The naval order of 24 October 1918 was a plan made by the German Admiralty at the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to provoke a decisive battle between the German

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 ...

and 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 F ...

in the southern North Sea. When the order to prepare for the sortie was issued on 29 October, mutiny broke out aboard the German ships. Despite the operation being cancelled, these in turn led to the more serious

Kiel mutiny The Kiel mutiny () was a major revolt by sailors of the German High Seas Fleet on 3 November 1918. The revolt triggered the German revolution which was to sweep aside the monarchy within a few days. It ultimately led to the end of the German E ...

, which was the starting point of the November Revolution and the proclamation of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a Constitutional republic, constitutional federal republic for the first time in ...

Background

Armistice negotiations

This operation resulted from the exchange of diplomatic notes, beginning on 5 October 1918, between the new German government under

Prince Max of Baden Maximilian, Margrave of Baden (''Maximilian Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm''; 10 July 1867 – 6 November 1929),Almanach de Gotha. ''Haus Baden (Maison de Bade)''. Justus Perthes, Gotha, 1944, p. 18, (French). also known as Max von Baden, was a Ger ...

and

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

, in which Germany asked the President to mediate an

armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

. One of Wilson's preconditions was the cessation of Germany's submarine war. Despite the objections of

Admiral Scheer Carl Friedrich Heinrich Reinhard Scheer (30 September 1863 – 26 November 1928) was an Admiral in the Imperial German Navy (''Kaiserliche Marine''). Scheer joined the navy in 1879 as an officer cadet and progressed through the ranks, commandi ...

, the Chief of the German Admiralty Staff, the German government made this concession on 20 October. The

U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...

at sea were recalled on 21 October.Newbolt, ''Naval Operations, vol.5'' pp. 367 In response, on 22 October Scheer ordered Admiral Hipper, commander of the

, to prepare for an attack on the British fleet, utilising the main battle fleet, reinforced by the newly available U-boats. Hipper's order was promulgated on 24 October; Scheer approved it on 27 October.Marder, ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow vol.5'' pp. 171 The fleet then began to concentrate at

Schillig Roads Schillig is a village in the Friesland district of Lower Saxony in Germany. It is situated on the west coast of Jade Bay and is north of the town of Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') ...

off

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

to prepare for the battle.

German fleet

The High Seas Fleet in October 1918 was built around the core of 18

battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

s and five

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 ...

s, most of which had been completed before the outbreak of war. Since 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 Sir John Jellicoe, and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet, under Vice ...

in May 1916, the obsolete pre-dreadnoughts had been de-commissioned, two new battleships with 15-inch guns ( and ) and the new battlecruiser had joined the fleet, but one

dreadnought battleship The dreadnought (alternatively spelled dreadnaught) was the predominant type of battleship in the early 20th century. The first of the kind, the Royal Navy's , had such an impact when launched in 1906 that similar battleships built after her ...

had been damaged beyond repair by running aground in the Baltic. The fleet had undertaken only three major sorties at full strength into the North Sea since June 1916: 18–19 August 1916, 18–19 October 1916, and 22–25 April 1918. This prolonged period of relative inactivity, at a time when all other branches of Germany's armed forces were very heavily engaged, did much to undermine the morale of the crews and the self-respect of the officers. Acts tantamount to mutiny took place on various occasions during 1917, the most noteworthy being the arrest of 200 men from the battleship in August, resulting in two executions.

Royal Navy

Grand Fleet

In late October 1918 the British

, based at Rosyth in the Firth of Forth, had 35 dreadnought battleships and 11 battlecruisers (including two of the very lightly armoured ). Twenty of these ships had been completed since the outbreak of war, and a third of them were armed with the highly effective 15-inch gun; the oldest capital ship in the fleet was (commissioned in June 1908) while was put in reserve in July 1918. Five of these ships were from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and one from the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...

. The materiel problems which beset the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland and beyond (i.e. poor flash-protection in ammunition handling, lack of deck armour over magazines, deficient armour-piercing shells, and too few destroyers) had all been remedied to various extents. In particular, the newly designed "Green Boy" shells for the fleet's heavy guns were thought to be such a great improvement in offensive power that they nullified the advantage of the heavier armour protection of German battleships. Moreover, the fleet possessed new weapons (such as ship-borne torpedo aircraft and fast steam-driven submarines) for which the German fleet had no match. The second wave of the Spanish Flu pandemic reached its peak in the Grand Fleet in autumn 1918; roughly 6% of the fleet's sailors were taken ill, and 1% died. For example, the sick list of the light cruiser peaked at 19 people (6% of her complement) on 23 October 1918; but it had returned to its usual level (two persons) by 31 October; the destroyer of the 12th Destroyer Flotilla was more seriously hit, with 37 (41%) of her crew on the sick list on 31 October. The morale in the British fleet was high in anticipation of a re-match for Jutland, the personality and leadership of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Sir David Beatty, being an important reason for this.Marder, ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow vol.5'' pp. 129.

Admiralty intelligence

In the First World War British naval intelligence in general, and code-breaking in particular, was highly efficient. It played a very important role in 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 ...

and Jutland, in the American entry into the war on the Allied side and the defeat of the U-boats from 1917–18. By late 1917 improvements in German communications security had made intelligence gathering more difficult, at least as far as the High Seas Fleet was concerned. Between October 1917 and April 1918, the Germans were able to launch three surprise sorties into Norwegian waters against mercantile traffic, on the last occasion (22–25 April 1918) employing their whole fleet. Each time the British did not receive a warning in time to mount an effective counter-operation. High-power wireless communications were essential for the control of U-boats at sea; but this also allowed triangulation-based location of the U-boats by the Allies. In addition, U-boats employed a simpler cypher system than that used by the surface fleet, which Room 40, the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of i ...

's code-breaking section, could usually read with few difficulties. In October 1918 these methods allowed the Admiralty to track the U-boats operating in British Home Waters.

Prelude

Operational order

The order of 24 October for the High Seas Fleet's attack is as follows:

U-boat operations

The command of the High Seas Fleet had 24 submarines at its disposal, which lay at their bases in the North Sea. The command tried to recall more boats from the missions and direct them to the planned locations. This succeeded with six more boats: ''U-43'', ''U-108'', ''UB-86'', ''UB-96'', ''UB-121'', and ''UB-125''. All boats were to form six lines in the North Sea on the presumed approach route of the British fleet and take up waiting positions in front of the ports of the British fleet in Scotland. Two of these U-boats were lost. The first, (Oblt. Johann Vollbrecht), sailed on 27 October from Heligoland for a minelaying mission off the Scottish East Coast, but she was torpedoed and sunk the same day by the British submarine in the central North Sea, roughly east of the Firth of Forth. All 40 crewmen were lost. The other submarine to be sunk was , which sailed from Heligoland on 25 October with special orders to attack the British fleet anchorage at

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern end in June 2009 Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay a ...

. She was commanded by the 26-year-old Oberleutnant zur See Hans Joachim Emsmann who, since first becoming a U-boat captain in February 1918, had sunk a total of 26 ships. She attempted to enter Scapa Flow submerged by the southern passage, Hoxa Sound, on the evening of 28 October. Hydrophones mounted ashore at Stanger Head, Flotta, alerted the British defences, and the sea-bed

magnetometer A magnetometer is a device that measures magnetic field or magnetic dipole moment. Different types of magnetometers measure the direction, strength, or relative change of a magnetic field at a particular location. A compass is one such device, ...

loops, designed to detect the magnetic signatures of incoming vessels and thus trigger remote-controlled mines, were activated. Emsmann raised his periscope at 11:30 pm, presumably to check his position, and was spotted by look-outs on shore; the mines detonated shortly thereafter, leaving the submarine disabled on the sea bed. She was finished off by depth charges from defense trawlers shortly thereafter; all 37 crew members were lost. Two other submarines, ''UB-98'' and ''UB-118'' were damaged in collision with each other on 28 October, and had to return to port. Five others, ''U-43'', ''U-67'', ''UB-86'', ''UB-87'', and ''UB-130'' also aborted their missions due to breakdowns.

British reaction

The commanders of the British Fleet were anticipating action, and the fleet was warned to make preparations as early as 14 October 1918.Diary of Midshipman N K Calder
(HMS Royal Sovereign), entry for 14 October 1918. On the afternoon of 23 October the Admiralty alerted Admiral Beatty that the situation was abnormal and that they would reinforce him by sending destroyers from the anti-submarine flotillas based at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to ...

and

Buncrana Buncrana ( ; ) is a town in County Donegal, Ireland. It is beside Lough Swilly on the Inishowen peninsula, northwest of Derry and north of Letterkenny. In the 2016 census, the population was 6,785 making it the second most populous town in ...

.Newbolt, ''Naval Operations vol.5'' pp. 367–368. By late on 28 October the situation was reaching a climax, and Vice Admiral

Sydney Fremantle Admiral Sir Sydney Robert Fremantle, (16 November 1867 – 29 April 1958) was an officer of the Royal Navy, who served during the Victorian era and had risen to the rank of rear-admiral by the outbreak of the First World War. He played a ro ...

, the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, and Rear Admiral

Reginald Hall Admiral Sir William Reginald Hall (28 June 1870 – 22 October 1943), known as Blinker Hall, was the British Director of Naval Intelligence (DNI) from 1914 to 1919. Together with Sir Alfred Ewing he was responsible for the establishment ...

, the Director of Naval Intelligence, sent Beatty a full appreciation which read, in part: For the next 48 hours, Fremantle was able to keep Beatty informed of developments, correctly describing the concentration of the High Seas Fleet at Schillig Roads on the evening of 29 October and its intention to sail on 30 October. Hipper's unexpected postponement of the operation on 30 October was initially ascribed to fog.

Cancellation of the plan

The High Seas Fleet had assembled in Schillig Roads on the afternoon of 29 October in preparation for sailing the following day, 30 October. A ruse that the operation was a training sortie was employed for security, as was usual practice. The raid on the Thames and the Flanders Coast were scheduled for dawn on 31 October and the battle with the British Fleet in the afternoon and evening of the same day. The evening of 29 October was marked by unrest and serious acts of indiscipline in the German Fleet, as the men became convinced their commanders were intent on sacrificing them to sabotage the armistice negotiations. A large number of stokers from ''Derfflinger'' and ''Von der Tann'' failed to return from shore leave and were rounded up by the authorities; mass insubordination occurred on ''Thüringen'', ''Kaiserin'', ''Helgoland'' and ''Regensburg''; and mutinous demonstrations took place in ''König'', ''Kronprinz Wilhelm'' and ''Markgraf''. Even in the fleet flagship ''Baden'' the mood of the crew was dangerous. The mutinous behaviour was confined to the crews of the larger ships; the crews of torpedo-boats, submarines and minesweepers remained loyal.Marder, ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, vol.5'' p. 172. Admiral Hipper cancelled the operation on 30 October and ordered the fleet to disperse, in the hope of quelling the insurrection. When ships of the III. Battle Squadron, arrived at Kiel via the

Kaiser Wilhelm Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...

on 1 November, their men helped spark the

on 3 November.Marder, ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, vol.5'' p. 174.

Aftermath

Analysis

The detailed orders of battle are given in the Appendix, and are summarised in the table below. The disparity in forces was roughly 2-to-1 in favour of the British. Had the battle been joined, it would have involved some 69 capital ships (in comparison with 58 involved at Jutland). Writing after the war, Admiral Scheer asserted that "it was highly probable an expedition of the Fleet might achieve a favourable result. If the Fleet suffered losses, it was to be assumed that the enemy's injuries would be in proportion, and that we should still have sufficient forces to protect the U-boat campaign in the North Sea, which would have to be resumed if the negotiations should make imperative a continuation of the struggle with all the means at our disposal."Scheer, ''High Seas Fleet'', Ch.18. The High Seas Fleet had undertaken similar diversionary attacks intended to draw British units into a submarine/mine ambush before: the

action of 19 August 1916 The action of 19 August 1916 was one of two attempts in 1916 by the German High Seas Fleet to engage elements of the British Grand Fleet, following the mixed results of the Battle of Jutland, during the First World War. The lesson of Jutland f ...

was the one occasion when this tactic came closest to succeeding. On 27 October, the German Government had agreed to surrender the fleet as part of the armistice; thus in strictly material terms, the German Navy had nothing to lose. Admiral Beatty's intentions are not recorded but there seems no doubt that he would have sailed as soon as the Germans were reported to be at sea and would have aggressively pursued battle.Marder, ''Dreadnought to Scapa Flow vol.5'' pp. 172, footnote 11. Given the distances involved, if the German sortie were reported promptly and the Grand Fleet sailed immediately on receipt of such a report, there was every possibility that they could have cut off the German line of retreat and forced a fight to the finish. Admiral Hipper and his staff seemed well aware of the risk in this plan, and his chief of staff

Adolf von Trotha Adolf von Trotha (1 March 1868 – 11 October 1940) was a German admiral in the '' Kaiserliche Marine''. After the German revolution he briefly served as the first ''Chef der Admiralität'', which replaced the imperial '' Reichsmarineamt''. Aft ...

expressed a sanguinary attitude about it: "a battle for the honour of the fleet in this war, even if it were a death battle, it would be the foundation for a new German fleet".Philbin, ''Hipper'' p. 155

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...

, the official historian of the Royal Navy during the First World War, compared Hipper's planned operation with

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...

Raid on the Medway The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At t ...

in June 1667, when the Dutch Fleet launched a surprise attack on the English naval bases in the Thames estuary, inflicting a serious defeat and in consequence securing a more favourable peace treaty for the Netherlands at the end of the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War or the Second Dutch War (4 March 1665 – 31 July 1667; nl, Tweede Engelse Oorlog "Second English War") was a conflict between England and the Dutch Republic partly for control over the seas and trade routes, whe ...

. More recently, it has been argued that the plan was a deliberate act of counter-revolution by the German Naval High Command against Prince Max of Baden and the peace party: regardless of the outcome of the battle, the launching of the attack would have hopelessly compromised the armistice negotiations and the credibility of Prince Max's government.

Orders of battle

German fleet

The German fleet was to be organised into three groups, plus supporting submarines and airships, as follows Dave Alton, ''Commanders of the High Seas Fleet Battle Squadrons 1914–1918''
The World War I Document Archive
accessed 7 May 2013. * High Seas Fleet ** Commander-in-Chief, High Seas Fleet: Admiral Franz Ritter von Hipper in battleship ''Baden'' * Scouting forces ** Commander, Scouting Forces: RAdm Ludwig von Reuter in battlecruiser ''Hindenburg'' *** I. SG (RAdm Reuter) battlecruisers: (F), , , , *** II. SG ( Cdre Viktor Harder) light cruisers: (F), , , , , , ** Deputy Leader of Torpedo-Boats FKpt Hans Quaet-Faslem in light cruiser *** II. TBF destroyers: (3. hf) , , , , ; (4. hf) , , , , *** I. TBF (detachment) torpedo boats: (2. hf) , , , , *** VII. TBF (detachment) torpedo boats: (13. hf) , , , , * Main body (under Commander-in-Chief) ** III. BS ( VAdm Hugo Kraft), battleships: (F), , , , ** Fleet Flagship battleship: (F, Adm Hipper) ** I. BS (VAdm Friedrich Boedicker) battleships: (F), , , , , , ** IV. BS ( VAdm Hugo Meurer) battleships: (F), , , , ** Leader of Torpedo-Boats Cdre

Paul Heinrich Paul may refer to: * Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

^{( GE)} in light cruiser *** I. TBF torpedo boats: (1. hf) , , , , , *** V. TBF torpedo boats: (9. hf) , , , ; (10. hf) , , *** VI. TBF torpedo boats: (11. hf) , , , , , ; (12. hf) , , , , , *** IX. TBF torpedo boats: (17. hf) , , , , * Minelaying group ** IV. SG ( RAdm Johannes von Karpf^{( GE)}) light cruisers: (F), , , , ; attached minelayers: , ** VIII. TBF torpedo boats: (15. hf) , , , , ''T190'', ; (16. hf) torpedo boats: , , , * Airships: ''L65'', ''L64'', ''L63'', ''L52'', ''L61'', ''L56'', ''SL22'' * Submarines: thirty U-boats were assigned to this operation, in six patrol lines:Spindler, ''Handelskrieg mit U-booten, Bd.5'', pp.338–340 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

British

This is the ''administrative'' order of battle of the Grand Fleet and other important commands in Home Waters on 11 November 1918. Dittmar & Colledge, ''British Warships'', pp.22–23Graham E Watson
''Royal Navy Destroyer Flotillas, November 1918''
accessed 10 May 2013.Graham E Watson

accessed 10 May 2013.The Admiralty

accessed 13 Feb 2015. Excluded from this list are ships on detached service and minor vessels of war such as minesweepers, sloops and older vessels employed on patrol duties; it includes only forces likely to have been engaged had the German sortie gone ahead. Some of these ships may not in fact have been available to sail on 30 October due to breakdowns or routine maintenance. The Grand Fleet was based at

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

, with usually one Squadron detached to

for gunnery training. * Grand Fleet ** Commander-in Chief: Adm Sir David Beatty in battleship (attached destroyer: ) ** 1st BS ( Adm Sir Charles Madden) battleships: (F), , , , , , , , , (attached cruiser: ) ** 2nd BS ( VAdm Sir John de Robeck) battleships: (F), , , , , , , , (attached cruiser: ) ** 4th BS ( VAdm Sir Montague Browning) battleships: (F), , , , , (attached cruiser: ) ** 5th BS ( VAdm A C Leveson) battleships: (F), , , (attached cruiser: ) ** 6th BS ( RAdm H Rodman) battleships: ^(USN) (F), ^(USN), ^(USN), ^(USN), ^(USN) * Cruisers (with main body) ** 2nd CS ( RAdm E F Bruen) armoured cruisers: (F), , ** 4th LCS ( RAdm A F Everett) light cruisers: (F), , , , , ** 7th LCS ( RAdm G H Borrett) light cruisers: (F), , , , * Flying Squadron ( RAdm R F Phillimore) aircraft carriers: (F), , , , , * Battlecruiser force ** Commander-in-Chief: VAdm Sir William Pakenham in battlecruiser ** 1st BCS ( RAdm Sir Henry Oliver) battlecruisers: (F), , , ** 2nd BCS ( RAdm Sir Lionel Halsey) battlecruisers: (F), ^(RAN), , ** 1st CS ( VAdm T D W Napier) battlecruisers: (F), ** 1st LCS ( RAdm W H Cowan): (F), , , , ** 2nd LCS ( RAdm J A Fergusson): (F), , ^(RAN), ^(RAN), ** 3rd LCS ( RAdm A T Hunt): (F), , , ** 6th LCS ( RAdm E S Alexander-Sinclair): (F), , , , * Destroyer Command ** Commodore (Destroyers): Cdre H J Tweedie in light cruiser ** 3rd DF leaders: , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , ; temporarily attached from 4th DF (Devonport): , , , , , ** 11th DF leaders: , , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ** 12th DF leaders: , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ** 13th DF light cruiser: , leaders: , ; destroyers: , , , ; , , , ; , , , ; , , , ; , , , ; , , ; , , , , ** 14th DF leaders: , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; due to transfer to 1st DF but temporarily retained by 14th DF: , , , ** 15th DF leaders: , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; temporarily attached from 2nd DF (Buncrana): , , , , , ** 21st DF (transferring from 6th DF, Dover) leaders: , , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , *

Harwich Force The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war. History After the outbreak of the First World War, a ...

** 5th LCS ( RAdm Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt) light cruisers: (F), , , , , , , ** 10th DF leaders: , , , ; destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , * Dover Force ** 6th DF (Dover) leader: ; modern destroyers: , , , , , , , , , , , * Minelaying destroyers ** 20th DF (Immingham) leaders: , , destroyers: , , , , , , , , * Submarines operating with the Battle Fleet ** 12th S/MF: light cruiser: ; submarines: , , , , , , ** 13th S/MF: leader: ; , , , , , , * North Sea patrols ** 8th S/MF (Yarmouth) submarines: , , , , , ** 9th S/MF (Harwich) submarines: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ** 10th S/MF (Tees) submarines: , , , , , , , , , , , ** 11th S/MF (Blyth) submarines: , , , , , , , , , , , ** 14th S/MF (Blyth) submarines: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Abbreviations

* Adm: Admiral * BCS: Battle Cruiser Squadron * BS: Battle Squadron (German: ''Geschwader'') * Cdre: Commodore (German: ''Kommodore'') * CS: Cruiser Squadron * DF: Destroyer Flotilla * F: Flagship * FKpt: ''

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

'' (frigate captain) * hf: half-flotilla (German: ''halbflottille'') * LCS: Light Cruiser Squadron * RAdm: Rear Admiral (German: ''

Konteradmiral ''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...

'') * ^(RAN): Denotes a ship of the

* S/MF: Submarine Flotilla * SG: Scouting Group (German: ''Aufklärungsgruppe'') * TBF: Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (German: ''Torpedoboot Flottille'') * ^(USN): Denotes a ship of the

* VAdm: Vice Admiral (German: ''

Vizeadmiral (abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral. Austria-Hungary In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...

'')

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * F. J. Dittmar and J. J. Colledge (1972), ''British Warships 1914–1919'' (Shepperton: Ian Allan Ltd. SBN 7110 0380 7). * Admiral

Walter Gladisch Walter Gladisch (2 January 1882 – 23 March 1954) was a German admiral whose military service spanned more than 42 years. References 1882 births 1954 deaths Military personnel from Berlin German admirals Recipients of the Iron Cross ...

^{( GE)} (1965), ''Der Krieg zur See 1914-18/Nordsee Bd.7'' (Frankfurt: Verlag E S Mittler & Sohn). New critical edition: Gerhard P. Groß (ed.) assisted by

Werner Rahn Werner Rahn (born June 9, 1939 in Ilsenburg - died November 19, 2022 in Potsdam) was a naval historian and former German naval officer. Career Werner Rahn entered the Naval Academy Mürwik and served at sea and ashore in a variety of appointment ...

: ''Der Krieg in der Nordsee. Vom Sommer 1917 bis zum Kriegsende 1918.'' Hamburg/Berlin/Bonn 2006 (Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918, Bd. 7). * Robert M. Grant (1969), ''U-Boat Intelligence 1914–1918'' (London: Putnam). *

Erich Gröner Erich Gröner (born 16 March 1901, Berlin; died 21 June 1965) was a German historian of naval warfare and shipbuilding. Early life and education Erich Gröner was born on 16 March 1901 in Berlin, then capital of the German Empire The Ger ...

^{( GE)}(1983), ''Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815–1945, Bd.2: Torpedoboote, Zerstörer, Schnellboote, Minensuchboote, Minenräumboote'' (Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe Verlag. ). * Prof. Arthur J. Marder (1969), ''From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, The Royal Navy in the Fisher Era, 1904–1919: Victory and Aftermath'' volume 5 (Oxford: Oxford University Press). * * Tobias R. Philbin III (1982), ''Admiral von Hipper: The Inconvenient Hero'' (Amsterdam: B. R. Grüner Publishing Co. ). * Reinhard Scheer (1920)
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, English edition (London: Cassell and Company, Ltd.), Ch.18. * Rear Admiral Arno Spindler (1966), ''Der Krieg zur See 1914–18/Handelskrieg mit U-booten, Bd.5'' (Frankfurt: Verlag E S Mittler & Sohn). {{World War I North Sea operations of World War I Naval battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom Naval battles of World War I involving Germany Military history of the North Sea 1918 in the United Kingdom Conflicts in 1918 Cancelled military operations involving Germany 1918 in Germany 1918 documents