Order of battle at Jutland facts for kids

Maps showing the approach of the fleets to the Battle of Jutland and details of the two major actions.

The Battle of Jutland was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916, in the waters of the North Sea, between forces of the Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy. The battle involved 250 warships, and, in terms of combined tonnage of vessels engaged, was the largest naval battle in history.

The engagement was the result of the high commands of the two nations' eagerness to give their publics a victory in contrast to the stalemate on the ground in Western Europe (the Battle of Verdun had been underway for three months at the time the opposing fleets sortied). Both navies had plans to lure the other's battlecruisers into a trap where they could be defeated by a superior force of battleships.

In the event, the battle had no impact on the course of the war and victory was claimed by both sides.

Summary

Ships present

• The British capital ships carried a larger weight of broadside—332,360 lb (150,760 kg) compared to 134,216 lb (60,879 kg)—than the German ones.
• The German Navy's torpedo boats were of similar size and function to the destroyers in the Royal Navy, and are often referred to as such.

Losses

• Number in parentheses indicates date of loss (31st May or 1st June)

Abbreviations

Officers killed in action are indicated thus:   †

Abbreviations for officers’ ranks (German ranks translated according to current NATO practice):

Adm / Admiral

VAdm / Vice-admiral : Vizeadmiral / VAdm

RAdm / Rear-admiral : Konteradmiral / KAdm

Cdre / Commodore : Kommodore / Kom

Capt / Captain : Kapitän zur See / KptzS

Cdr / Commander : Fregattenkapitän / FKpt

Lt Cdr / Lieutenant-commander : Korvettenkapitän / KKpt

Lt / Lieutenant : Kapitänleutnant / KptLt

SLt / Sub-lieutenant : Oberleutnant zur See / OLtzS

Other abbreviations

Frhr:Freiherr / title in the Prussian nobility equivalent to Baron)

SMS: Seiner Majestät Schiff / German; translation: His Majesty's Ship)

the Hon.: The Honourable

Royal Navy

Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe

Dreadnoughts of Vice-Adm. Jerram's 2nd Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet

Battleship King George V, Adm. Jellicos's flagship, at anchor

Battleship Agincourt underway, at 28,750 tons the largest ship in the Grand Fleet; as all her fourteen 12-inch guns were placed along the centerline, she also had the most powerful broadside at the Battle of Jutland.

Grand Fleet

Began sortie from Scapa Flow 9.30pm 28 May
The Grand Fleet was the main body of the British Home Fleets in 1916, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands and Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth in Scotland.

Commander-in-chief, Grand Fleet: Admiral Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe, KCB KCVO in HMS Iron Duke

Second in Command, Grand Fleet: Vice-admiral Sir Cecil Burney, KCB KCMG in HMS Marlborough

Chief of Staff: VAdm Sir Charles Edward Madden, KCB CVO

Captain of the Fleet: Cdre Lionel Halsey, C.B., C.M.G., AdC.

Master of the Fleet: Capt Oliver Elles Leggett

flag lieutenants: Cdr the Hon. Matthew Robert Best, M.V.O., Cdr Charles Morton Forbes, Cdr Alexander Raill Wadham, Cdr Richard Lindsay Nicholson

Battleships

2nd Battle Squadron (battleships)

Vice-Admiral Thomas Henry Martyn Jerram

Sortied from Cromarty Firth; rendezvoused with Jellicoe's force around noon 31 May

1st Division: VAdm Jerram

HMS King George V (flagship): Capt Frederick Field

HMS Ajax: Capt George Henry Baird

HMS Centurion: Capt Michael Culme-Seymour

HMS Erin: Capt the Hon. Victor Stanley

2nd Division: RAdm Arthur Leveson

HMS Orion (flagship): Capt Oliver Backhouse

HMS Monarch: Capt George Borrett

HMS Conqueror: Capt Hugh Tothill

HMS Thunderer: Capt James Fergusson

Fleet Flagship (at head of 3rd Division but not part of 4th Battle Squadron)

HMS Iron Duke: Capt Frederic Charles Dreyer

4th Battle Squadron (battleships)

Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet

Flag commander: Cdr William Milbourne James

3rd Division : RAdm Sir Alexander Duff

HMS Royal Oak: Capt Crawford Maclachlan

HMS Superb (flagship): Capt Edmond Hyde Parker

HMS Canada: Capt William Nicholson

4th Division: VAdm Sturdee

HMS Benbow (flagship): Capt Henry Wise Parker

HMS Bellerophon: Capt Edward Francis Bruen

HMS Temeraire: Capt Edwin Veale Underhill

HMS Vanguard: Capt James Douglas Dick

1st Battle Squadron (battleships)

Admiral Sir Cecil Burney

Chief of Staff: Cdre Percy Grant

Flag lieutenant: Lt Cdr James Buller Kitson

5th Division: RAdm Ernest Frederick Augustus Gaunt

HMS Colossus (flagship): Capt Dudley Pound

HMS Collingwood: Capt James Clement Ley

HMS St. Vincent: Capt William Wordsworth Fisher

HMS Neptune Capt Vivian Bernard

6th Division: VAdm Burney

HMS Marlborough (flagship): Capt George Parish Ross

HMS Revenge: Capt Edward Buxton Kiddle

HMS Hercules: Capt Lewis Clinton-Baker

HMS Agincourt: Capt Henry Montagu Doughty

Cruisers

Armoured cruiser Black Prince, lost with all hands the night of 31 May–1 June

Light cruiser Boadicea at anchor

1st Cruiser Squadron (armoured cruisers)

Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Keith Arbuthnot, 4th Baronet  †

HMS Defence (sunk 31 May) (flagship): Capt Stanley Venn Ellis  †

HMS Warrior (sunk 1 June): Capt Vincent Barkly Molteno

HMS Duke of Edinburgh: Capt Henry Blackett

HMS Black Prince (sunk 1 June): Capt Thomas Parry Bonham  †

2nd Cruiser Squadron (armoured cruisers)

Rear-Admiral Herbert Leopold Heath

HMS Minotaur (flagship): Capt Arthur Cloudesley Shovel Hughes D'Aeth

HMS Hampshire: Capt Herbert John Savill

HMS Shannon: Capt John Saumarez Dumaresq

HMS Cochrane: Capt Eustace La Trobe Leatham

4th Light Cruiser Squadron

Commodore Charles Edward Le Mesurier

HMS Calliope: Cdre Le Mesurier

HMS Constance: Capt Cyril Samuel Townsend

HMS Comus: Capt Alan Geoffrey Hotham

HMS Caroline: Capt Henry Ralph Crooke

HMS Royalist: Capt the Hon. Herbert Meade

Light cruisers attached for repeating visual signals

HMS Boadicea: Capt Louis Charles Stirling Woollcombe (attached to 2nd B.S.)

HMS Active: Capt Percy Withers (attached to Fleet Flagship)

HMS Blanche: Capt John Moore Casement (attached to 4th B.S.)

HMS Bellona: Capt Arthur Brandreth Scott Dutton (attached to 1st B.S.)

Other ships under direct command of the Commander-in-Chief

HMS Abdiel: Cdr Berwick Curtis (destroyer-minelayer)

HMS Oak: Lt Cdr Douglas Faviell (destroyer)

Destroyers

Faulknor-class destroyer Tipperary, sunk on the night of 31 May–1 June taking 150 crew and flotilla captain John Wintour

Destroyer Spitfire after having been rammed by the German battleship Nassau during the Battle of Jutland

Faulknor-class destroyer Broke at speed

Destroyer Ambuscade

C-class light cruiser Castor

The bow and stern of battlecruiser Invincible standing upright on the bed of the North Sea after exploding during the Battle of Jutland. Rear Adm. Hood and Capt. Cay were killed along with the crew.

4th Destroyer Flotilla

Captain Charles John Wintour  †

HMS Tipperary (sunk 1 June) (flotilla leader): Capt Wintour  †

First half-flotilla / 4th D.F.

HMS Spitfire: Lt Cdr Clarence Walter Eyre Trelawney

HMS Sparrowhawk (scuttled 1 June following collision): Lt Cdr Sydney Hopkins

HMS Garland: Lt Cdr Reginald Stannus Goff

HMS Contest: Lt Cdr Ernald Gilbert Hoskins Master

Group 8 / 4th D.F.

HMS Owl: Cdr Robert Gerald Hamond

HMS Hardy: Cdr Richard Anthony Aston Plowden

HMS Mischief: Lt Cdr the Hon. Cyril Augustus Ward (from 12th D.F.)

HMS Midge: Lt Cdr James Robert Carnegie Cavendish

Second half-flotilla / 4th D.F.

HMS Broke (flotilla leader): Cdr Walter Lingen Allen

3rd Division / 4th D.F.

HMS Porpoise: Cdr Hugh Davenport Colville

HMS Unity: Lt Cdr Arthur Macaulay Lecky

4th Division / 4th D.F.

HMS Achates: Cdr Reginald Becher Caldwell Hutchinson, D.S.C.

HMS Ambuscade: Lt Cdr Gordon Alston Coles

HMS Ardent (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Arthur Marsden

HMS Fortune (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Frank Goodrich Terry  †

11th Destroyer Flotilla

Commodore Hawksley

HMS Castor (light cruiser)

First half-flotilla / 11th D.F.

1st Division / 11th D.F.

HMS Ossory: Cdr Harold Victor Dundas

HMS Martial: Lt Cdr Julian Harrison

HMS Magic: Lt Cdr Gerald Charles Wynter

HMS Minion: Lt Cdr Henry Clive Rawlings

2nd Division / 11th D.F.

HMS Mystic: Cdr Claud Finlinson Allsup

HMS Mons: Lt Cdr Robert Makin

HMS Mandate: Lt Cdr Edward McConnell Wyndham Lawrie

HMS Michael: Lt Cdr Claude Lindsay Bate

Second half-flotilla/11th D.F.

HMS Kempenfelt (flotilla leader): Cdr Harold Ernest Sulivan

3rd Division / 11th D.F.

HMS Marne: Lt Cdr George Bibby Hartford

HMS Milbrook: Lt Charles Granville Naylor

HMS Manners: Lt Cdr Gerald Cartmell Harrison

4th Division / 11th D.F.

HMS Moon: Cdr (Acting) William Dion Irvin

HMS Mounsey: Lt Cdr Ralph Vincent Eyre

HMS Morning Star: Lt Cdr Hugh Undecimus Fletcher

12th Destroyer Flotilla

Captain Anselan John Buchanan Stirling

HMS Faulknor (flotilla leader): Capt Stirling

First half-flotilla / 12th D.F.

1st Division / 12th D.F.

HMS Obedient: Cdr George William McOran Campbell

HMS Mindful: Lt Cdr John Jackson Cuthbert Ridley

HMS Marvel: Lt Cdr Reginald Watkins Grubb

HMS Onslaught: Lt Cdr Arthur Gerald Onslow   †

2nd Division / 12th D.F.

HMS Maenad: Cdr John Pelham Champion

HMS Narwhal: Lt Cdr Henry Victor Hudson

HMS Nessus: Lt Cdr Eric Quentin Carter

HMS Noble: Lt Cdr Henry Percy Boxer

Second half-flotilla / 12th D.F.: Cdr Norton Allen Sulivan

HMS Marksman (flotilla leader): Cdr Norton Allen Sulivan

HMS Opal: Cdr Charles Geoffrey Coleridge Sumner

HMS Nonsuch: Lt Cdr Herbert Inglis Nigel Lyon

HMS Menace: Lt Cdr Charles Astley Poignand

HMS Munster: Lt Cdr Spencer Francis Russell

HMS Mary Rose: Lt Cdr Edwin Anderson Homan

3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron

Rear-Adm. H.L.A. Hood (KIA)

This squadron, temporarily attached to the Grand Fleet from the Battle Cruiser Fleet, was stationed ahead of the main body, with the intention that it join Beatty when the action began.
Rear-Admiral The Hon. Horace Lambert Alexander Hood   †

Battlecruisers

HMS Invincible (sunk 31 May) (flagship): Capt Arthur Lindesay Cay  †

HMS Inflexible: Capt Edward Henry Fitzhardinge Heaton-Ellis

HMS Indomitable: Capt Francis William Kennedy

Accompanying cruisers

HMS Canterbury : Capt Percy Molyneux Rawson Royds

HMS Chester : Capt Robert Neale Lawson

Attached destroyers

HMS Shark (sunk 31 May): Cdr Loftus William Jones  †

HMS Ophelia: Cdr Lewis Gonne Eyre Crabbe (Admiralty M class)

HMS Christopher: Lt Cdr Fairfax Moresby Kerr

HMS Acasta: Lt Cdr John Ouchterlony Barron

Battle Cruiser Fleet

Vice-Adm. Sir David R. Beatty

Battlecruiser Lion, Adm. Beatty's flagship, heavily damaged at the Battle of Jutland

Battlecruiser Queen Mary exploding, 31 May 1916

This force of high-speed ships was subordinate to the Commander in Chief of the Grand Fleet, but operated independently as an advanced guard, intended to reconnoiter aggressively the enemy fleet and to engage enemy scouting forces. At its core were six battlecruisers, accompanied by 13 light cruisers, and escorted by 18 destroyers and an early aircraft carrier.
Sortied from Firth of Forth soon after 6.00pm 30 May
Vice-Admiral Sir David Richard Beatty in HMS Lion

Chief of Staff: Capt Rudolf Walter Bentinck

Flag lieutenants: Cdr the Hon. Reginald Aylmer Ranfurly Plunkett, Lt Cdr Ralph Frederick Seymour

Battlecruisers

HMS Lion: (flagship) Capt Alfred Chatfield

1st Battlecruiser Squadron: RAdm Osmond Brock,

HMS Princess Royal (flagship): Capt Walter Henry Cowan,

HMS Queen Mary (sunk 31 May): Capt Cecil Irby Prowse  †

HMS Tiger: Capt Henry Bertram Pelly.

2nd Battlecruiser Squadron: RAdm. William Pakenham,.

HMS New Zealand (flagship): Capt John Green

HMS Indefatigable (sunk 31 May): Capt Charles Fitzgerald Sowerby  †

Light cruisers

1st Light Cruiser Squadron: Cdre Edwyn Alexander-Sinclair

HMS Galatea Cdre Alexander-Sinclair

HMS Phaeton: Capt John Cameron

HMS Inconstant: Capt Bertram Thesiger

HMS Cordelia: Capt Tufton Beamish

2nd Light Cruiser Squadron: Cdre William Goodenough

HMS Southampton: Cdre Goodenough

HMS Birmingham: Capt Arthur Duff

HMS Nottingham: Capt Charles Blois Miller

HMS Dublin: Capt Albert Charles Scott

3rd Light Cruiser Squadron: RAdm Trevylyan Napier

HMS Falmouth (flagship): Capt John Douglas Edwards

HMS Yarmouth: Capt Thomas Drummond Pratt

HMS Birkenhead: Capt Edward Reeves

HMS Gloucester: Capt William Frederick Blunt

Attached vessel

seaplane tender HMS Engadine: Lt Cdr Charles Gwillim Robinson

aircraft: 2 Short Type 184 reconnaissance seaplanes, 2 Sopwith Baby fighter seaplanes

Destroyers

Short Type 184 scout plane, the only British aircraft to take part in the Battle of Jutland

Light cruiser Champion

13th Destroyer Flotilla
Captain James Uchtred Farie

HMS Champion (light cruiser): Capt Farie

1st Division / 13th D.F.

HMS Obdurate: Lt Cdr Cecil Henry Hulton Sams

HMS Nerissa: Lt Cdr Montague George Bentinck Legge

HMS Termagant: Lt Cdr Cuthbert Patrick Blake (attached from 10th D.F., Harwich Force)

HMS Moresby: Lt Cdr Roger Vincent Alison (detached to escort HMS Engadine)

2nd Division / 13th D.F.

HMS Nestor (sunk 31 May): Cdr the Hon. Edward Bingham

HMS Nomad (sunk 31 May): Lt Cdr Paul Whitfield

HMS Nicator: Lt Jack Ernest Albert Mocatta

HMS Onslow: Lt Cdr John Tovey (detached to escort HMS Engadine)

3rd Division / 13th D.F.

HMS Narborough: Lt Cdr Geoffrey Corlett

HMS Pelican: Lt Cdr Kenneth Adair Beattie

HMS Petard: Lt Cdr Evelyn Thomson

HMS Turbulent (sunk 1 June): Lt Cdr Dudley Stuart  †

Attached Harwich Destroyers (9th Destroyer Flotilla): Cdr Malcolm Lennon Goldsmith

1st division / 9th D.F.

HMS Lydiard: Cdr Goldsmith

HMS Liberty: Lt Cdr Philip Wilfred Sidney King

HMS Landrail: Lt Cdr Francis Edward Henry Graham Hobart

2nd division / 9th D.F.

HMS Moorsom: Cdr John Coombe Hodgson (from 10th D.F.)

HMS Laurel: Lt Henry Dawson Crawford Stanistreet

HMS Morris: Lt Cdr Edward Sidney Graham (from 10th D.F.)

5th Battle Squadron

Rear-Adm. Hugh Evan-Thomas

Battleship Barham, Rear-Adm. Evan-Thomas's flagship, at Scapa Flow in 1917

The 5th Battle Squadron was a special unit of fast Queen Elizabeth-class battleships, intended to act as the vanguard of the main battle line. At the Battle of Jutland, it operated with the Battlecruiser Fleet, and was escorted by the 1st Destroyer Flotilla.
Rear-Admiral Hugh Evan-Thomas
Sortied from Firth of Forth with Battle Cruiser Fleet soon after 6.00pm 30 May

Battleships

HMS Barham (flagship): Capt Arthur William Craig

HMS Valiant: Capt Maurice Woollcombe

HMS Warspite: Capt Edward Montgomery Phillpotts

HMS Malaya: Capt the Hon. Algernon Boyle

1st Destroyer Flotilla

HMS Fearless (light cruiser): Capt Charles Donnison Roper

HMS Defender: Lt Cdr Laurence Reynolds Palmer

1st Division / 1st D.F.

HMS Acheron: Cdr Charles Ramsey

HMS Ariel: Lt Cdr Arthur Grendon Tippet

HMS Attack: Lt Cdr Charles Herbert Neill James

HMS Hydra: Lt Francis George Glossop

2nd Division / 1st D.F.

HMS Badger: Cdr Charles Albert Fremantle

HMS Lizard: Lt Cdr Edward Brooke

HMS Goshawk: Cdr Dashwood Fowler Moir

HMS Lapwing: Lt Cdr Alexander Hugh Gye

Imperial German Navy

VAdm Reinhard Scheer

Dreadnoughts of the High Seas Fleet steam in a line of battle

Battleship Friedrich der Grosse, VAdm Scheer's flagship

Battleship Kaiser underway

Light cruiser Frauenlob, sunk 31st May

Light cruiser Rostock, scuttled 1st June after being torpedoed

High Seas Fleet (Hochseeflotte)

The High Seas Fleet was the main body of the German surface navy, principally based at Wilhelmshaven, on the Jade River in North-West Germany.

Commander-in-Chief (Chef der Hochseeflotte): Vizeadmiral Reinhard Scheer in SMS Friedrich der Grosse

Chief of Staff: KptzS Adolf von Trotha

Chief of Operations: KptzS Magnus von Levetzow

Battleships

3rd Battle Squadron (III. Geschwader) (battleships)

Konteradmrial Paul Behncke

Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Frhr Ernst von Gagern

5th Division: KAdm Behncke

SMS König (flagship): KptzS Friedrich Brüninghaus

SMS Grosser Kurfürst: KptzS Ernst Goette

SMS Kronprinz: KptzS Constanz Feldt

SMS Markgraf: KptzS Karl Seiferling

6th Division: KAdm Hermann Nordmann

SMS Kaiser (flagship): KptzS Walter Freiherr von Keyserlingk [de]

SMS Prinzregent Luitpold: KptzS Karl Heuser

SMS Kaiserin: KptzS Karl Sievers

Fleet Flagship (Flaggschiff der Hochseeflotte)

SMS Friedrich der Grosse: KptzS Theodor Fuchs

1st Battle Squadron (I. Geschwader) (battleships)

Vizeadmiral Ehrhard Schmidt

Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Wolfgang Wegener

1st Division: VAdm Schmidt

SMS Ostfriesland (flagship): KptzS Ernst-Oldwig von Natzmer

SMS Thüringen: KptzS Hans Küsel

SMS Helgoland: KptzS Friedrich von Kameke

SMS Oldenburg: KptzS Wilhelm Höpfner

2nd Division: KAdm Walter Engelhardt

SMS Posen (flagship): KptzS Richard Lange

SMS Rheinland: KptzS Heinrich Rohardt

SMS Nassau: KptzS Robert Kühne

SMS Westfalen: KptzS Johannes Redlich

2nd Battle Squadron (II. Geschwader) (battleships)

Konteradmrial Franz Mauve [de]

Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Willy Kahlert

3rd Division: KAdm Mauve

SMS Deutschland (flagship): KptzS Hugo Meurer

SMS Hessen: KptzS Rudolf Bartels

SMS Pommern (sunk 1st June): KptzS Siegfried Bölken  †

4th Division: KAdm Frhr Gottfried von Dalwigk zu Lichtenfels

SMS Hannover (flagship): KptzS Wilhlem Heine

SMS Schlesien: KptzS Friedrich Behncke

SMS Schleswig-Holstein: KptzS Eduard Varrentrapp

Light cruisers

4th Scouting Group (IV. Aufklärungsgruppe) (light cruisers)

Kommodore Ludwig von Reuter

Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Heinrich Weber

SMS Stettin (flagship): FKpt Friedrich Rebensburg

SMS München: KKpt Oscar Böcker

SMS Frauenlob (sunk 31st May): FKpt Georg Hoffman  †

SMS Stuttgart: FKpt Max Hagedorn

SMS Hamburg: KKpt Gerhard von Gaudecker

Torpedo boats

German Große Torpedoboote ("large torpedoboats") were the equivalent of British destroyers .

First Leader of Torpedo-Boats

Kommodore Andreas Michelsen

SMS Rostock (scuttled 1st June) (light cruiser; flagship 1st Leader of Torpedo-Boats): FKpt Otto Feldmann

1st Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (I. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

1st Half-Flotilla (1. Halbflottille) : KptLt Conrad Albrecht

SMS G39 (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Franz-Ferdinand von Loefen

SMS G40: KptLt Richard Beitzen

SMS G38: KptLt Hermann Metger

SMS S32: KptLt Hermann Froelich

3rd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (III. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

Korvettenkapitän Wilhelm Hollmann

SMS S53 (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Friedrich Götting

5th Half-Flotilla (5. Halbflottille)  : KptLt Theophil Gautier

SMS V71 (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Friedrich Ulrich

SMS V73: KptLt Martin Delbrück

SMS G88: KptLt Hans Scabell

6th Half-Flotilla (6. Halbflottille) : Korvettenkapitän Theodor Riedel  †

SMS V48 (lead boat, half-flotilla) (sunk 31st May): KptLt Friedrich Eckoldt  †

SMS S54: KptLt Otto Karlowa

SMS G42: KptLt Bernd von Arnim

5th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (V. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

Korvettenkapitän Oskar Heinecke

SMS G11 (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Adolf Müller

9th Half-Flotilla (9. Halbflottille): KptLt Gerhard Hoefer

SMS V2 (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Gerhard Hoefer

SMS V4 (sunk 1st June): KptLt Armin Barop

SMS V6: OLtzS Hans Behrendt

SMS V1: OLtzS Hans Röthig

SMS V3: KptLt Manfred von Killinger

10th Half-Flotilla (10. Halbflottille): KptLt Friedrich Klein

SMS G8 (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Ernst Rodenberg

SMS V5: OLtzS Paul Tils

SMS G7: KptLt Johannes Weinecke

SMS G9: KptLt Hans Anschütz

SMS G10: OLtzS Waldemar Haumann

7th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (VII. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

Korvettenkapitän Gottlieb von Koch

SMS S24 (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Max Fink

13th Half-Flotilla (13. Halbflottille): KptLt Georg von Zitzewitz

SMS S15 (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Christian Schmidt

SMS S17: KptLt Hans-Joachim von Puttkammer

SMS S20: KptLt Albert Benecke

SMS S16: KptLt Walter Loeffler

SMS S18: KptLt Bruno Haushalter

14th Half-Flotilla (14. Halbflottille) : Korvettenkapitän Hermann Cordes

SMS S19 (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Georg Reimer

SMS S23: KptLt Arthur von Killinger

SMS V189: OLtzS Wilhelm Keil

Scouting Force

Vadm Franz Hipper

Battlecruiser Lützow, Vadm Hipper's flagship

Battlecruiser Derfflinger firing a full broadside

The soundness of German capital ship design was demonstrated by the tremendous amount of damage absorbed by battlecruiser Seydlitz leaving her still able to limp back to port.

Light cruiser Regensburg in 1920

Commander, Scouting Forces (Befehlshaber die Aufklärungsstreitkräfte): Vizeadmiral Franz Hipper

Flag lieutenant: Korvettenkapitän Erich Raeder

Battlecruisers

1st Scouting Group (I. Aufklärungsgruppe)

Vizeadmiral Hipper

SMS Lützow (flagship) (scuttled 1 June): KptzS Victor Harder

SMS Derfflinger: KptzS Johannes Hartog

SMS Seydlitz: KptzS Moritz von Egidy

SMS Moltke: KptzS Johannes von Karpf

SMS Von der Tann: KptzS Hans Zenker

Light cruisers

2nd Scouting Group (II. Aufklärungsgruppe)

Konteradmiral Friedrich Boedicker

SMS Frankfurt (flagship): KptzS Thilo von Trotha

SMS Elbing (scuttled 1 June): KFpt Rudolf Madlung

SMS Pillau: KFpt Konrad Mommsen [de]

SMS Wiesbaden (sunk 1 June): KFpt Fritz Reiß  †

Torpedo boats

Second Leader of Torpedo-Boats

Kommodore Paul Heinrich

SMS Regensburg (light cruiser; flagship Second Leader of Torpedo-Boats): KFpt Bruno Heuberer

2nd Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (II. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

Commander Heinrich Schuur

SMS B98 (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Theodor Hengstenberg

3rd Half-Flotilla (3. Halbflottille): KKpt Heinrich Boest

SMS G101 (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Rudolf Schulte

SMS G102: KptLt von Barendorff

SMS B112: KptLt Carl August Claussen [de]

SMS B97: KptLt Leo Riedel

4th Half-Flotilla (4. Halbflottille): KKpt Adolf Dithmar

SMS B109 (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Victor Hahndorff

SMS B110: KptLt August Vollheim

SMS B111: KptLt Heinrich Schickhardt

SMS G103: KptLt Fritz Spiess

SMS G104: KptLt Georg von Bartenwerffer

6th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (VI. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

Lieut. Commander Max Schultz

SMS G41 (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Hermann Boehm

11th Half-Flotilla (11. Halbflottille)  : KptLt Wilhelm Rüman

SMS V44 (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Karl von Holleuffer

SMS G87: KptLt Siegfried Karstens

SMS G86: KptLt Kurt Grimm

12th Half-Flotilla (12. Halbflottille): KptLt Rudolf Lahs

SMS V69 (lead boat, half-flotilla): KptLt Robert Stecher

SMS V45: KptLt Martin Laßmann

SMS V46: KptLt Bruno Krumhaar

SMS S50: KptLt Philipp Recke

SMS G37: KptLt Wolf von Trotha

9th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (IX. Torpedoboots-Flottille)

Lieut. Commander Herbert Goehle

SMS V28 (lead boat, flotilla): KptLt Otto Lenssen

17th Half-Flotilla (17. Halbflottille): KptLt Hermann Ehrhardt

SMS V27 (sunk 31 May) (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS Hartmut Buddecke

SMS V26: KptLt Hans Köhler

SMS S36: KptLt Franz Fischer

SMS S51: KptLt Werner Dette

SMS S52: KptLt Wilhelm Ehrentraut

18th Half-Flotilla (17. Halbflottille): Korvettenkapitän Werner Tillessen [de]

SMS V30 (lead boat, half-flotilla): OLtzS' Ernst Wolf

SMS S34: KptLt Otto Andersen

SMS S33: KptLt Waldemar von Münch

SMS V29 (sunk 31 May): KptLt Erich Steinbrinck  †

SMS S35 (sunk 31 May): KptLt Friedrich Ihn  †

Submarines

World War I German submarine

Leader of Submarines (Führer der Unterseeboote) : KptzS Hermann Bauer in SMS Hamburg

The following submarines were deployed to attack the Grand Fleet in the North Sea during the period of the Battle of Jutland

Off Terschelling:

U-46: KptLt Leo Hillebrand

U-67: KptLt Hans Nieland

Off the Humber Estuary:

UB-21: KptLt Ernst Hashagen

Off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire:

UB-22: OLtzS Bernhard Putzier

Off the Firth of Forth, Scotland:

U-52: KptLt Hans Walter

U-24: KptLt Rudolf Schneider

U-70: KptLt Otto Wünsche

U-32: KptLt Fahr Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim

U-51: KptLt Walter Rumpfel

U-63: KptLt Otto Schultze

U-66: KptLt Thorwald von Bothmer

Off Peterhead, Scotland:

U-47: KptLt Heinrich Metzger

Off the Pentland Firth (between the Orkneys and the Scottish mainland):

U-44: KptLt Paul Wagenführ

U-43: KptLt Helmuth Jürst

Airships

Typical German Zeppelin

During the battle the Germans used the Zeppelin airships of the Naval Airship Section (Marine Luftschiff Abteilung) for scouting, although in the prevailing overcast conditions they were not particularly successful. The commander of the Naval Airship Section was Korvettenkapitän Peter Strasser, and they flew from bases at Nordholz and Hage in north-west Germany and Tondern (then part of Schleswig; the town became part of Denmark in 1920).

Sortied on 31 May

L.9: KptzS August Stelling (Army Officer, on the inactive list)

L.14: KptLt Alois Böcker

L.16: KptLt Erich Sommerfeldt

L.21: KptLt Max Dietrich

L.23: KptLt Otto von Schubert

Sortied on 1 June

L.11: KptLt Victor Schultze

L.17: KptLt Herbert Ehrlich

L.22: KptLt Martin Dietrich

L.24: KptLt Robert Koch

Did not sortie during the Battle of Jutland

L.13: KptLt Eduard Prölß

L.30: OLtzS Horst Treusch von Buttlar-Brandenfels