_of the German Imperial Navy_
[This article on the battle of Jutland was written during the week
which it was fought, May 31, 1916]
Although Trafalgar, Tsushima, and Skagerrak will be treated and
discussed together in future naval histories, it is not yet possible
to draw the full historical consequences from the two last-named naval
battles. We can estimate the effects of Trafalgar on the history of
the world, for we know that it laid the foundations of British naval
supremacy. With the exception of the immediate military advantage
gained, the full results of the battle of Tsushima have not yet been
developed. Still less can the battle of Skagerrak have left its impress
upon world history.
For us Skagerrak [Jutland] has been a great, decisive victory, which
our whole High Sea Fleet gained after a long, bitterly contested battle
on the open sea, far from the home coast and its points of support,
against the superior British Grand Fleet. Our naval forces inflicted
upon the British fleet losses which, in terms of tons, even according
to the British Admiralty, were double ours. But the tonnage does not
fully represent the seriousness of the losses, since the British lost
three dreadnoughts, as against one of ours, and three armored cruisers,
as against one of our old armored cruisers.
If we add to this what our own observations, supported by statements of
British prisoners, show, the enemy's losses were three and a half times
ours; that is, in terms of fighting units, six dreadnoughts, including
two older types, as against one dreadnought and one pre-dreadnought,
and four armored cruisers and one small cruiser, as against four small
cruisers.
The purpose of a battle is destruction, the victor being the side which
goes further in this direction. The figures just quoted can leave no
doubt on this point.
The German fleet remained on the battle area. After the repeatedly
successful attacks of our torpedo boat flotillas the British fleet was
forced to sheer off, and we never saw it again. Although the British
ships were superior in speed and were reinforced by the arrival of
twelve additional battleships, they made no attempt to recover contact
with us and continue the battle. Our numerous torpedo boats searched
for the British fleet all night without finding it, and instead
utilized the opportunity to rescue a large number of British sailors.
This justifies us in calling the battle an absolute victory for us. It
has demonstrated that the German fleet had within it the power to beat
the more numerous and more up-to-date British fleet, and it opens up
great possibilities for the future.
The battle of Skagerrak did not decide the war. Neither did Trafalgar
nor Tsushima, nor did Tannenburg or the battle of the Masurian Lakes. A
single battle between great powers will never be ultimately decisive.
How much it contributes to the final outcome of a war cannot be
estimated. The greatest result so far is not in the fact that Great
Britain lost ships, but in the victory.