In late May 1916,
the British intercepted a mysterious German cipher that read “31 Gg.2490.”
They failed to decipher it,
but the Royal Navy High Command assumed that this was a signal for the German Navy
to start some kind of operation
and ordered the main forces of the Grand Fleet to set sail.
Captains, keep your eyes peeled
because this video contains a bonus code for you to unlock a combat mission!
After completing it, you'll receive a Battle of Jutland container.
You'll also get a chance to participate in a raffle.
The prize is battleship Agincourt with a 6-skill-point Commander,
Port slot, and Jutland Veteran camouflage.
All this will go to one of our channel subscribers
who hits the "Like" button under the video
and states the exact date and year of the Battle of Jutland.
Make sure that the comment with your answer includes your in-game nickname
and the server you play on.
Good luck in battle, Captains!
Now, let’s return to the story about the Battle of Jutland...
Their assumption was correct.
The Germans were really preparing an operation near the Skagerrak strait
to lure part of the British fleet right into the hands of the High Seas Fleet.
The "31 Gg.2490" cipher was a signal
for submarine commanders to prepare for the operation that would begin on May 31.
The British assumed that they would be facing the entire enemy fleet.
The Germans, however, hoped to split the opposing forces and sink a part of them.
During the night between May 30 and 31,
the fleets of both sides put out to sea almost in full force.
The Grand Fleet had almost twice as many battleships as the High Seas Fleet.
Underwater ambushes prepared by the Germans failed,
and the general battle anticipated by both sides was looming.
If it hadn't been for Danish steamer N.J. Fjord,
which happened to be sailing between the British and German forces,
the opponents could easily have missed each other and met much later.
It's hard to imagine how the battle might have gone in that situation.
But in reality, around 14:00 on May 31,
the ships that went to inspect N.J. Fjord noticed each other,
and half an hour later, the first salvos of the Battle of Jutland—
the largest naval battle of the First World War—thundered out.
An hour later, the reconnaissance forces of the opponents spotted each other.
The Germans needed to lure the British closer to their main forces,
so they turned south.
The first and the second squadrons of British battlecruisers followed.
Vice Admiral David Beatty, in his turn, wanted to locate the main German forces
and draw them to the Grand Fleet
in order to destroy the High Seas Fleet with his superior forces.
The Germans opened fire first, at 15:48,
when the distance between the opponents had narrowed to 14 km.
The British ships were clearly visible against the bright sky,
while the Germans were substantially disguised
by the darkness of the eastern part of the horizon.
The smoke screens set by their own destroyers
and the wind that carried the smoke closer to the enemy
hampered the British gunners from aiming directly.
The following German battlecruisers took part in the first clash:
Lützow, Derfflinger, Seydlitz, Moltke, and Von der Tann.
Lion, Princess Royal, Queen Mary, Tiger, New Zealand, and Indefatigable
represented the Royal Navy.
During the skirmish, Moltke temporarily disabled two of Tiger's turrets.
At 16:00, a shell from Lützow set one of Lion's turrets on fire.
If the mortally wounded commander of the main turret
hadn't ordered the magazine doors to be sealed
and for it to be flooded, Lion would have exploded and sunk.
A couple of minutes after the miraculous rescue of the British flagship,
two salvos from Von der Tann hit Indefatigable.
After the first hits, the cruiser lost control and left the formation;
after those that followed, she exploded and instantly sank.
Only two crew members survived.
Thus, the Germans managed to equalize the odds.
Five versus five.
But at that moment,
the fifth squadron of the latest British battleships engaged in the battle.
After 20 minutes, the stern and bow turrets on Von der Tann were disabled.
If the two rearmost German battlecruisers hadn't been constantly zigzagging,
it's quite possible that the four British battleships
equipped with 381 mm guns could have quickly sunk them.
Meanwhile, Derfflinger and Seydlitz aimed true at Queen Mary
and fired several salvos in succession.
That last one caused an explosion in the powder magazines;
the British cruiser was split in half and quickly sank.
The escorting destroyers were only able to rescue eight crew members.
"There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today,"
said Vice Admiral Beatty quietly, holding his binoculars.
At the same time, destroyers entered the battle between battlecruisers,
but torpedo attacks proved to be ineffective.
The main forces of the German fleet arrived at the scene of battle,
and the British ships turned north,
luring the enemy closer to the main forces of the Grand Fleet.
It would be interesting to see what might have happened
in the battle between battlecruisers
if the main forces of both parties hadn't intervened.
Let's recreate the battle between British and German battlecruisers
in World of Warships.
We'll replace the ships that are missing in our game
with their sister ships and analogs.
Let's recreate two battle situations.
The first one is the shootout at 15:50;
the second one is the fire adjustment at 16:00.
Given some in-game conventions,
we somewhat reduced the distance between the opponents during the battle.
In this reconstruction,
we'll try to figure out which of the parties was closest to winning.
The ships are in formation and battle-ready!
We won't use any consumables.
All participants are firing only armor-piercing shells.
Two minutes after the first salvo, the Germans lose Moltke.
One minute later, the second ship heads back to Port,
followed by the third and fourth ships.
As a result,
Derfflinger, which avoided the British shells according to the historical report,
remains as one ship against six rather battered
but quite combat-ready opponents in our reconstruction.
It's not difficult to guess the fate of the German battlecruiser
under the circumstances.
However, she fought bravely and managed to sink Princess Royal.
In the second reconstruction,
the battlecruiser commanders are given new instructions.
The firing priorities will now correspond to those
in the Battle of Jutland at 16:00.
The Germans lose Moltke a mere 2 minutes after the start of battle.
Another 2 minutes later, the British see Princess Royal and Lion go down.
However, right before she disappears beneath the waves,
Princess Royal fires her last salvo,
sending Derflinger to the bottom.
Next, Von der Tann sinks Indefatigable.
Both sides are left with three ships.
Seydlitz and Quinn Mary go down almost simultaneously.
Lützow and Von der Tann focus their fire on Tiger.
By joining forces, the British sink Von Der Tann;
the Germans manage to sink Tiger.
The outcome of the reconstruction turns into a duel
between battlecruisers New Zealand and Lützow.
And the former emerges as a victor.
Let's summarize everything.
The Germans, despite having excellent ships,
were quantitatively overwhelmed by the British.
Naturally, a larger number of guns allowed the ships from Foggy Albion
to sink their enemy faster.
This also includes holding the battle formation.
Both squadrons were an easy target for each other.
If the ship commanders were able to actively maneuver,
the results could be even more unpredictable.
But only in our game.
In real life, as we already know,
everything was quite different.
There have been many great battles in the history of the world fleet.
It's quite interesting to study them in detail,
and it's even more interesting to wonder “What If?”
You'll definitely hear this question again in our next episodes of the show!
See you soon, Captains!