wished that he could go with Hipper, but his Battleships were much slower than the Battlecruisers that were sailing and so they were being left behind with their escorts ~ Unless Admiral Hipper requested his assistance. His eye was caught by the sight of a small launch heading for his flagship, the SMS Baden. Although she was only commissioned just over 17 long war-torn months earlier on October 19th 1916 she was still the most advanced and powerful battleship in the German Fleet, and as such, his chosen flagship.

As his ships were all already fully provisioned and crewed, and he had already given the captains their sealed orders and final briefings, the approaching launch could only carry orders and intelligence from the Naval High Command. As the launch pulled alongside he walked back into the bridge to find out what new information or orders had arrived for him. He did not have to wait long as a few minutes later he was surprised by the arrival of Admiral Henning von Holtzendorff, the head of the Kaiserliche Admiralstab (German Imperial Admiralty) and reporting directly to the Kaiser. This thought Admiral Hipper can only be bad news. The only reason to stop the operation that the Kaiser had given was the sailing of the Grand Fleet, so it must have sailed during the night.

This was not the case however. Admiral Holtzendorff told him that he there was no reports of the GF sailing, and as such, he was free to allow Admiral Hipper to proceed with the operation, and that he had come to tell him in person so that he could wish him luck in his attack, for if he succeeded then the German Army may have an easy time in it's big push and as such, force the Allies to the negotiating table. Germany, he reminded Admiral Scheer, could not carry on fighting much longer. With that he turned and left the SMS Baden to head over to the SMS Hindenburg ~ Admiral Hipper's chosen flagship ~ before returning to the Naval High Command and the Kaiser.

With nothing further to do, Admiral Scheer retired to breakfast. Afterwards he ordered Admiral Hipper aboard for a final conversation before his ships sailed at 09:00 hours. There was no need for this as Admiral Hipper had helped him plan the sortie, and was well aware of the consequences of failure, but he wanted to know if Admiral Hipper had had any final thoughts on the operation.

As it happened, Admiral Hipper had wondered about the squadron assinged to breach the Dover-Calais mine barrier. He was aware that his Battlecruisers were to cover them, but he wished to push through the barrier as fast as possible, and therefore thought it was worth dispatching all of his torpedo boats for this phase of the operation, instead of the 17 assigned vessels. The additional torpedo boats that were staying with his Battle-Cruisers could in theory speed up the sweeping a great deal. Admiral Scheer knew as well as Admiral Hipper that the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier had been swept the previous month, but reminded Admiral Hipper that the sealed orders detailing the respective tasks of the ships captains were already issued, and also that he may require those torpedo boats if any Allied destroyers intercepted his Cruisers and Battlecruisers during the sweeping operation. For those reasons, there was to be no change in orders.

At 09:00 hours Admiral Scheer returned to the bridge of the SMS Baden to watch the first sections of the fleet leaving harbor. The torpedo boats assigned sweep for submarines for the fleet had already left and begun sweeping to that those ships going on the operation could have a clear path to the open ocean. Those destroyers and torpedo boats assinged to the operation were already slipping their moorings and preparing to leave harbor, before forming up with and leading their respective charges towards the English Channel. He ordered the signalman to make a signal to Admiral Hipper wishing him luck and surprise for his assault on the Channel.

Admiral Scheer hoped that the Grand Fleet would not sail before hearing reports of the attack by the HSF on the Channel, as he had orders from the Kaiser to abandon the operation if it sailed before this time. By 10:00 hours, all ships assinged to the operation had sailed, and were making their way West towards the English Channel under the strictest radio silence. They were only to break silence after the attack began, or if they were intercepted by capital ships of the Grand Fleet, at which point they were to attempt to lead them into German minefields in which his ships knew the swept paths and the Allies did not. He therefore returned to his cabin to check any signals he had received before the captains staying behind requested permission to allow their crews ashore.

By 15:00 hours the fleet under Admiral Hipper was well underway and heading West through German minefields and towards the English Channel but what was more important to Admirals Scheer and Hipper was that up until this time no submarine warnings had been signaled. He therefore hoped that his sailing was unknown to the Allies and that they would fall upon them with complete surprise. If any signals of Royal Navy origin were detected along the path that the fleet had sailed, then the Admiralstab was to send a general fleet signal to the effect and give the position of the signal based on radio-direction finding plots. It would then be down to Admiral Hipper to decide weather to abandon the operation based on the disposition of the fleet and how far away from their objectives they were. He would break radio silence and signal Admiral Scheer only if he decided to abandon the operation.

Throughout the remainder of the day and into the night, the luck of the HSF seemed to hold as no signals were received from anybody on the fleets path indicating that the fleet was still undetected. Unknown to them however, a long range scout plane had been flying over the South-Western German minefield at 19:00 hours. This plane had a radio but it had failed, and in the gathering gloom it had also spotted the shapes of the German fleet. It had not been seen flying in the evening sun, low on the horizon and when the pilot knew his radio was out, he had flown towards a nearby British destroyer sweep and reported the presence of the German ships to them by lamp. They in turn had informed the Admiralty of the German ships. The Germans had detected this signal at 19:20, but as it was 50 miles from their fleet's projected route, they assumed it to be routine and not relating to the sortie so ignored it. At midnight, still believing that he was undetected, Admiral Hipper and his ships were closing on their target and so he made a signal by lamp to his accompanying torpedo boats and destroyers ordering the Mine-Barrier Squadron to proceed with their portion of the operation, and watched in the gloom as their shapes accelerated away to find and sweep the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier to clear the way for the waiting submarines.

March 21st 1918 ~ Midnight till 10:00

Admiral Scheer was not disturbed during the night and was woken at 06:30 hours as he had instructed. One signal was waiting for his attention. It read:

To Commander Cover Squadron from Commander Mine-Barrier Squadron.

Am sweeping and have sighted Allied Destroyers. They are moving to engage. Request cover by main squadron. Am going to engage them.

Admiral Scheer knew that the Allies were now aware that the HSF was at sea, but how much they would not know. Hopefully they would believe that it was just a small squadron of light craft and was a repeat of the raid on the Dover-Calais mine barrier the previous month. Admiral Hipper had not broken radio silence so he had to assume that he had decided that it was safe to continue on the operation. He was aware that by that time, the sweeping of the Dover-Calais mine barrier would be well underway to clear the channel for the waiting submarines. They had been ordered to depart at 09:00 hours ~ Sweeping completed or not.

With the British now aware of the presence of 17 destroyers and torpedo boats of the HSF at the entrance to the channel, the Admiralty ordered reinforcements to sea in the form of light cruisers as the patrol of 8 British Destroyers that had located them were outnumbered. The HMS Dreadnought and HMS Dominion - The core of the Channel Fleet - were also ordered to sea with their 24 escort destroyers in case they were needed. The Admiralty did not believe that they could catch the reported HSF fleet should it turn for home, but it was good to have the ships at sea to call on if required. There were also cruisers heading towards the German ships, and they would form up with the Channel Fleet and meet the Germans together if ordered.

At the Dover-Calais mine barrier, the Allied destroyers fought valiantly and in the best traditions of the Royal Navy, but out numbered there was only one possible outcome for the fight. By the time that the Battle-Cruisers had closed to night combat range, 3 of the British destroyers were sunk, 2 were sinking and the remaining 3 were putting up a stubborn defense as they retired at high speed towards the Channel Fleet, hoping to lure the German ships onto the waiting guns. In return for the destruction of 5 British destroyers, the HSF had lost 2 torpedo boats sunk, 1 in sinking condition, 1 destroyer heavily damaged but watertight and 3 ships lightly damaged.

Admiral Hipper, aware of what was happening, and having given orders for his ships only to fire if they saw his ship ~ the SMS Hindenburg ~ Open fire, decided to hold his fire so as to conceal his presence to the British. Due to the darkness at the hour and the range of the German ships from the British, the British destroyers did not see his ships approaching and therefore did not warn the Channel Fleet to the presence and location of the German Battlecruisers. The Mine-Barrier Squadron was under orders not to be drawn from their duties ~ Even if they could win ~ and returned to their sweeping duties and the rescue of survivors from both sides from the water. Once the British destroyers were out of sight, Admiral Hipper flashed a request for a status update from the Commander of the Mine-Barrier Squadron. Once appraised, he ordered the torpedo boat in sinking condition to be scuttled and the heavily damaged destroyer to turn for home at best speed. Survivors were to be transferred to the Battlecruisers. The three lightly damaged ships were to remain with his squadron.

The Allies, aware that their ships had been forced to retire, decided that reinforcements would be required and ordered the HMS Dreadnought and HMS Dominion along with their accompanying destroyers to head for the point where the Germans were sweeping the Dover-Calais mine barrier. At the same time, they ordered additional destroyers to join the Light Cruisers heading to join the Channel Fleet.

At 06:30 the Admiralstab using Direction-Finding equipment realized that the Channel Fleet and a Light Cruiser Squadron were heading for the Mine-Barrier Squadron, and so sent a signal to them informing them and recommending they retire. Admirals Hipper and Scheer also read this signal, and Admiral Hipper signalled the Mine-Barrier ships ordering them to disregard the Admiralstab and continue sweeping as fast as they could. This was a regrettable mistake by Admiral Hipper, as in their haste, the sweeping ships missed a cluster of floating mines, and one of the torpedo boats strayed onto them. Hitting by a mine that flooded her engine room and disabled her, she drifted onto two more and quickly sunk with most of her crew.

By 09:00 the German Destroyers had swept a wide channel through the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier, and turned to rejoin Admiral Hipper and his ships. At 09:15 the German ships were once again formed up and turned North-East towards their minefields and accelerated to 24 knots. In the morning gloom, his spotters reported smoke from two large ships on the horizon behind him, but under orders to head for home in accordance with his timetable, he decided to ignore it unless it got closer. As it was, it soon disappeared as the Channel Fleet of the Royal Navy could only make 18 knots compared to the 24 knots of his ships.

March 21st 1918 ~ [SIZE=-1]10:00 till 12:00[/SIZE]

On the HMS Dreadnought and seeing smoke ahead of him, Vice Admiral Dudley de Chair assumed that the German destroyers and torpedo boats had broken through the Dover-Calais Mine Barrier, and were now conducting a sweep for merchant ships. Merchant ships were easy targets for destroyers, but then destroyers were easy targets for battleships! His spotting top informed him that the smoke was from both large and small ships, and that they were all retiring at high speed. This was a shame he thought as had they come towards him then he could have sunk them with his 12" guns. Never the less, he ordered a report be sent to the Admiralty regarding the course, speed and makeup of the German fleet. Others were at sea he knew and may be able to intercept them instead of him. He did order his ships to continue their pursuit however as he may be able to catch stragglers from a battle.

Watching the smoke disappear over the horizon, Vice Admiral Dudley de Chair saw several aircraft streak overhead towards the German ships. They were going to attempt to strafe and bomb them to slow them down. Brave lads he thought. Flimsily little aircraft against a 25,000 ton warship! 'Flying death traps, you won't get me up in one of them ~ Ever!' he said to his flag officer.

The aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps soon caught up with the German ships and accurately reported its makeup, course and speed. This allowed the Admiralty in London to plot their route and send orders to their ships at sea so that they could intercept them. The aircraft also attempted to bomb the German ships, but had had little luck as their light bombs had not penetrated German armor when they had hit. They had concentrated on the Battlecruisers and scored several hits. They had turned their attention to any ship that presented itself as an easy target, but had scored few further hits against the maneuvering ships.

Several aircraft were also equipped with radio, and were in communication with their commanders reporting on the Germans. Eventually, somebody had the idea of using the aircraft to report the fall of shot for coastal artillery guns and the 12" and 13.5" guns started to fire on the retiring German ships, guided by the aircraft overhead. Due to signals having to be passed on through numerous commanders, the falls of shot reports took too long to get to the coastal guns to be effective and so no hits were scored on the German ships before the had steamed out of range of the guns. German ships attacked by British and French aircraft was the routine for the next several hours until shortly before 12:00 hours when a lookout on the bridge of the lead destroyer of the HSF cursed and muttered to himself before wiping the lenses of his binoculars and returning them to his eyes. He slowly swept the sea ahead of the ship before freezing and concentrating on a point on the horizon directly in front of the ship. After a few seconds, without lowering his binoculars he yelled 'Smoke dead ahead!' All binoculars on the bridge swung round and others confirmed the presence of a patch of smoke on the horizon dead ahead. The Captain hit the alarm button and yelled for the radio operator to signal Admiral hipper that there was a large quantity of smoke on the horizon some 20 miles dead ahead of the fleet!

At the same time on the lead British destroyer, another rating was doing exactly the same thing. The captain of the destroyer immediately made the signal 'Enemy in sight. Moving to intercept' to the lead Battleship behind him. Sailing at her full speed of 24 knots, HMS Barham and her consorts was lucky to have made it to the German minefields ahead of the HSF. She in turn made a signal to the fleet 'Enemy in sight. Proceed as planned.' and with that British destroyers moved to converge ahead of the HMS Barham, and her sisters moved into formation behind her and the pre-arranged plan of the Royal Navy to attack the German fleet swung into operation.

March 21st 1918 ~ [SIZE=-1]12:00 till 12:30[/SIZE]

Admiral Hipper received the report of unknown ships dead ahead of him and closing fast with surprise. There had been no reports of his ships being spotted so no ships of the Grand Fleet should have sortied until he attacked the Channel, and from then, they would heed 18 hours to intercept him ~ At which point he should be safe behind his own minefields. Ships in front of him meant that there must have been at least one squadron of the Grand Fleet at sea and unknown to Naval Intelligence.

He ordered a signal be made to Admiral Scheer and the Admiralstab. It read:
To Admiral Scheer from Admiral Hipper.
Am intercepted by British capital ships. Will fight through them to make our own minefields. Long live the Kaiser.

He had already decided that if fleet action occurred then his ships would head for their minefields at maximum speed. He therefore gave orders that destroyers were to launch a mass torpedo attack on the approaching ships and thereby clear the way for the fleet. The cruisers were to take screening positions around the Battlecruisers.

Looking ahead, Admiral Hipper could make out a smoke smudge on the horizon. It looked like a low storm cloud he thought. How appropriate that was. All around him, he could see the destroyers as they accelerated past the SMS Hindenburg towards the oncoming ships to press home their attack and clear the way for his fleet, and he could see the cruisers as they took position close to the Battlecruisers as the new screening force.

Aboard the lead German destroyer, the captain received Admiral Hipper's orders and called for maximum revolutions. Even although only a few minutes had passed, his lookouts could already make out the shapes of the enemy ships approaching. There were destroyers with larger ships just coming over the horizon several miles behind them ~ and they were all approaching at speed. In his sealed orders he had been ordered to only attack the enemy capital ships with torpedoes if the HSF was attacked so he decided to close at maximum speed until 1000 yards from the enemy capital ships and then launch his torpedoes, giving him time to break away, and his targets minimal avoidance time. He did not want to get closer as following ships would also launch torpedoes and the last thing he wanted was to be hit by his own side! If he was engaged by light enemy forces then he would defend himself, and turn to attack them after he had launched his torpedoes. He told his bridge officers his plan and they all agreed that this was the best course of action to take in the current circumstances.

On board the British destroyer, the approaching ship was soon identified as a torpedo boat. The captain knew that his job was to keep these ships away from the fleet and to stop them launching torpedoes. He had already ordered his guns to open fire when they were within range, but with a gun range of 6.5 miles they would not open fire until 12:14 hours. He hoped that he could get close enough to launch his own torpedoes at the approaching destroyers and torpedo boats as well as using his guns on them, as their torpedoes were the main threat to the capital ships he was screening and he had to sink them using every weapon on his ship. He therefore ordered his torpedo officer to set his own torpedoes for their minimum depth setting.

On board HMS Barham, Captain Craig ordered his secondary guns to open fire on any German torpedo boats or destroyers that were sighted, and for the main guns to hold their fire until the larger German ships were within range (18 miles for HMS Barham's 15" guns). His guns would be within extreme range at around 12:20 hours his gunnery officer told him, but he would not open fire until the range had closed so as to score hits. Good he thought. He wanted to see if his ship could match HMS Renown and Repulse for accuracy in combat.

Captain Craig knew that the scouting destroyer flotillas with the fleet were now converging in front of him along with their cruiser flotilla leaders, and that the two columns of Battleships and Battlecruisers behind him were now accelerating to 24 knots with the Battlecruisers at the rear. Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas did not want to cross the German 'T' and so doing present a perfect target for the torpedoes, but at the same time he had an opportunity to destroy the German Battlecruiser Squadron. He had therefore ordered his ships to risk the German torpedo attack and to cross the German 'T' following HMS Barham's lead. She was to do so as soon as her guns were within 10 miles of the lead German capital ship. He was therefore to wait until approximately 12:30 hours his gunnery officer told him. He hoped that the majority of the German torpedoes would have been fired and be past him at the time he was to turn. The ships behind him would follow his lead and they would cross the German 'T' that way. Also, by keeping their course for so long, they were combing the torpedo tracks ~ Approaching head on to them ~ and presenting the smallest possible target to hit, reducing the chance of being hit.

As he looked out the bridge wing to port, he saw the HMS Castor sail past him to take position ahead of the fleet. As a destroyer flotilla leader, she was also to intercept the German Destroyers before they could launch their torpedoes and to keep them occupied so that the big ships could slug it out without interference. He was glad that three destroyer flotillas had sortied with this fleet. He would have liked more as reconnaissance from the previous day and that morning gave the HSF about 60 light craft ~ His own may have outnumbered them, but you could never have enough screening forces he thought.

Turning his attention ahead again, he raised his binoculars to his eyes, focused them and focused on the numerous German ships approaching at speed. His guns were trained on them and waiting to open fire, but they were still at least 14 miles away and he didn't bother to try and count them as he could tell there were dozens. His destroyers were also well ahead of him now and were closing fast on the German craft, but had still not opened fire. That meant that they were still out of range at the current time.

Moments later, the water between the two fleets erupted in fire as the British destroyers and German torpedo boats and destroyers gained gunnery range and opened fire at each other. In the running battle that would follow many ships and sailors were to loose their lives, and many heros would be created for both sides in this battle.

At 12:30, HMS Castor and the other 2 destroyer flotilla leaders opened fire on the German torpedo boats and destroyers, as their 6" guns were now within range of the fast approaching craft, joining the shells of the British destroyers in attempting to stop the rapidly closing German ships. 30 Minutes had passed since the fleets had sighted each other and the battle for the survival of the German Battlecruiser Squadron was now on.

March 21st 1918 ~ [SIZE=-1]12:30 till 13:00[/SIZE]

Onboard the British destroyers, they knew that they had just entered hell on water when every ship in front of them seemed to open fire at the same time. Waterspouts erupted all around the lead British ships, just as their shells erupted around the light German forces. The light forces were closing at a combined speed of over 50 knots. The German ships were trying to get through the British forces to attack their battle line and the British forces were trying to stop them. The battle raged for the next 6 minutes without any other ships opening fire. Numerous ships on both sides were hit and sinking or sunk by the time HMS Barham's gunnery officer declared that the main guns were within 10 miles range of the German Battlecruisers. With that, they belching flame opened fire on the lead German Battlecruiser ~ the SMS Derfflinger. Once they had fired, Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas ordered the fleet to start its turn to cross the German 'T'.

Behind him, the other 4 Queen Elisabeth Class Battleships and 8 Battlecruisers formed line and turned with him, all opening fire on the 5 German Battlecuisers. Onboard the SMS Von der Tann, it was not hell, but it was close to it thought KzS Mommsen. HMS Repulse and Renown were firing on her, and their reputation as crack shots was well deserved he thought. Their first salvos had landed directly ahead of his ship, and now they were bound to get closer before the inevitable hits started. At 10 miles range the most of the British shells that hit would not penetrate the armor ~ as at Jutland he thought gratefully, but you never could tell in reality.

His own gunnery officer had told him that his own guns could open fire at 12.7 miles, but that they would wait till the range was 9 miles in order to maximize the change of scoring hits. No point in wasting their shells after all. Less than two minutes later, his own guns opened fire on the British ships. At 9 miles range, it would take the SMS Von der Tann ~ and the rest of the German ships ~ Little over 15 minutes to cover the distance. Once past, they would have to engage in a running sea battle for the next 45 minutes or so until they reached their swept minefield channels. Once there, the British would break off. One hour would tell whether he and his ship lived or died thought KzS Mommsen, and a lot can happen in one hour.

Just after his first salvo fired, the fourth salvo from either HMS Repulse or Renown arrived. Several shells hit, but only one penetrated the armor and detonated. It had hit in the vicinity of the starboard-forward castle mate gun and KzS Mommsen watched in amazement as all of its 5.5 ton weight was bodily blown some 300 yards out to sea. Well he thought, at least with the British turning North-West, he will not be engaging them on that side. It appeared that the British had improved their shells since they last fought the High Seas Fleet. Such a pity he thought. Our ships will take more damage today.

On the port bridge wing, an ensign reported excitedly that the SMS Hindenburg and SMS Derfflinger had also opened fire! As he watched, shell splashes erupted in the sea behind HMS Lion and Repulse. At the same time, their guns fired and the same ensign dutifully reported that shell splashes had fallen off the beams and in front of the SMS Seylditz and Moltke. Onboard HMS Repulse, Rear Admiral Henry Oliver acted quickly. He knew that if a 12" shell hit his ship, then even at 9 miles her 9" armor belt would have trouble stopping the shell. He therefore ordered all Battlecruisers to take the necessarily evasive action while in line, and for the Repulse and Renown, as faster ships, to increase speed as they saw fit.

The German ships were outnumbered 5 Battleships and 8 Battlecruisers to 5 Battlecruisers. In theory, the 5 Queen Elizabeth Class Battleships would have been sufficient to destroy the German Battlecruisers as on paper they were as fast and carried more armor and larger caliber guns. The 8 additional Battlecruisers were just window dressing, but adding their firepower then the British were on paper at least, assured of victory. German Battlecruisers were built much stronger than British Battlecruisers however and this was not on paper. This gave the German ships a chance. A slim one, but still a slim chance is better than no chance.

On HMS Tiger, Captain Duff acted quickly after seeing the shell splashes fall just 200 yards off his port beam. They already almost had him, and shooting that accurate was coming from all the German Battlecruisers. His guns then fired and the shells fell somewhere behind the SMS Moltke. Still not good enough he thought. He will have to conduct more practices when they get back to port. His secondary guns were having better luck however and had already scored hits on several light German ships. There were still many more however and they were now closing fast. Even as he lowered his binoculars he saw the first one launch its torpedoes and turn aside. Over the next few minutes a dozen more craft launched.

Admiral Hipper watched his shells hit the HMS Lion through his binoculars, an ensign yelled that one of the British ships had been hit by a torpedo. He focused on the ship, and identified the ship as an Indefatigable Class Battlecruiser. The hit had been amidships on her and had had no apparent effect on her. As he watched the HMAS Australia (Not that he knew her name) he saw more torpedoes hit the two ships following her. They had both been identified as Invincible Class Battlecruisers and since he knew that the HMS Invincible had been sunk by his squadron at the Battle of Jutland, he knew that both the HMS Inflexible and HMS Indomitable had been hit.

The hit to HMAS Australia had been relatively severe in fact. Not that Admiral Hipper knew it at the time, but the torpedo hit below the armored belt and in an empty coal bunker. It caused flooding and because the coal bunker was empty, a secondary coal dust explosion. The explosion blew into the empty coal bunker forward of the hit one and did not do any severe damage, but doubled the flooded area. The net result was that the Australia took on 1500 tons of water could only make 15 knots without dockyard repairs.

On board the HMS Indomitable, Captain Kennedy received the reports that his ship had been hit by three torpedoes calmly. The initial reports told him that all 3 torpedoes had hit the same general area. While she was not in immediate danger from sinking, due to the grouping, the damage control captain told him that unless he slowed down, the damage would worsen so Captain Kennedy gave the order to reduce speed to 10 knots and to pull out of line steering due North. Once the bulkheads in the damaged area were shored up, then he would rejoin the fight.

HMS Inflexible was in much more serious trouble due to her hits. Like the Indomitable, she was suffering. Of the 3 torpedoes that detonated when they hit her, two hit below the 6" armor belt and caused severe flooding. The third hit below the 4" belt forward and caused local flooding and she took on 200 tons of water forward. Coupled with the massive amidships damage, she slowed to a crawl and Captain Heaton-Ellis reluctantly ordered her to retire North from combat. His ship was in sinking condition and he was not about to let her be shot out from under him without trying to save her first. Neither ship was a gunnery target for the Germans at the moment, and both captains saw the other ship turn North. They were both out of combat and would travel together until the remainder of the Battlecruisers came to find them after the battle.

Out of the 61 German torpedo boats and destroyers that charged the British fleet, miraculously only 10 had been sunk so far. Against 72 destroyers, 3 cruisers, and the massed secondary guns of 13 capital ships this seemed like nothing short of a miracle to the Germans. In return for their 10 craft, they had forced two British Battlecruisers to retire from combat, with a third still in combat but in severe trouble. Admiral Hipper therefore gave the order that the Hindenburg was to concentrate on this third, crippled ship. He hoped that he could quickly sink her and therefore reduce the number of ships firing on his by another one. If only he could get past these ships then he would be home free he thought.

On the HMAS Australia, Captain Claude Cumberlege knew he was in more than a little trouble when shell splashes erupted from the sea directly in front of his ship. So far nobody had fired at them, but having slowed down and listing heavily, somebody obviously thought that she could be quickly finished off. He did not know that it was the SMS Hindenburg that was shooting at him, but he did know that he was engaging what appeared to be the German flagship. He raised his glasses to his eyes again and watched in satisfaction as an explosion occurred between her funnels. He didn't know weather it was his ship or the HMS New Zealand that had hit her, but either way she had been hit.

Onboard the Hindenburg, Admiral Hipper received the report that the shells had knocked out several light guns but apart from that had done no damage. All of his ships had been hit by now and with the range from his ships to the British ships now some 5 miles. He was lucky that his ships were all still steaming at 24 knots. It was however very apparent to Admiral Hipper that the British had much improved shells than at Jutland and that their ships were going to suffer as a result. At this range, shells from both sides were tearing through armor and causing devastation aboard all of the ships being targeted.

Onboard the HMS Repulse, Rear Admiral Oliver knew that his ships were in trouble. Two were retiring, one was crippled and the other five had been hit so some degree. HMS Repulse had suffered only superficial damage, but looking out of the bridge he could see HMS Renown behind him ablaze amidships from a volley of shells that the SMS Derfflinger had fired. As he watched he could see the damage control crews fighting the fire and slowly getting it under control. One advantage of being under fire he thought ~ Near misses dumped tons of water onboard and helped put out fires!

On the HMS Princess Royal, the third ship in line, Captain Walter Cowan cursed as another salvo of shells slammed into her somewhere aft. He was being hit hard but thankfully he was hitting back equally as hard. An ensign handed him the latest damage report. The shells had hit the aft turret and disabled it. There had been no cordite explosion but the damage was severe enough to require a dockyard repair job. He cursed again and ordered a slight alteration in course to throw the German spotters. He was grateful however as cordite handling at Jutland had cost the GF 3 Battlecruisers including the Princess Royals half-sister HMS Queen Mary.

So far, the Germans destroyers and torpedo boats had only launched one attack on the British, but now, after withdrawing and regrouping, the surviving 45 odd ships able to still attack now closed to launch another wave of torpedoes. The British Battleships under Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas were this time the targets however. Two things now happened in quick succession. The first was that the surviving light German craft launched their torpedoes - Several more having been sunk or disabled by the British guns on their approach ~ and also a massive explosion occurred on the SMS Von der Tann directly in front of the bridge. When the smoke cleared she was still under way at full speed, but she had swung out of line towards the British. Rear-Admiral Evan-Thomas could not watch further as his ships had to take avoiding action against the German torpedoes at that time. Of his 5 ships, two were hit by torpedoes that detonated. The middle ship in line and the German point of aim, the HMS Malaya, got hit by at least 5 torpedoes. The HMS Warspite behind her got hit by one. The Warspite took on several hundred tons of water, but shrugged off her hit while taking avoiding action as the HMS Malaya started to list heavily immediately after the torpedo impacts. The crew was witnessed jumping over the side as she slowly capsized. The Germans had done their job well with her. Her entire engineering spaces were blown out under the armor belt and that had sealed her fate.

On the HMAS Australia, Captain Cumberlege watched as the explosion rocked the SMS Von der Tann. She was obscured by smoke ~ Partially due to her own guns firing and partially due to the hit. He never knew who hit her or where the shells hit, but the quantity of smoke was impressive. He was still watching as she burst from the smoke cloud, turning hard for the British ships. Onboard the Von der Tann, KzS Mommsen was blown into the bulkhead behind him by the force of the explosion. As he regained his senses and picked himself up he realized that he was not dizzy, but that the ship was leaning over. Staggering to the front of the bridge he was relieved to see that she was not sinking, but horrified to see that she was swinging towards the British ships! Calling down to the helmsman he got no reply and ran down to the compartment himself. He was shocked to see that there was no longer a forward bulkhead and that the helmsman was shredded by shrapnel, his dead hands still clasping the wheel. KzS Mommsen fought through his shock, grabbed the wheel and swung the Von der Tann back into line as members of the damage control party arrived. Luckily one was a helmsman from another watch, so he handed the wheel over to him.

Things were not much better onboard all of the German Battlecruisers as at 5 miles range the British shells were causing extreme damage. Admiral Hipper was just thinking that things could not get much worse when an ensign yelled excitedly as he reported a British Battleship capsizing! Good news at last thought Admiral Hipper. He could now use some more! His prayers were answered as another ensign reported that the British destroyers that had been racing towards him as if to launch a torpedo attack were now turning to engage his own light forces again in a general melee between the two lines of capital ships.

Admiral Hipper was extremely grateful at this turn of events at 12:55 hours. If he could get past the 10 remaining British ships, he had a clear run to his swept minefield channels. There had been less some 45 minutes of combat so far and he was soon hopefully to be past the first hurdle.

Scanning the damage reports from his four ships, he saw that they were all still capable of steaming at 24 knots, but that all of them had damage to their guns to some extent. The Von der Tann's forward turret was temporally disabled by the hit he had witnessed, and most of her secondary guns were un-workable. She had also been hit astern and her aft torpedo tube was destroyed. She had also taken on some 400 tons of water but the pumps were coping well and she was in no immediate trouble. On the SMS Moltke, it was much the same story. Numerous secondary guns were disabled, but also her 'B' turret (Starboard wing) and 'C' turret (Aft Super firing) had been hit and both were only going to fire again with dockside repairs. 'B' turret did not bother him much as it could not bear on the British ships passing to Port, but 'C' turret was a loss. The SMS Seydlitz was suffering as at Jutland. Most of her forward crew quarters had been destroyed along with both of her aft turrets. A shell had scored a direct hit on her lower-aft turret and the roof had been blown off ~ Directly into the aft-super firing gun barrels effectively disabling that turret as well. She had also been hit below the waterline in several places and had taken on some 400 tons of water. Again however, the pumps were coping and her speed had not been affected.

On his own ship, the Hindenburg, Admiral Hipper was aware of the damage status. Numerous light guns were out of action, she had taken on 300 tons of water, but the pumps were making headway and speed was unaffected and also several shells had gone through the spotting top so each of the main guns were under local control. On her sister, the SMS Derfflinger, things were fairly good compared to the other German ships. She had been hit by multiple large caliber shells but none had penetrated below the waterline or hit any of her main turrets. All of her secondary turrets were disabled however, and she had several fires onboard ~ But they were all under control. Not too bad overall he thought. Things could have been a lot worse. He was lucky that the British were down by three ships too. The HMAS Australia had been identified as the crippled Indefatigable Class Battlecruiser by the flag she flew, and his stern guns were still engaging her but she was stubborn and despite being hit multiple times was refusing to sink! She had slowed to a crawl, was listing heavily, on fire in several places, but still she stubbornly fought on as if the honor of her entire nation was at stake!

March 21st 1918 ~ [SIZE=-1]13:00 till 13:30[/SIZE]

Although HMAS Australia was apparently not sinking, Admiral Hipper was not aware of the complete story. The torpedo hit amidships had caused severe flooding, and the resulting list had put much of her armor belt under water. As a result, many of the shells fired at her had passed through her unarmored hull above the armor belt, and in turn had caused havoc inside her. Some shells even passed straight through her hull without detonating. These caused additional flooding, and although nobody could see it, she was slowly and steadily sinking by the stern. This did not stop her firing however. Captain Cumberlege knew from the damage reports that his ship was doomed. The only question was how long she would take to sink. As a result, he had already ordered the engine room to maintain power to the engines and pumps for as long as possible, and for all the crew who were not engine or main gun crews to damage control. If he could keep the HMAS Australia afloat for long enough, then perhaps he could cripple an enemy ship before she finally sunk.

With that decision, he ordered the ship to turn with the rest of the fleet to pursue the Germans now that they had swept past them towards their minefields. They must be heading for a swept channel every British captain reasoned. Their gunners also appeared to have the same thought, and the British gunners determined not to allow the Germans to escape managed to load faster and aim better.

With only one ship firing at him now, Captain Cumberlege hoped that it would take a long time for the HMAS Australia to sink. That way he may be able to save the crew, and if another ship came along side and used her pumps to aid his, she may yet survive long enough to be grounded on the Island of Texel. German territory perhaps, but if he could save his crew then that was what was more important to him. Even if the Australia sunk half a mile from shore, his men would have a chance to survive. He defiantly preferred beaching the ship and saving his crew to getting them all killed. However, to get to them he had to reverse course and steam towards the German Battlecruisers. At the moment that was a suicide run ~ Especially with the German torpedo boats in the vicinity ~ Which was why neither the HMS Inflexible or HMS Indomitable had attempted it and turned North instead.

With HMAS Australia already sinking, Captain Cumberlege decided to stay in the fight and head South as soon as the enemy was past ~ If his ship was still afloat at that time! With the SMS Hindenburg still shooting at him, it seemed unlikely however, but he was going to try. Just then, the Hindenburg fired another salvo. The HMAS Australia shuddered under the impact of one or more 12" shells, and on the bridge the lights flickered and went out. At least one shell had smashed into her between the aft two turrets and penetrated the deck armor, burrowing deep into her hull before exploding in the engineering spaces. This wound was the final one she could take. Without power, her pumps failed and the flooding in her rapidly worsened. Once Captain Cumberlege was informed that there was no hope of getting the engines restarted and the power back to the pumps, he realized that his ship had only a short time to live. Also without power, the guns would not operate so she could not hit back. He therefore gave the order to abandon ship in order to save as many of the crew as possible.

Admiral Hipper was watching the British Battleships when this occurred. An ensign reported that the Australia was sinking and the crew abandoning ship and he turned to watch her. Her quarterdeck was underwater, with the sea already lapping against her aft barbette as she listed to the port and stern. Good he thought ~ Another less ship to worry about, and with that he turned his attention back to the Battleships. Meanwhile, his after turrets trained on their next target ~ The nearer of the two other crippled Battlecruisers, the HMS Inflexible.

HMS Inflexible had been the last ship in the battle line when she was hit, and with her severe damage, 1800 tons of water on board and her decks almost awash, she could only make 5 knots. When the first salvo arrived astern of her, Captain Heaton-Ellis was amazed that nobody had shot at him before this. His ship was obviously crippled, near to sinking and retiring from combat (Although still engaging with the guns that would bear), and as such he thought he would have been an ideal target earlier in combat. Luckily for him however, in the ten or so minutes since she had received her torpedo hits, the damage forward had been shored up, and no further flooding had occurred in that area, and his crew was frantically working on the amidships damage. The reports told him that at that time, over 1600 tons of water were in the hull in that area, and he knew that he was lucky that the damage did not extent into the engine spaces. That would have doomed his ship, but by some fluke those bulkheads had held.

Admiral Hipper had his own problems on the SMS Hindenburg however. It seemed to him that his ship was the sole target for the British Battleships! He knew he was not, but it felt like it. He was just grateful that their shooting was not as good as the Battlecruisers, but they were steadily getting steadily closer.

Admiral Hipper wanted to reduce the odds against him further, and since there was still a general small craft battle going on between his capital ships and the British capital ships, and they were fiercely contesting that area of sea. Although nobody was bothering to accurately count them, he knew that there were now around 40 German torpedo boats and destroyers still engaging around 55 British destroyers. Admiral Hipper therefore ordered that the remaining light craft attack the British Battleships again. Those with torpedoes left onboard turned to engage as ordered and the British destroyers turned with them and continued to engage, determined not to allow them to launch. As soon as the British ships realized that they were about to be attacked by the torpedo boats again, they opened up with every gun they had. Of the 36 German craft that had torpedoes left and turned to attack, another 2 were sunk and 6 damaged in the few minutes that it took them to close to torpedo range. The British were not going to be caught out again, turned away the second the first torpedo boat turned away after launching to comb the torpedo tracks, sacrificing half of their firepower to save their ships.

Admiral Hipper watched this with annoyance. The torpedoes were now approaching a small target and only one hit. It slammed into the stern of the HMS Warspite. She had already been hit by one torpedo earlier, and this gave her a slight list and caused her to turn more slowly than the other 3 ships. The torpedo hit her aft-port quadrant near to the propeller shafts. It disabled her two port propeller shafts, and caused more flooding astern. The previous hit had not disabled her, but this one came close. Her speed was reduced to 10 knots and she started to list more heavily. She did however try and stay in line, and turned to port again when the rest of the squadron did. The hit had done nothing to harm her guns however, and she opened fire again with vengeance, aiming for the SMS Von der Tann.

On the SMS Von der Tann KzS Mommsen was amazed, but the torpedo hit had appeared to improve the HMS Warspite's aim! Her first full broadside after the hit slammed into the water 50 yards off her port beam. A damage report then came in saying that one shell had traveled underwater and hit the SMS Von der Tann just above the bilge keels and caused slight flooding due to the 15" shell hole, but luckily it did not explode.

Her next salvos were equally as good, and just as Admiral Hipper ordered his ships to turn past the British and into their swept minefield channels at 13:30 a salvo from the HMS Warspite slammed into the stern of the SMS Von der Tann. When KzS Mommsen approved the order to turn her in order take his ship to safety, he was informed that the steering was jammed.

On the bridge of the SMS Hindenburg Admiral Hipper was watching the SMS Von der Tann. He had seen the hits on her stern, and reasoned that the reason she was failing to begin her turn was due to steering damage. KzS Mommsen was in serious trouble thought Admiral Hipper. KzS Mommsen knew this all to well however. His ship was steaming at 24 knots directly towards a German minefield that would sink his ship if he ran onto it!

March 21st 1918 ~ [SIZE=-1]13:30 till Midnight[/SIZE]

KzS Mommsen knew that the SMS Von der Tann was in trouble as soon as he was told that the steering was un-responsive. He was steaming at flank speed directly for a minefield designed to sink a ship the size of his. Four battleships and five Battlecruisers were shooting at what seemed to be him as well! At the range at which the two fleets were now engaging ~ A little over three miles ~ All the shells fired by both sides exited the guns and seconds later passed clean through the enemy armor plate. At the range of engagement, the armor plate may as well be tissue paper.

That was not the current major problem for KzS Mommsen however. His steering was disabled and he was steaming at 24 knots directly towards a minefield! At 24 knots, it would take the Von der Tann 10 minutes ~ If she was lucky ~ Before she crossed the point of no return. If she did not stop or turn within that time, she would run onto the minefield. KzS Mommsen knew that his damage control teams were already hard at work attempting to fix this problem, but needed to find another solution immediately. He therefore ordered his navigating officer to steer using the propellers. It would slow him down and may not work, but if he could line up with the cleared channel through the minefield then he stood a chance of getting his ship through.

His navigating officer was a competent man thought KzS Mommsen five long minutes later. I must recommend him for a medal if we get out of this! He had somehow managed to more or less line up the SMS Von der Tann with the cleared channel that she needed to steam through, before setting the engines to flank again. She had been last in the German line, but now she was even further behind them and now she was paying the price. Although the aft guns of the remainder of the squadron were still firing at the British ships, all of the 12" armed British Battlecruisers were shooting at him!

The situation onboard the SMS Von der Tann was severe, but she was moving and making for safety ~ He just hoped his navigating officer had got it right KzS Mommsen thought as the SMS Von der Tann entered where everybody hoped the swept channel through their minefield was. Ome mile behing him, the pursuing British ships started to turn at this point ~ Not wanting to run onto German mines ~ and as she was broadside the SMS Von der Tann fired at the HMS Princess Royal.

At ome mile range, her 9" armor was no match for a German 11" shell and one or more shells slammed into her hull around her forward turrets. Cordite procedures may have been improved in the Grand Fleet after Jutland, but the magazines were still under-armored and the resulting explosion blew the ship in two forward of the bridge. Out of a crew of 1267 men, fewer than one hundred would be pulled from the North Sea after the battle.

Onboard the SMS Hindenburg, Admiral Hipper watched through his binoculars as the HMS Princess Royal tore herself apart. Such a waste he thought. The British must have known that their Battlecruisers were no match for the German Battlecruisers and he was right for upon seeing the Princess Royal tear herself apart, Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver thought to himself that if this was the range that future battles were to be fought, then he will have to have severe words at the Admiralty about the quality of the fleet's shells, guns, armor and about how Battlecruisers were now obsolete and that the proposed Fast Battleships should take their place in the fleet!

This thought seemed to be confirmed by divine fate at that exact moment, for as the other four German Battlecruisers with their attendant cruisers rapidly steaming out of range, they all fired one last salvo at what appeared to be the same time to the British watchers. The fall of shell mostly hit empty sea, but two shells from the SMS Derfflinger landed on HMS Renown. She was broadside to the German ships at this time, and the shells came down at such an angle that they missed her armor belt and passed through her lightly armored decks. The result was a massive explosion that made it appear as if the HMS Renown was joining HMS Princess Royal as a huge explosion occurred behind her funnels and flung debris far and wide. This was not a magazine explosion as the shells hit too far forward. Instead it was a massive boiler explosion brought on by the arrival of two 12" high explosive shells in the engine room. She sailed out of the smoke cloud still firing but starting to list heavily and rapidly slowing down. Initial damage reports indicated that the damage was not quite as severe as it appeared to other ships, but was still potentially fatal. HMS Renown's life was literally hanging on a knife edge. Her aft engine room was destroyed and the hull blown out. The massive inrush of sea water and immediately put any fires out, but her back was broken and everybody stopped shooting at her immediatly, she was going to sink before the day was out.

On the German ships, it appeared as if the SMS Von der Tann was safe. She had entered the swept channel in the German minefields and was steaming through it at flank speed. It seemed to Admiral Hipper as if the British had lost four ships (HMS Malaya, HMS Renown, HMS Australia & HMS Indomitable) in return for none of his own. He was about to order a report to Admiral Scheer when an explosion occurred under the bow of the SMS Von der Tann. Unable to steer properly, she had steamed at full speed onto a German mine.

On the SMS Von der Tann, the force of the explosion had opened the first three compartments to the sea. The damage to the shell plating was so severe that there was no way to pump out all the water coming in as since the rush of water was so great. The double bottom had also been damaged in the fourth compartment and water was seeping into her hull there as well as through the bulkhead between compartments three and four. The pumps were going to cope with the flood in compartment four however.

Somewhat ironically and luckily, the force of the explosion shattered steam, water and fuel pipes and twisted many fittings and mountings in the forward part of the ship, and this saved her for the time being. She was flooding aft from her previous damage, and forward from the mine, but the shattered steam and fuel pipes stopped her engines and she started to drift. The current was a South-Easterly one and this pushed her out of immediate danger of hitting another mine on the Northern side of the swept channel. If however she could not be towed or re-start her engines then it would only be a matter of time before she drifted onto the mines on the Southern side of the swept channel.

KzS Mommsen ordered his damage control crews to concentrate on the engines, and signaled Admiral Hipper informing him of the situation. Admiral Hipper signaled that he could not turn in the swept channel, and that he would only tow the SMS Von der Tann with another Battlecruiser is she could clear the Eastern edge of the minefield. He did order three cruisers to turn back and aid the stricken ship however. Whilst turning, one of the cruisers misjudged it's turn and ran onto a shallow mine, and itself needed to be rescued. She was taken under tow by another cruiser however and was returned to port safely ~ But would require dry-docking for complete repairs.

Knowing that for now he was on his own for the moment, KzS Mommsen ordered the remaining destroyers and torpedo boats around him to close and take off unnecessary crew and the injured from the Von der Tann. If his crew could restart the engines, he had a chance of saving the ship. If they couldn't, he would not kill his crew needlessly. The British, unwilling to follow the Germans into their own minefields fired off a few departing shots and turned to aid their own damaged ships and to rescue the men in the water.

After half an hour, the two remaining cruisers that Admiral Hipper dispatched had arrived and were busying themselves with taking the Von der Tann under tow, and KzS Mommsen's damage control captain reported to the bridge. He regretted to inform the captain that the steering was a dockyard repair job and that the engines would take several hours to repair. He may be able to get one running in an hour, but unless the ship could be towed in a straight line she would steam in a large and slow circle as soon as this engine was restarted.

By 14:30 hours the two cruisers had both managed to get lines to the Von der Tann and her crew was busy pulling in the heavy towing cables. The damage control teams were also busy repairing the one engine that could be temporally fixed at sea so that she would not be completely helpless. The tow cables were not being pulled onboard quick enough for KzS Mommsen however. He was well aware that his ship was slowly drifting closer and closer to the other edge of the swept channel and unless the cruisers took him under tow soon, then his ship would drift helplessly onto those mines.

Eventually, the towing lines were secured onboard all three ships, and the cruisers slowly took up the slack in the cables before increasing revolutions and putting the cables under strain in an attempt to tow the crippled ship. Time had run out for the Von der Tann however as her stern drifted over a mine on a wave. As the wave passed, her stern dropped and hit the mine detonating it. The explosion occurred on just off the centerline and right behind the remaining propeller that could have been fixed. The detonation flooded the last three compartments in the ship, destroyed the propeller and sent the shaft forward into the engines, completely wrecking them. With power, the pumps were going to struggle to cope with the inflow of water into the engine room, but luckily none of the damage control teams were injured by the shaft as it flew into the compartment and immediately set about sealing the shaft tunnel and allowing the pumps to break even with the rising water. Eventually they succeeded and the water level started to drop and eventually settled around a foot above the engine room gratings, but for a while it appeared to KzS Mommsen that his ship was going to sink.

With the cruisers straining their engines while this occurred, they managed to get the SMS Von der Tann moving East towards safety and a German dockyard for repairs. When KzS Mommsen toured the ship an hour or so later, he would be told by both his chief engineer and the damage control captain that even if their ship survived, the Von der Tann could never be fully repaired again without a major rebuild so great was the damage that the two mines had done to her. She had a twisted keel and shattered engine beds along with other damage.

Meanwhile, as he was safe at last, Admiral Hipper requested another damage report from his remaining ships. The SMS Hindenburg was in relatively good condition all things considered. She had many holes in her armor and above decks. Most of the cranes, boats and above deck fittings were shot away along with both her masts. Her 'B' and 'D' turrets were out of action. 'B' turret's magazine had been flooded and 'D' had suffered a direct hit as a shell was being loaded. The turret was burnt out and required dockside repairs. This magazine had also been flooded and she had been holed under the waterline in several places. All of this had resulted in some 500 tons of water now being carried in the hull, reducing her speed to 22 knots. She only had one 5.9" gun fully operational ~ The forward starboard one under the bridge and only two 3.4" guns were still fully operational ~ The after two under 'C' turret. All of her other secondary armament guns were damaged or destroyed to some degree. By 15:40, all of her fires were out however and the damage control crews were busy patching up the ship as best they could, starting with the holes near to and below the waterline.

The SMS Moltke, in addition to her disabled 'B' and 'C' turrets, her 'E' turret (Port wing) was disabled through a hit when she was broadside to the British ships, her aft super-structure had been completely shot away with the aft mast and all of the ships boats. The forward mast had sheared off slightly above the top of the forward funnel and she had been holed on the port side below the waterline in several places and had taken on a further 200 tons of water reducing her speed slightly. Most of her secondary guns were also disabled or destroyed as well.

The SMS Seydlitz, already hit hard, had been hit as equally hard again. Her aft super-structure had been hit and burnt out, destroying the aft mast (Its base had melted due to the heat) but that fire was out. The four light guns below it had been evacuated due to the intensity of the fire, but were now manned again, although two of then had been damaged. Her aft funnel was also shot away above the armored base and in addition to her disabled stern turrets, an underwater hit had penetrated the forward magazine. Although the 15" shell had been a dud, it had flooded the magazine rendering 'A' turret useless in combat. At 700 tons, she had also taken on more water than the other two ships and her speed had been reduced to that of the Hindenburg ~ 22 knots.

The SMS Derfflinger had been hit more seriously this time round. She had taken hits below the waterline and had around 300 tons of water on board. She also had taken several hits in the area between her aft two turrets that had sparked off a major fire. This was under control but severe fire damage had been done to this area of the ship. Her engines had also taken slight damage and one shaft was currently inoperable. When she was put into dry-dock the next day, the examination would show that a 15" shell had lodged in her stern glands without exploding and seized the shaft. She would carry it as a souvinir for the remainder of her days afloat, and so would all other Germans ships to carry her name.

The British also suffered badly. They had lost the HMAS Australia, HMS Princess Royal and HMS Malaya sunk and the HMS Renown, HMS Inflexible, HMS Indomitable and HMS Tiger were severely damaged. HMS Tiger was mauled above decks and Renown had a broken back. The Renown was taken under tow by the Tiger and they slowly headed for Rosyth. The HMS Inflexable was taken in tow by the HMS New Zealand and the HMS Indomitable was taken under tow by the HMS Lion. They were slowly escorted by the Queen Elizabeth's and HMS Repulse North towards safety and repair facilities. The HMS Indomitable was not to make it however.

German Zeppelins soon found and started to shadow the retiring British ships and as they watched, HMS Indomitable slowed to a complete stop. They watched without attacking as destroyers went alongside her and the crew started to transfer. When the crew was all transferred off, the destroyers withdrew and launched torpedoes into her to sink her. She had already been sinking through damage sustained in combat and the torpedoes fired just hastened her end. This was good news thought Admiral Hipper when he was informed after she had sunk.

The German Fleet would be back in port in the Jade and Schilling Roads by 2am the following morning, but they were already taking stock of their victory and the damage that they had received. Reports had been received by the Admiralstab throughout the day and they had been keenly following the battle. Press statements had been prepared and were now issued to the radio and papers. Special Editions of newspapers were published and usual radio programs were interrupted by special broadcasts proclaiming the destruction of the Battlecruiser Squadrons of the Grand Fleet and a great German naval victory in the North Sea, dubbing it Die Schlacht in den Breiten Vierzehn as the battle was fought in that area of sea.

Okies.

I is done for now.

More is written, but I will get your comments on that lot first. As those eagled eyed may notice, I need a name for the battle in German and English.

HMS Warspire suggested The Battle of the Dutch Wadden Islands or The Battle of Texal as names, but the first sounds wrong to me and the second sounds like a petrol company fight! haha

It is geographically correct though as the minefield the Germans went into ITTL was right by there. This map, bottom left minefield. Texal is the island right below it going to the bottom of the picture.

Hi Eternity have read both this TL and the previous one with all the whine in it and liked both. As for a battle name how about either 'The battle of the Dutch isles' (dropping the Wadden part) or 'Battle of the Dutch coast' ?

A question. Given that the Germans were making a run for it, and that in the early stages they were outranged by the British, would it not have been sensible for the screening ships to lay down smoke ?

I like the previous version better. This version was too rushed. What happened to those picket submarines that were supposed too be monitoring the GF?

RE: The Picket submarines ~ They were outside Scapa and other GF BB ports, and as that portion of the GF never sortied, the German subs never got to intercept it etc. Mines laid by the submarines would have been swept as per V2 TL ~ In normal morning sweeps. Also, the BCs took the more southern route way out of their minefields. I had plotted all the submarines North of this. As the BBs left it to the Queen Elizabeth Class and the Battlecruisers based at Rosyth they were missed. ITTL Version Corageous and Glorious never sortied. In the previous versions, the fleet took a much more Easterly route

Also, as per the Kaiser's orders: If the GF BBs had sortied then by my calcs they could have **just** intercepted the HSF (Based on aircraft spot and 9+ hour HSF loiter at Channel). Not wanting to have that happen, the GF messed up their calculations to intercept and believeing they couldn't they never tried

There are going to be recriminations in the GF & HSF for those mistakes, and new ideas based on other and better spotting techniques ~ Don't you worry! lol

RE: The smoke. The Germans had to sail straight through the British line, and when the British turned past/alongside the British line. Sailing at 24+ knots, you will quickly go through the smoke screen. Also said smoke screen will hamper German aim as well as British aim. As such, I would think it is impractable to lay smoke. + I did not think of it!

Smoke EDIT: The fleets were closing at a combined speed of 48 knots (42mph ish) that is a mile every 90 seconds. Smoke also takes time to clear once laid. To cover the few miles that the HSF travelled to open fire after the British opened fire would take 3-4 minutes. Not alot of time for smoke either. lol Going to look into it though as the DD & TBs could lay smoke as they went in for the first torpedo attack.

This is no doubt not going to be the definate version of the story however, so please make your comments! I can always do update posts!

I like this plot as it is a more smaller scale event than the previous entry. It seems a bit fantasy, to have the Battlecruiser Force routed so severly by a single German Torpedoattack, but given the absense of the more experienced Beaty, replaced by a less experienced flagofficer, makes sense. As for the 5th Battlesquadron, Even Thomas was a "by the book oficer", who was not doing anything, unless ordered by his superior. So he would likely be the commander to blame for the loss of a superdreadnought, as he should have responded with more care on the critical situation.

In general, Very well done, although its gives the mind something to think about. (which is very good indeed, as I like the more complex issues more than the straight foreward ones.)

It seems a bit fantasy, to have the Battlecruiser Force routed so severly by a single German Torpedo attack

Click to expand...

I did not mean it like that. What I meant was that the Battlecruisers turned to comb the German torpedo attacks (And thus avoid getting sunk), but once the torpedoes had passed, they turned back to engage the German ships.

My apolagies if I did not make that clear.

Die (See) Schlacht in den Breiten Vierzehn - The (sea) beattle in the Broad Fourteen.
The area is known as Breite Vierzehn in Germany.

Note however, that what you addressed as mine field is a British scatter mine area (at least in Scheer's map), not a regular mine field.

A scatter field?

opps

Either way, Admiral Scheer's map has a swept channel for the HSF and I seriously doubt the Royal Navy would sail onto a known minefleid ~ Let alone one they laid in the first place!!!

Ok. New update.

Don't worry about the subs etc. for now. The Germans will figure out what went wrong after the British get back to port.....

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March 22nd 1918

At 1:30am, anybody on the waterfront along the Schilling Roads in Germany would have made out a number of dark shapes slowly steaming South towards Wilhelmshaven. They were the first of the ships to arrive back after the battle. For the next hour, you could have watched and counted all the ships as they slowly steamed back into port. They arrived to a large fanfare ~ They received a victors welcome. The ships of the HSF that had remained behind all lined the rails and saluted these victors as they returned home. Admiral Hipper was greeted ashore by Admirals Scheer and Holtzendorff who both congratulated him on his victory. Admiral Hipper was not listening however. He was furious. His ships had been caught by the Grand Fleet and they could easily have been annihilated. He was lucky that he was still alive ~ and he knew it! He also knew that the heavily damaged Von der Tann was still struggling to make port. The hero's welcome could wait for her. He had men, ships and a report to see to in the meantime.

Germany was not to be denied her hero however, and at 10:00 sharp that morning, the Kaiser broadcast to the world. He declared that Germany had won a great victory over the Grand Fleet. He said that the British Battlecruiser Squadrons had been destroyed with one Battleship and six British Battlecruisers sunk along with many destroyers and cruisers. All of that he said, was in exchange for one German Battlecruiser heavily damaged and a handful of other ships lightly damaged. The Battlecruiser heavily damaged was the SMS Von der Tann and she was currently under tow and expected back soon. His short broadcast was to be repeated every hour for the next several days until the British Government issued a statement of its own.

In Germany, this news gave a massive moral boost. The Navy had fought a superior force at sea and dealt it a massive blow. Now the army must do the same in it's ongoing fight on the Western Front. Although the population was war-weary, they said to themselves "If the Navy can fight a superior force and win, we can carry on as a nation." What none of the published news said was the condition of the ships. All of the ships that had sortied had been damaged to some degree. The cruisers were fortunate. They only received light damage in the form of shell splinters or destroyer shell impacts. The larger ships were in worse condition however. Surveys were being carried out in the dockyards and repair schedules organized but some of the damage was very serious indeed that would take months to repair once dockyard facilities freed up.

Late editions of papers on the 22nd carried stories of individual heroism and personal stories from the sailors, along with interviews with officers who were at the battle. All had been written to inspire the German people but all were also grounded on the facts that survivors had given ~ But embellished by the papers!

In Britain, in the absence of information issued by their government, moral took a major hit. All the available news said that the Grand Fleet had been defeated by the High Seas Fleet, and coupled with disastrous news from the Western Front in France and Belgium where the British and Belgian armies were retreating following a massive assault by the German Army, many people thought that Germany had broken the stalemate of the war and was now going to force Britain to the negotiating table. Of course, it did not occur to people in Britain that the High Seas Fleet was back in port and able to spread it's story whereas the British ships that sortied was still at sea, and until they made it back to Rosyth and gave their reports to the Admiralty, the other side of the story ~ All of the facts, would not be known.

Meanwhile in Wilhelmshaven, a furious Admiral Hipper was giving his report to Admirals Scheer and Holtzendorff. He gave an accurate report of what had happened. He explained that he could have got home undamaged if he had known about the British ships at sea. Where were the submarines? Where were the scouting Zeppelins and aircraft? Admiral Hipper demanded to know. Where was my notification of ships of the Grand Fleet heading for me? Admiral Hipper was livid ~ And rightly so. The Germans had suffered an appalling failure of intelligence or communication somewhere along the lines. Why? That was now the question that Admiral Holtzendorff had to answer.

In the admiralty in London, much the same questions were being asked. The British knew they were lucky to have spotted the HSF fleet on the evening of the 20th. Where was there intelligence from intercepted and decoded naval reports to say that the HSF was planning a sortie? One thing was clear however. Aircraft were ideal for scouting at sea for enemy ships. All of their aerial scouts should now carry radios ~ Radios that worked. They also pondered about how to get more aircraft to sea to scout for ships further away from land.

Back in Germany, The SMS Von der Tann limped into port to her hero's welcome in the late evening. From anybody who saw her you would get the same response. It was truly amazing that she was still afloat. She had holes all over her. Her bow and stern went off at strange angles, her waterline was nowhere to be seen ~ Indeed, those who knew her could tell that she sat much lower in the water. Dangerously low in the water in fact ~ and the warped plates on her superstructure was evidence of the intensity of the fire that had burnt within her. KzS Mommsen was lauded as a hero of the High Seas Fleet for getting his ship back to port and promised the next Battlecruiser completed as his next command.

While all this was going on, the German navy was starting to try and figure out what went wrong. They could say for certainty that they had detected no signals from along the path that the fleet sailed. The ONLY signal near it was 50 miles away from its course. The signal was of Royal Navy origin and could it have been what tipped the Grand Fleet off? Perhaps, but how on Earth did those ships see the fleet from 50 miles away during the night? Also, the submarines, Zeppelins and aircraft. What had happened there? They had carefully positioned them so that the Grand Fleet would be seen if it sortied from Scapa Flow or the Clyde. How had they been missed?