The Hidden Death Hammer: Display of Quantitative Data for the Battle of Jutland, 1915.

JF Ptak Science Books LLC  Post 986

A year and two weeks after the end of WWI, the Illustrated London News  published this compelling graphical display comparing the British naval losses at Jutland to three other great sea battles (Camperdown, the Nile and  Trafalgar).  The battle near Jutland (Denmark) was the largest naval engagement of WWI, involving the German Navy’s High Seas Fleet and the Royal Navy Grand Fleet, and took place May 31-June 1, 1915 (“The Day”).  It was an absolutely enormous engagement, with 250 vessels involved (151 for the Royal Navy, 99 for the German).¹

The end result of the battle was mixed and still debated today; neither side could convincingly claim a conclusive victory from the affair.

The Royal Navy losses at Jutland were staggering: 6,094 killed and 570 wounded, with German losses at 2,551 killed and 507 wounded. 

And while this graphical display places Jutland in a weak context with these other battles, and as pleasing as the thing is visually, the larger mark, the great lurking statistical and human beast lurking there in the mix of silhouettes and data, occurs about halfway down the far right column.

Here we see the losses for five ships: the Queen Mary, the Invincible, the Indefatigable, the Defence, and the Black Prince.  Together, some 5066 men served aboard these vessels; at the end June 1, 1915, 5,059 of them would be dead.  Everyone aboard the Indefatigable, Defence and Black Prince would be killed; 1 would survive on the Invincible, and 6 would survive the killing of the Queen Mary. Astonishing, really.  And there are no other numbers like this on this chart.

As certain and as clear as this representation seems, and as straightforward and seemingly elementary as it looks, I was shocked to see the numbers for those five Royal Navy ships, a “hidden” history within a broad comparative analysis. 

Notes:

1. England: 28 battleships, 9 battlecruisers, 8 armoured cruisers, 26 light cruisers, 78 destroyers, 1 minelayer,1 seaplane carrier. Germany: 16 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 6 pre-dreadnoughts, 11 light cruisers, 61 torpedo boats.

[The Queen Mary going down.]