The I Scouting Group (german: I. Aufklärungsgruppe) was a special reconnaissance unit within the German

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

. The unit was famously commanded by Admiral

Franz von Hipper Franz Ritter von Hipper (13 September 1863 – 25 May 1932) was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units an ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The I Scouting Group was one of the most active formations in the

High Seas Fleet The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...

during the war; the unit took part in every major fleet operation in the North Sea, including the battles of

Dogger Bank Dogger Bank (Dutch: ''Doggersbank'', German: ''Doggerbank'', Danish: ''Doggerbanke'') is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about off the east coast of England. During the last ice age the bank was part of a large landmass c ...

and

Jutland Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...

. The unit also saw limited action in the Baltic Sea, including the

Battle of the Gulf of Riga The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915. The operation's objective was to destroy the Russian naval for ...

Ships assigned to the I Scouting Group

was the first

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of attr ...

assigned to the I Scouting group. The ship joined the unit on 8 May 1911. On 30 September, was commissioned into the I Scouting Group, and replaced the old

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...

.Staff, p. 15 joined the unit after she was commissioned on 22 May 1913. was attached to the unit from August 1914. was slated to be assigned to the unit by the end of October 1914, but turbine damage delayed the ship from joining the I Scouting Group until 16 November of that year. ''Derfflinger''s sistership joined the unit on 20 March 1916. The third , and final ship to join the I Scouting Group, , was assigned to the unit on 6 November 1917. Of the seven true battlecruisers built by the Kaiserliche Marine, only was not attached to the I Scouting Group, as she was made the flagship of the Mittelmeerdivision in October 1912. In preparation of the fleet advance on 18–19 August 1916, the I Scouting Group was to bombard the coastal town of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, but only two remaining German battlecruisers were still in fighting condition (''Moltke'' and ''Von der Tann'' ) so three dreadnoughts were assigned to the Group for the operation: , , and the newly commissioned .Massie, p. 682

Service history

The I Scouting Group was one of the most active units in the

during World War I. The ships were used a number of times in attempts to lure out a portion of the British

Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the ...

, where it could be defeated by the whole German battle fleet. Several of these operations called for the ships of the I Scouting Group to bombard the English coast; these included the

raid on Yarmouth The Raid on Yarmouth, on 3 November 1914, was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British North Sea port and town of Great Yarmouth. German shells only landed on the beach causing little damage to the town, after German ships laying m ...

, the

raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties an ...

, and the

bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft The Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft, often referred to as the Lowestoft Raid, was a naval battle fought during the First World War between the German Empire and the British Empire in the North Sea. The German fleet sent a battlecruiser ...

. The unit also participated in raids against British naval forces, including the operations that resulted in the Battle of Dogger Bank and the

Battle of Jutland The Battle of Jutland (german: Skagerrakschlacht, the Battle of the Skagerrak) was a naval battle fought between Britain's Royal Navy Grand Fleet, under Admiral John Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy ...

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{High Seas Fleet Military units and formations of the Imperial German Navy Naval units and formations of Germany in World War I

Ships assigned to the I Scouting Group

Service history

Footnotes

See also

References