The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

May 29, 1848
Battle of Curtatone

After initial setbacks, Marshal Josef Radetsky concentrated the Austrian army in northern Italy around Verona, about 50,000 strong. The situation was perilous; the Piedmontese were astride his supply lines. Sitting put was not an option; some action had to be taken. Weighing his options, he decided to strike directly at King Charles Albert and main Piedmontese army, relieving besieged Peschiera. The plan was risky. The army would march south to Mantua, increase the garrison there, and then attack the enemy right, rolling it up from the south. The key would be the march to Mantua, since this would involve moving the marching columns right across the front of the deployed enemy.

The operation would begin on the evening of May 27, in 3 columns. I Corps had the most dangerous route, along the direct road from Verona to Mantua, closest to the enemy. It contained only 2 brigades, as that of Col. Benedek was already at Mantua. The other columns were a little to the east. The columns made it to Mantua by the night of May 28-29 with little trouble. The covering force on the Rivoli Plateau, Brigade Zobel, fought 2 actions with Piedmontese troops during this time.

During these actions, the Tuscan Division, under Gen. Cesare de Laugier, remained deployed about 5 miles from the city, engaged in frequent patrols and skirmishes. Formed in the flush of patriotism after the risings of March-April, it comprised 5000 men, about 3000 of them volunteers. They were joined by the Neapolitan 10th Line Regiment. The division arrived at the front on April 24 and was posted in 2 parts, with roughly equal contingents at Curtatone, on the south shore of Lake Supiore, and Montanara, to the south. In the event of a serious attack from Mantua, these positions were vulnerable. They settled into a regime of training and drill, especially of the volunteers and Civic Guard, which many did not like. The Civic Guards, in particular, with many from the educated classes, felt that such things should be done by consensus.

The first information concerning the Austrian build-up at Mantua was only by rumor and discounted. By the evening of the 28th, patrols had confirmed the build-up. Laugier was ordered to hold his ground; should he request support, Piedmontese troops would be sent to his assistance. In extreme circumstances, he was authorized to withdraw to Goito and defend there. He received these instructions at 0130 on the 29th, and, unfortunately, interpreted them as an order to stay put. In fact, talk of withdrawing and fighting was pointless as the division had neither the experience nor the training to do so. They could only stand and fight, and hope for support. On the morning of the 29th, the division was in 4 groups. 750 were with the HQ at Le Grazie. 2000 men and 4 guns were at Curtatone, and 2700 with 4 guns at Montanara. There were 950 to the north, where the Piedmontese were concentrating.

The Austrian advance began at 1000 on a bright, warm day, in 3 attack columns. Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, with brigades Benedek and Wohlgemuth (8600 men and 12 guns) moved on Curtatone, along the main road. In the center Prince Karl Schwarzenberg, with Brigades Clam and Strassoldo (5200 men and 12 guns) moved on Montanara. On the left, the brigade of Prince Friedrich Liechtenstein (4300 men and 6 guns) would move against Montanara from the south.

The defenses at Curtatone consisted of 300 yards of entrenchments extending from the lake shore, with a large defensible country house at each end. There was little artillery. Benedek was the first to arrive and began his attack. An exchange of artillery fire preceded an infantry assault at noon. The attack went well on the right, but Benedek himself was twice repulsed on the left, by a flank attack by the Lucca and Neapolitan Civic Guards. While, the column on the right took Lakeside House, the left began a 3rd assault, supported by arriving elements of Wohlgemuth’s brigade. This attack was successful and the line taken. At this point, an order arrived from the Piedmontese command, ordering a withdrawal to Goito. When the order was issued, it precipitated a general flight. Leaving some troops to mop up, Benedek took 2 battalions and moved south toward Montanara, where a separate engagement was taking place.

Lt. Col. Giovantti had 2700 men at Montanara, and was lucky enough to have 1400 regulars among them, but he had only 4 guns. Houses in the town were good positions and were quickly loopholed, and protected by barricades. On the right, a large square opened onto fields. Here stood a large house, Casa degli Spagnoli, and just south of the town, the cemetery.

Two companies of Florentine and Neapolitan Civic Guards, under Major Beraudi, were posted about a mile ahead of the main line, to delay the enemy as long as possible. Beraudi proved quite successful once the Austrians advanced at 0930. Eventually, however, he was mortally wounded and the Austrians began to threaten the Tuscan right, around the cemetery and Casa degli Spagnoli. After hard fighting, both positions were carried. To make matters worse, Liechtenstein’s brigade was now appearing on and behind Giovanetti’s right flank. With defense now impossible, the various defending contingents attempted to make their way out of the envelopment. Many were captured.

The Tuscan Division was shattered. In the 2 actions, it lost 176 killed, 518 wounded and 1186 captured or missing. The Austrians lost 96 dead, 517 wounded and 179 missing.

During the evening and night, some 2000 Tuscan and other troops, mostly in small groups, made their way towards Goito. There would remain a Tuscan presence in the field, but much reduced. Many of the volunteers, disillusioned and feeling themselves sacrificed for Charles Albert’s ambitions, simply went home, very bitter. Their stand had, in fact, bought precious time for the Piedmontese army to prepare itself at Goito, where they would win a victory the following day (see posting), but this was of little or no comfort to them.

[Ennath]

May 30, 1563
Nordic Seven Years War

After the deaths of Christian III of Denmark in 1559 and Gustav I Vasa of Sweden in 1560, both countries now had young and hawkish monarchs, Eric XIV of Sweden and Frederick II of Denmark. Frederick II envisioned the resurrection of the Kalmar Union under Danish leadership, while Eric wanted to finally break the dominating position of Denmark.

Shortly after his coronation in 1559, King Frederick ordered his ageing field-commander Johan Rantzau to avenge the humiliating Danish defeat against the small peasant republic of Ditmarsch in 1500 (see posting, Battle of Hemmingstedt), which was defeated in a matter of a few weeks and brought under the Danish-Norwegian crown. During the next year, Danish expansion continued with the possession of the Baltic Sea island of Ösel (Saaremaa). In 1561, when a sizeable remnant of the Teutonic Order states in the northern Baltics were secularized by its grand master, both Denmark and Sweden were attracted to intervene in the Livonian War. During this conflict, King Eric successfully obstructed Danish plans to conquer Estonia. He sought to dominate the Baltic Sea, while unsuccessfully pressing for Frederick to remove the traditionally Swedish insignia of Three Crowns from the Danish coat of arms. In February 1563, Swedish messengers were sent to Hesse to negotiate Eric's marriage with Christine of Hesse but were held in Copenhagen. In retaliation, Eric added the insignia of Norway and Denmark to his own coat of arms and refused Danish requests to remove these symbols.

Lübeck, upset over obstacles to trade introduced by Eric to hinder the Russian trade as well as withdrawn trade privileges, joined Denmark in alliance. The Polish–Lithuanian union also joined, desiring control of the Baltic trade. Skirmishes broke out in May 1563, before war was officially declared in August that year. The war saw Denmark field an expensive mercenary army and Sweden attempt to train a larger army of native levies. Neither approach was entirely successful - the Danes could often not afford to pay their troops while the Swedish levies were unable to defeat the Danish professionals.

In May, the first action occurred as a Danish fleet under Jakob Brockenhuus sailed towards the Baltic. At Bornholm, on May 30, the fleet fired on a Swedish fleet under Jakob Bagge, even though war had not officially been declared. The battle was a Swedish victory. Imperial emissaries were sent to negotiate peace at Rostock, but the Swedes failed to appear. Denmark and Lübeck declared war on August 13.

Denmark moved first, assembling a mercenary army of 25-28,000, which embarked for Sweden on August 5 from Copenhagen. The army arrived at Älvsborg, Sweden’s one outlet to the west. After a 3 day bombardment the city surrendered on September 4. This achieved the Danish aim of cutting off Sweden from the North Sea, blocking the important salt imports. This early success was not followed up - Frederick II was already running into problems paying his army

The Swedes responded by attempting to capture the Danish town of Halmstad, in Scania. Erik had an army similar in size to the Danish force, but composed of inexperienced troops with only a small number of professional officers. The siege began in October 1563, but despite breaching the walls of the town, Swedish assaults failed. Erik withdrew, leaving Charley de Mornays, a French mercenary in charge. On November 9, the Swedish force was caught by a smaller Danish army at Mared, losing its artillery but otherwise escaping without serious losses.

1564 saw the Swedes take the initiative. In February 1564 two Swedish armies were sent west into Norway in the hope of detaching the country from Denmark. One army under Klas Horn reached Bohus Castle, but failed to take the place and was forced to retreat. A second, 4000 strong army, under Claude Collart, broke into the Norwegian province of Jämtland, captured Trondheim, and began to take oaths of loyalty from the Norwegians. The war was marked by atrocities on both sides - Collart was under orders to kill all “Jutes” (Danes) that he found in Norway, and in response killed all of his Danish prisoners. His raid only lasted until May, when a Danish army 4000 strong arrived by sea, forcing the Swedes to surrender.

On May 30, the Swedes tried to break the blockade of the Baltic and a fleet under Jakob Bagge met a Danish- Lübeck force under Herluf Trolle between Gotland and Öland. Bagge was captured and the largest warship in the Baltic, the Mars was sunk. Klas Horn became the new commander and met the Danish fleet north of Öland on August 14. An inconclusive fight left the blockade in place.

Meanwhile Frederick was having trouble paying his army. During 1564 his grand plans had to be reduced to a minor raid towards Stockholm with that part of his army that had been paid. The war soon descended into a series of relatively small scale raids across enemy territory - at this period Denmark held a series of provinces around the southern coast of modern Sweden. This control of the coastline allowed the Danes to impose a naval blockade on Sweden in the early years of the war, but also made those provinces vulnerable to Swedish attack. It also made southern Sweden vulnerable to Danish raids, one of the most destructive of which came in 1567 when Daniel Rantzau led 4000 men in a raid through central Sweden.

Horn attacked the provinces of Halland and Scania in 1565. Eric initially led the army himself, but then turned over command to Nils Boije, who on August 28 took Varberg. This gave Sweden an outlet onto the Kattegat. The Danes sent Rantzau with 6000 infantry, 1200 cavalry and 14 guns to confront Boije, who had 8100 infantry, 3000 cavalry and 41 guns. The result was the only major land battle of the war, at Axtorna on October 20. Despite being outnumbered, Rantzau was victorious, but Varberg remained in Swedish hands until 1569.

The Swedes fared better at sea. Horn pursued a Danish–Lübeck fleet onto the German coast where most of it was destroyed. After this victory Horn steered for Öresund and levied a toll on passing ships. On June 4, 1565, he defeated and killed Trolle at Buchow. On July 7, he defeated an allied force near Bornholm, capturing the Danish flagship. In January 1566 Sweden unsuccessfully laid siege to Bohus Fortress in Bohuslän. Daniel Rantzau then moved his forces into Västergötland. At sea Horn returned to taking toll charges in the Baltic. An indecisive sea battle occurred near Öland on July 26, but on the 28th the Danish fleet was destroyed in a storm, handing the advantage to Sweden

In 1567, the Swedes again invaded Norway, through the Osterdal valley, reaching as far as Oslo, whose citizens torched the town. A subsequent siege of the Akershus fortress failed and the Swedes retreated, torching Hamar on the way.

The Danes were exhausted and made no serious attacks until Rantzau attacked Småland and Östergötland with about 8500 men in late 1567.] He burned every field and house and destroyed every head of livestock he could. An attempt to cut off his retreat over the Holaveden failed, and in the middle of February 1568 he returned to Halland.

Eric XIV began to go insane, paralyzing the Swedish war effort. In May 1567 he murdered a number of members of the prominent Sture family, and dismissed many of his commanders. The following year he was deposed in favor of his brother, John, Duke of Finland, who was enthroned as King John III. Partly because of his long association with Finland he saw Ivan IV of Russia as a more serious threat than the Danes, and made an attempt to negotiate peace with Denmark. On November 18, 1568. this led to a draft peace agreement in Roskilde. This was turned down by the Swedes, however, and in 1569 war stirred again. The Danes attacked and reclaimed Varberg on November 13. The Swedes on the other hand now had some success in Scania.

Finally, in December 1570 he succeeded. The Peace of Stettin ended the Nordic Seven Years War, and also ended hostilities between Sweden and Poland-Lithuanian (Livonian War). The peace generally restored the pre-war situation. Älvsborg, by then just about the only significant conquest of the war that had been retained to the end, was returned to Sweden in return for 150,000 riksdalers.

[Ennath]

1502
Guelderian Wars

In 1471, Charles the Bold of Burgundy lent 300,000 gold guilders to Arnold, Duke of Guelders. As security, Charles chose the Duchy of Guelders. Arnold did not pay the sum back, and thus, when he died in 1473, Charles assumed title to the duchy. Upon Charles' defeat and death at the Battle of Nancy in January 1477 (see posting), Arnold’s son Adolf was recognized as Duke, but died in battle later that year. Subsequently, Guelders was ruled by Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I, husband of Charles the Bold's daughter and heir, Mary. who was raised at the court of Charles the Bold and fought for the House of Habsburg in battles against France. In 1492, the citizens of Guelders, who had become disenchanted with the rule of Maximilian, ransomed Charles, son of Adolf, and recognized him as their Duke. The Hapsburgs continued to claim the duchy and war broke out in 1502. The conflicts that followed were characterized by the absence of large battles. Small hit and run actions, raids and ambushes were common practice.

Between 1502 and 1515, the Habsburgs tried without success to reconquer the Duchy of Guelders. On the other hand, Charles, Duke of Guelders tried to conquer Overijssel which belonged to the Bishopric of Utrecht, also without success.

Because Charles of Habsburg needed to consolidate the Spanish throne and maneuver to become Holy Roman Emperor in Germany, he concluded peace with Charles of Guelders, leaving him in control of most of Frisia, the Ommelanden and Groningen. Charles of Guelders consequently conquered Overijssel in 1521-1522. A Habsburg army under Georg Schenck van Toutenburg resumed the offensive and in the next year pushed the Guelderians out of Frisia. By December 1524, Frisia was firmly in Hapsburg hands.

Shortly thereafter, Henry of the Palatinate, the new Prince-Bishop of Utrecht, was in conflict with his own citizens, who invited troops from Guelders to occupy the city. Henry had no choice but to ask Charles of Habsburg for help. The States of Overijssel also asked Charles to liberate their lands from Guelders. Charles of Habsburg demanded a price, namely that they recognize him as Lord, to which they agreed. Schenck van Toutenburg moved his army into Overijssel and Utrecht and easily chased out the Guelderians, who had already become very unpopular amongst the populace. On October 20, 1528, Bishop Henry handed over power to Charles of Habsburg. The Bishopric of Utrecht came to an end and was divided into the Lordship of Utrecht and the Lordship of Overijssel, both ruled by a Habsburg Stadtholder.

A daring raid through Holland, culminating in the sack of The Hague by Maarten van Rossum, Field Marshal of Guelders, didn't prevent Schenk van Toutenburg from attacking some Guelderian towns, after which Charles of Guelders agreed to the Treaty of Gorinchem on October 3, 1528. Charles retained Guelders, but only as a vassal of the Empire.

In 1534, the Danish Count's War (see posting) spilled over into the Low Countries when the Habsburgs supported Enno II, Count of East Frisia, ally of Christopher of Oldenburg, and Charles of Guelders supported Balthasar Oomkens von Esens, ally of Christian III of Denmark. In May 1536, Meindert van Ham, supported by Denmark and Guelders, invaded Groningen and threatened Holland. In reaction, Holland gathered a fleet to lift the siege of Copenhagen, and Habsburg sent Schenck van Toutenburg to chase the enemy from Groningen. Toutenburg was allowed to occupy the city of Groningen and defeated Ham at Heiligerlee (1536). Before the Dutch fleet was ready to sail, Copenhagen fell to Christian III and peace was concluded. The Habsburgs became masters of Groningen and Drenthe, which were renamed the Lordship of Groningen and County of Drenthe. Charles of Guelders was forced to sign the Treaty of Grave, recognizing these losses.

When Charles of Guelders died without an heir on June 30, 1538, he had done everything he could to find a successor other than Emperor Charles V. He had appointed William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, related through his great-grandfather Reinald IV, Duke of Guelders and Jülich (1365-1423), as his successor. William allied himself with the King of France and married Jeanne d'Albret. When the Hapsburg Low Countries were at war with France, he sent Maarten van Rossum on a raid through Brabant in 1542, plundering the countryside and besieging Antwerp and Leuven. These attacks were countered by Hapsburg forces, who took Guelders and Jülich in 1543. The war ended with the total destruction and killing of nearly all inhabitants of the town of Düren, after which the other Guelderian towns surrendered. In the Treaty of Venlo, William of Jülich was forced to cede the Duchy of Guelders and the County of Zutphen to Charles V, but was allowed to keep Jülich.

[Ennath]

May 31, 1916
Battle of Jutland, Part 1

In the spring of 1916, after intense international pressure, Vice Adm. Reinhard Scheer called in all his submarines when Germany announced an end to unrestricted underwater attacks on transatlantic merchant ships. With his subs idle, Scheer, the newly appointed commander of the High Seas Fleet, had to come up with another plan for their use. He would send a portion of the fleet to attack a British port to draw out part of the Grand Fleet. Meanwhile, the submarines would lie in wait at the mouth of the bases to attack the British ships as they raced out in response. German surface ships would then draw the enemy fleet farther away from the British mainland into the waiting range of the German fleet. If done properly, Scheer’s audacious plan could break the British North Sea blockade that slowly but surely was strangling Germany.

However, there were multiple delays. Earlier damage to the battlecruiser Seydlitz postponed the start of the operation. Captain Herman Bauer, commander of the U-boats, suggested that the submarines go out at the earliest moment for reconnaissance. Scheer agreed, sending the subs out in mid-May. This turned out to be a tactical error, since it took the U-boats out of the upcoming battle. Because of further delays, Seydlitz was not ready until May 29. By then, the subs were low on fuel and Scheer’s plan had to be put into action quickly or else the window of opportunity would close. On that day, Scheer radioed his submarines with another change of plans. Instead of attacking a British coastal port, the Germans would scout for commercial ships around the Jutland peninsula of northern Denmark. Most of the German submarines did not hear the signal, but Room 40 did. That was the top-secret room in the British Admiralty where cryptologists listened in on German radio signals and decoded their messages. The British knew exactly when the Germans had set sail, and Admiralty dispatched the Grand Fleet to attack.

Scheer had 16 dreadnought and 6 pre-dreadnought battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 11 light cruisers and 61 destroyers. The total British force comprised 28 battleships, 9 battlecruisers, 8 armored and 26 light cruisers and 78 destroyers. The British ships generally carried heavier armament than their German opposites, but the German vessels were faster and better armored.

Neither the Germans nor the British knew the other’s fleet was at sea and they were headed on courses that made their meeting virtually inevitable. In fact, at noon on the 31st, the Admiralty telegraphed Jellicoe that the German fleet was still in harbor. Scheer remained ignorant also because his U-Boat trap failed; not a single British ship was torpedoed as they steamed out of port and no message came from the U-Boats advising Scheer that the British had sailed.

Believing that there was no urgency, Jellicoe proceeded at a leisurely 15 knots toward a rendezvous with Beatty, which was scheduled for around 1530 off the coast of Denmark. In the meantime, both Beatty’s and Hipper’s scouting ships spotted a Danish tramp steamer in the vicinity. The German cruiser Elbing sent 2 destroyers to investigate. At the same time, the British light cruisers Galatea and Phaeton broke off from Beatty’s force to get a better look at the lone steamer. Both pairs of scouts reported enemy ships on the horizon. At 1428, Galatea and Phaeton fired at the German destroyers, inaugurating the Battle of Jutland.

As soon as Beatty was told about the enemy ships, he turned south-southeast to meet them. He hoped to get between the German ships and their home base. As he turned to engage, Beatty had his flagman signal the change in direction. Owing to the distance between them, Rear Adm. Hugh Evan-Thomas did not see the signals. Evan-Thomas commanded the 5th Battle Squadron, which included the 4 Queen Elizabeth-class dreadnoughts with eight 15-inch guns apiece. Evan-Thomas received the first message instructing him to turn north, but when Beatty changed course, his second signal was not received. Although Evan-Thomas could see the turn being made, he continued north until there was a distance of 10 miles between the ships, well out of range to assist in the opening of the battle. Instead of 10 British capital ships against 5 German, the battle would begin with a much more even 6-to-5 ratio.

Beatty had effectively cut off Hipper’s escape, and assuming that the rest of the German fleet was nowhere nearby, he was certain of victory. Hipper, in turn, steamed his ships south as though he were running away; instead, he was drawing Beatty into the trap set by the High Seas Fleet.

Theoretically, all the British had to do was fire at the farthest range of their guns and keep maneuvering at higher speeds. This would keep their ships out of range of the Germans, while their own larger projectiles rained down on the enemy. But the German ships had a dull-gray eastern sky behind them that masked their precise position, while the British were exposed by a cloudless, sunny western sky. Their vision was also obscured by smoke blowing in front of them. To make matters worse, the British rangefinders were inferior to their shooting distance, while the German scopes magnified their targets at 23 times greater than the naked eye. Unsurprisingly, they were better marksmen. The Germans were able to get the British in their sights and fired the first shots with their heavy guns. Thirty seconds later, the British line opened fire as well. The Germans had the better luck in the opening salvos. The British battlecruisers Lion, Princess Royal, and Tiger all took hits. In return, Seydlitz was hit twice and Lutzow was struck by a salvo from Beatty’s flagship, Lion.

The Queen Mary missed Beatty’s signal that he will focus on Hipper’s flagship, while the Queen Mary was to attack the Derfflinger, and the following ships attack their counterparts down the line. So the Derfflinger remained free to fire without reprisal for 10 minutes. About 1600, a lucky German shot struck Lion’s center turret, blowing half of the turret roof into the air. It fell on the upper deck with a crash, igniting the cordite charges in the loading cages, which were about to be entered into the guns. The explosion and subsequent fire killed every man in the gun house. Only the quick thinking of the turret officer, Major F.J.W. Harvey, saved both Lion and Beatty. The mortally wounded Harvey ordered that the magazine doors be closed and the magazine flooded. His dying order prevented the fire from reaching the rest of the stored charges. For his heroism, Harvey was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.

Indefatigable was not so lucky. She had been under heavy fire for about 15 minutes when a turret was hit; the plunging shells probably pierced the thin upper armor, and seconds later Indefatigable was ripped apart by a magazine explosion, sinking immediately with her crew of 1019 officers and men, leaving only 2 survivors. The Germans were raining down hellish fire on Beatty’s ships, but salvation came in the form of Evan-Thomas’ 5th Battle Squadron, which arrived at about 1610. Although the distance was still great and the German line was shrouded in smoke, Evans-Thomas’s 4 ships were able to inflict enough pain on the German vessels to relieve the immediate pressure on Beatty, who smartly altered his course when he realized that Evan-Thomas had joined the battle. Hipper did the same. The fleets, which had been drifting apart and out of each other’s line of sight, came back into range and resumed firing.

By now Queen Mary’s guns were hammering the Derfflinger, which shifted sights to this new challenger as Seydlitz did the same. Four shells set off explosions aboard Queen Mary that broke the ship in half - over 1200 men went down with her. Observing the loss of the battlecruisers, Beatty made his famous remark “There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today.” The big guns of 5th Battle Squadron’s Super-Dreadnoughts restored the advantage to Beatty. The destroyers battled each other in the no-man’s-land between the ships. Two destroyers were sunk on either side. During the melee, Beatty reversed course and turned north. His ships were taking the worst of it. To make matters worse, Scheer’s force was now coming into view.

Beatty’s light-cruiser squadron had been left behind and was just now resuming scouting positions in front of the larger ships. From this vantage point, they could see the entire German High Seas Fleet. In another 10 or 20 minutes, Beatty’s capital ships would have been outnumbered 21 to 8. Beatty’s turn left Evan-Thomas in position to inflict damage on the Germans with his huge 1900-pound shells. But Evan-Thomas, 7 miles away, could not see Beatty’s message flags, nor did any of the other ships signal him by searchlight. The first he knew of Beatty’s change of course was when he passed Lion going in the opposite direction. Beatty had his signal man contact Evan-Thomas. The message flags went up at 1648 and were not hauled down until 1654, at which point Evan-Thomas made his turn. The 6-minute period brought his ships 4000 yards closer to the Germans. Barham was hit and Warspite was struck 3 times.

The British scored some hits of their own. Seydlitz, Lutzow, Derfflinger, König, Grosser Kurfurst, and Markgraf all suffered damage, and Von der Tann had her guns silenced, but gamely stayed in the line to draw fire away from the other ships. The German guns were beginning to quiet down, and worse, the field of vision had changed. The Germans were now looking into the sun, while the British had a clear line of sight.

At 1720, Scheer signaled Hipper to give chase. Beatty altered course from north to northeast to engage Hipper again. This forced the German line to bend to the east to prevent Beatty’s ships from gaining the advantage. Smoke from the guns mixed with a heavy mist hampered Hipper’s vision. It was his job to keep the High Seas Fleet aware of changes, but because he was caught up in an intense battle and was lost in one of the cloud banks, he did not spot the approaching British Grand Fleet. Rear Adm. Friedrich Bodicker, 3 miles ahead of him to the east, saw them first, reporting enemy dreadnoughts to the east. At 1759, Bodicker saw the Grand Fleet stretched out on the horizon, 16,000 yards away.

[Ennath]

May 31, 1916
Battle of Jutland, Part 2

When Jellicoe learned of the battle, he picked up his speed and sent 3 battlecruisers racing ahead, commanded by Rear Adm. Horace Hood. These at first had a hard time finding the battle in the open sea, appearing on the eastern side of the fight, where Hood encountered Bodicker’s 2nd Scouting Group of light cruisers. The ships were not close enough to recognize friend from foe, so they continued to close in on each other. The German ships recognized the light cruiser Chesteras British and unsportingly flashed the British recognition signal, drawing Chestereven closer. At 6000 yards, Chester was engulfed in shells and lost her rangefinder, her communications systems and 3 guns. Hood saw Chester in distress, placed his ships between the crippled vessel and the German ships, and fired his 12-inch guns. The German ships fled the scene, but not before 3 of the 4 ships were hit. Wiesbaden was fatally injured. A 12” shell put her engine out of commission, and the wounded ship stopped dead in the water and drifted. However, closing in for the kill, the armored cruiser Defence was sunk. Shortly thereafter, the battlecruiser Invincible blew up and sank.

To rescue the light cruisers, Hipper sent Regensburg and 31 destroyers, but before they could launch their torpedoes they were met by a countercharge from Hood’s second light cruiser, Canterbury, and 4 British destroyers. In a brawl at close quarters, the Germans somehow got the impression that many more British ships were present than was the case. As a result, the Germans only fired 12 torpedoes, after which the 31 destroyers turned back. The British destroyer Shark was disabled. The small British losses were out of all proportion to the gain brought about by the surprise appearance of 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron. Had it not been for the timely intervention of Hood, the German flotilla would have attacked Beatty’s force full-on and brought the latter’s encircling movement to a standstill.

When Jellicoe arrived near the scene, he desperately needed accurate and precise information, but such information was the last thing he received. One of Beatty’s most important jobs - and his greatest failure - was to send messages to his commander. For over an hour and 15 minutes Beatty either ignored or forgot to inform his commander about where the enemy was. Jellicoe had to deploy into one long line of battle in order to bring his guns to bear. If he deployed in the wrong direction, the Germans might cross his “T,” sailing across the foremost ship in his battle line and inflicting heavy damage.

At 1806, Beatty sighted the enemy to the south and passed the information on to Jellicoe. Still, Jellicoe did not know their speed, direction, or number. Despite this, he had no choice but to deploy. If he turned to the starboard, he would engage quickly, being well within gunnery range. He could also come under heavy destroyer attack. If he turned to port, he would avoid the torpedo attacks, being 4000 yards away from the enemy line. This move would cross the German “T” and put the British fleet against the dull-gray sky, making it hard to see, while the Germans would be highlighted by the western sky.

Scheer was surprised.. He had 21 dreadnoughts against Beatty’s 8. He was about to grab his prize when the whole British Grand Fleet suddenly appeared. He reacted quickly. He saw only one way out - to order a carefully rehearsed fleet maneuver designed for exactly this situation, when it was necessary to break away rapidly from a stronger fleet. At 1836, Scheer signaled for each ship to make a 180-degree turn onto the opposite course. This maneuver caught Jellicoe off guard. Had it not been for the wounded Wiesbaden and the slower ships that Scheer mistakenly allowed to accompany him, he might have escaped with minimal damage. But even though Scheer had made a great turning maneuver, his fleet could not outrun Jellicoe’s fleet. Scheer ordered another turn to starboard. His decision to turn back and engage again has been criticized by many. Scheer himself was hard-pressed to justify his actions after the fact.

At 1855, Scheer sent the High Seas Fleet steaming straight at the full force of the British fleet. This move surprised the British, but the gamble did not pay off for the Germans. The British could see the German ships clearly, while the late-afternoon sun was blinding the German gunners, who could only make out the flashes of the British guns. Without a good target to shoot at, the Germans were sitting ducks. The German ships were hit repeatedly and could hardly see well enough to hit back. Ten minutes was all Scheer could stand. He sent his battlecruisers to attack and leave a smoke screen to shield his retreat. The battlecruisers were followed by destroyers. Their job was to lay down a line of torpedoes to cover the escape of the High Seas Fleet. This they failed to do, but they nevertheless forced the British to turn away and Scheer made good his escape. Afterward, Jellicoe was accused of forsaking the Royal Navy’s chance for a new Trafalgar. The ghost of Nelson would haunt him for the rest of his life. But to be fair, turning away from a torpedo attack was the accepted practice of the day. Moreover, he was still between the Germans and their path home. The Germans would have to cross the British line to find safe harbor. As far as Jellicoe was concerned, they would do battle again at daybreak the next day.

Scheer still had to take his battered ships to Horns Reef off the Denmark coast. From there they had a clear lane back to the Jade River, 100 miles to the south. The Germans were practiced at night battles, while the British were not. But daylight would come early at this latitude, around 0300. Scheer would have to act quickly. At 2215, 4 British light cruisers met 5 German. In the near-total darkness, it was hard to identify the ships. In the confused actions, the Frauenlob was torpedoed and sunk. The rest of the British ships seemed reluctant to engage or even to disclose their positions at night. Because of this, Moltke and Seydlitz were allowed to pass through the British lines unmolested.

Shortly after midnight, the crippled battlecruiser Lutzow was scuttled. At 0145, the British 12th Flotilla sighted 6 German battleships. The flotilla leader Faulkner and 4 other ships unleashed 17 torpedoes. One exploded in the bowels of the Pommern, a pre-dreadnought battleship, which suddenly fragmented and sank. Elsewhere the German dreadnought Thuringen spotted the armored cruiser Black Prince, splayed searchlights on her and shelled her mercilessly, with the spreading fires exploding her magazines - another total loss. At 0230 attracted by the noise, the cruiser Champion and 4 destroyers sighted Hipper’s trailing ships and torpedoed a destroyer but made no further effort to attack; they also failed to report the sighting to Jellicoe. Finally, at 0330, the Champion spotted 4 German destroyers moving in an opposite direction, fired desultorily, scoring a torpedo hit, but made no attempt to give chase. The British made other intermittent sightings of the withdrawing Germans but never reported them. The Battle of Jutland ended with a whimper. Hipper’s battlecruisers and the High Seas Fleet made good their escape past their protective minefields.

Jutland marked the end of an epoch in naval warfare, being the last occasion on which great fleets slugged it out within eyeshot of each other. British losses numbered 6096 dead, 3 battlecruisers, 3 armored cruisers, and 8 destroyers. German losses were 2551 dead, 1 pre-dreadnought battleship, 1 battlecruiser, 4 light cruisers, and 5 destroyers. The British lost over twice the tonnage of the Germans, but the Germans had several badly damaged ships as well, with Hipper’s fleet temporarily unfit for service.

As it was, the Germans claimed a great victory at Jutland. German newspapers exulted that Trafalgar had been reversed. In a limited sense, they were correct. The German High Fleet had certainly given as good as it got. But the British still maintained a great numerical superiority in ships over the Germans, and they were building new ships faster. Nor was there a change in the relative position of the two navies. The German fleet was still stuck in its corner of the North Sea and British ships still blockaded it. British ships were also repaired more quickly. On the 2nd, Jellicoe reported to the Admiralty that the Grand Fleet was again ready for action.

To the British public, Jutland came as a bombshell. Within an hour, London newsboys were on the streets shouting, “Great Naval Disaster! Five British Battleships Lost!” Flags were lowered to half-mast, stock exchanges closed, and theaters darkened. Overseas headlines read, “Britain Defeated at Sea!” and “British Fleet Almost Annihilated!” Soon, however, the British newspapers put things into cold perspective. “Will the shouting, flag wagging [German] people get any more of the copper, rubber, and cotton their government so sorely needs?” asked the British press. “Not a pound. Will meat and butter be cheaper in Berlin? Not by a pfennig. There is one test and only one, of victory. Who held the field of battle at the end of the fight?”

Even Scheer seemed to lose hope in the ability of the High Seas Fleet to have a definite impact. In a confidential report to the Kaiser, he stated that most of the ships would be ready for action by August, but that he doubted whether even a successful attack could reduce Britain’s control of the North Sea. He then added ominously, “A victorious end to the war within a reasonable time can only be achieved through defeat of the British economic life - that is, by using U-boats against British trade.” The German Navy had put up a valiant fight against superior force at Jutland, but by resuming unrestricted submarine warfare, Germany would foolishly antagonize the United States and bring it into the war. When Scheer convinced the Kaiser to allow unrestricted U-boat activity to resume, Germany in effect threw away her achievement at Jutland and planted the seeds that eventually would lose Germany the war.

[Dr Pepper]

Or has been written elsewhere..."The German Navy has violently assaulted its gaolers, but is now safely back behind bars"

And hubris was largely the cause of the British capital ship losses-overloaded with ammo-so ammunition stored in non authorised places, safety doors opened to increase the rate of resupply, propellant charges out of containers....

Youtube is awash with excellent videos on the battle-from historical to simulation to archaeological-below are a few from recent diving expeditions on some of the wrecks. A lot of pain might have been prevented in the Denmark Strait 20 odd years later had the lessons been properly learned.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgZ8JEiu_AQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6EU3BV1sHQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE4D9O6MvVM

[haroldeye]

We'd have done a lot better without Beatty.

[Mal Hombre]

Of course,palo would call it a British defeat but it was the Royal Navy that was still cruising the North Sea looking for a fight after the German fleet ran for it.Nelson would have chased them all the way to Bremerhaven..

[Ennath]

Originally Posted by Mal Hombre

Of course,palo would call it a British defeat but it was the Royal Navy that was still cruising the North Sea looking for a fight after the German fleet ran for it.Nelson would have chased them all the way to Bremerhaven..

And he would have run right into the German minefields. 1916 was not 1805. That's why Jellicoe (rightly) opted for a distant blockade rather than a close one. (In fact, in 1914, German naval plans were dependent on a close blockade, so they could wear the British fleet down with mines, submarines and light forces.)

[Ennath]

June 1, 1535
Tunis Expedition

In 1533, Suleiman the Magnificent ordered Khaireddin Barbarossa, whom he had summoned from Algiers, to build a large war fleet in the arsenal of Constantinople. Altogether 70 galleys were built during the winter of 1533–1534, manned by Christian and Jewish slave oarsmen. With this fleet, Barbarossa conducted aggressive raids along the coast of Italy, until he conquered Tunis on August 16, 1534, ousting the local ruler, Muley Hasan, subservient to the Spanish. Barbarossa established a base in Tunis, which could be used for raids in the region, and on nearby Malta.

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, was determined to retake the lost post, He assembled a large army of some 30,000 soldiers, 74 galleys (rowed by chained Protestants shipped in from Antwerp), 300 sailing ships, the advanced carrack Santa Anna and the Portuguese galleon São João Baptista, also known as Botafogo, most powerful ship in the world at the time. The expense involved was considerable, and on par with the cost of Charles' campaign against Suleiman on the Danube. Unexpectedly, the funding of the expedition came from the New World, in the form of a 2 million gold ducat treasure extracted by Francisco Pizarro in exchange for his releasing of the Inca king Atahualpa (see posting).

Despite a request by Charles, French King Francis I denied support to the expedition, explaining that he was in the midst of a 3-year truce with Barbarossa. Francis was also in negotiations with Suleiman for a combined attack on Charles. Francis only agreed to Pope Paul III’s request that no fight between Christians occur during the time of the expedition.

On June 1, 1535, protected by a Genoese fleet under Andrea Doria, Charles destroyed Barbarossa's fleet and, after a costly yet successful siege at La Goletta, captured Tunis. The Botafogo distinguished itself by breaking the chains protecting the harbor entrance with its spur ram, thereafter opening fire on La Goletta. The resulting massacre in the city left an estimated 30,000 dead. Barbarossa managed to flee to Algiers with several thousand Turks. In the ruins, the Spanish found cannonballs with the French Fleur-de-lys mark, evidence of the growing French-Ottoman ties. Muley Hasan was restored to his throne. Charles V celebrated a neo-classical triumph "over the infidel" at Rome on April 5, 1536 in commemoration of his victory.

Ottoman defeat in Tunis motivated them to enter into a formal alliance with France against the Habsburg Empire.