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The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the
Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...
on the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
ports of
Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...
,
Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...
,
West Hartlepool West Hartlepool was a predecessor of Hartlepool, County Durham, England. It developed in the Victorian era and took the name from its western position in the parish of what is now known as the Headland. The former town was originally formed in ...
and
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
. The bombardments caused hundreds of civilian casualties and resulted in public outrage in Britain against the German Navy for the raid and the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
for failing to prevent it.


Background

The German High Seas Fleet had been seeking opportunities to isolate small sections of the
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 ...
of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
to cut off, trap and destroy. A
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 ...
had produced few results but demonstrated the potential for fast raiding into British waters. On 16 November, Rear 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 ...
, commander of the German
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 ...
squadron, persuaded his superior, Admiral
Friedrich von Ingenohl Gustav Heinrich Ernst Friedrich von Ingenohl (30 June 1857 – 19 December 1933) was a German admiral from Neuwied best known for his command of the German High Seas Fleet at the beginning of World War I. He was the son of a tradesman. H ...
, to ask the
Kaiser ''Kaiser'' is the German word for "emperor" (female Kaiserin). In general, the German title in principle applies to rulers anywhere in the world above the rank of king (''König''). In English, the (untranslated) word ''Kaiser'' is mainly ap ...
for permission to conduct another raid. The U-boat was sent to reconnoitre coastal defences near Scarborough and Hartlepool. The captain reported little onshore defence, no mines within of the shore and a steady stream of shipping. It was also believed that two British battlecruisers—which would be the fast ships sent out first to investigate any attack—had been despatched to
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
and had taken part in the
Battle of the Falkland Islands The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, sen ...
. Hipper commanded the battlecruisers , , and , the
armoured 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 ...
, the
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...
s , , and and 18
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
s. Ingenohl took the 85 ships of the High Seas Fleet to a position just east of the
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 ...
where they could assist, if Hipper's ships came under attack from larger forces but were still close to Germany for safety, as standing orders from the Kaiser instructed.


British intelligence

The High Seas Fleet was outnumbered by the Grand Fleet and perforce, avoided a fleet action. The Grand Fleet had to patrol continuously, whereas the ships of the High Seas Fleet could remain in port; the German navy could choose when to concentrate its ships and the British would always be dispersed. Several months after the declaration of war in August 1914, wear on the British ships reached the point where repairs could not be postponed and several ships were withdrawn from the Grand Fleet. Three battlecruisers had been sent to South America and the brand new super-dreadnought had been lost to a mine; , another super-dreadnought, was undergoing repairs. German ships used three main codes for which codebooks were issued to their ships; copies had been obtained by the Entente from sunk or captured vessels unbeknown to the Germans. The British code breakers of
Room 40 Room 40, also known as 40 O.B. (old building; officially part of NID25), was the cryptanalysis section of the British Admiralty during the First World War. The group, which was formed in October 1914, began when Rear-Admiral Henry Oliver, the ...
at the Admiralty could read German messages within a few hours of receiving them. Sufficient information had been gleaned on the evening of 14 December to know that the German battlecruiser squadron would shortly be leaving port but did not suggest that all of the High Seas Fleet might be involved.


Prelude

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
John Jellicoe Admiral of the Fleet John Rushworth Jellicoe, 1st Earl Jellicoe, (5 December 1859 – 20 November 1935) was a Royal Navy officer. He fought in the Anglo-Egyptian War and the Boxer Rebellion and commanded the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland ...
, commanding the Grand Fleet 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 and ...
, was ordered to despatch the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron ( Vice-Admiral David Beatty), with , , and , together with the 2nd Battle Squadron (Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender) comprising the modern dreadnoughts , , , , and , with the 1st Light Cruiser Squadron (
Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...
William Goodenough Admiral Sir William Edmund Goodenough (2 June 1867 – 30 January 1945) was a senior Royal Navy officer of World War I. He was the son of James Graham Goodenough. Naval career Goodenough joined the Royal Navy in 1882. He was appointed Commande ...
) commanding , , and . Commodore
Reginald Tyrwhitt Admiral of the Fleet Sir Reginald Yorke Tyrwhitt, 1st Baronet, (; 10 May 1870 – 30 May 1951) was a Royal Navy officer. During the First World War he served as commander of the Harwich Force. He led a supporting naval force of 31 destroyers a ...
at
Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-on- ...
was ordered to sea with his light cruisers, and and 42 destroyers. Commodore
Roger Keyes Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Ea ...
was ordered to send eight submarines and his two command destroyers, and , to take station off the island of
Terschelling Terschelling (; fry, Skylge; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland. Wadden Islanders are k ...
, to catch the German ships should they turn west into the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. Jellicoe protested that although such a force should be sufficient to deal with Hipper, it would not be able to match the High Seas Fleet. The 3rd Cruiser Squadron (
Rear-Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarded ...
William Pakenham) from
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 the armoured cruisers , , and were added to the force. Jellicoe chose the point for this fleet to assemble, south-east of the Dogger Bank. The intention was to allow the raid to take place, then ambush the German ships as they returned.


Raid

Admiral Hipper left the
Jade Bight The Jade Bight (or ''Jade Bay''; german: Jadebusen) is a bight or bay on the North Sea coast of Germany. It was formerly known simply as ''Jade'' or ''Jahde''. Because of the very low input of freshwater, it is classified as a bay rather than an ...
at 03:00 on 15 December. During the following night, , one of the escorting destroyers, became separated and broke wireless silence to ask for direction. This risked giving away the presence of the ships and the destroyer was ordered to be silent. Still lost, it headed for home but on the way, sighted four British destroyers which it reported by wireless. Hipper also noted radio traffic from British ships which caused concern that the British might be aware something was up. He attributed this to possible spying by trawlers which were encountered during the day. The deteriorating weather was also causing problems. At 06:35 on 16 December, the destroyers and three light cruisers were ordered to return to Germany. ''Kolberg'' remained, as she had 100 mines to lay. The remaining ships divided, ''Seydlitz'', ''Blücher'' and ''Moltke'' proceeded towards Hartlepool, while ''Derfflinger'', ''Von der Tann'' and ''Kolberg'' approached Scarborough. At 08:15, ''Kolberg'' began to lay mines off
Flamborough Head Flamborough Head () is a promontory, long on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, with sheer white cliffs. The cliff top has two standing lighthouse towers, the olde ...
in a line extending out to sea. At 08:00, ''Derfflinger'' and ''Von der Tann'' began to bombard the town.
Scarborough Castle Scarborough Castle is a former medieval Royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The site of the castle, encompassing the Iron Age settlement, Roman signal station, an Ang ...
, the prominent Grand Hotel, three churches and various other properties were hit. Civilians crowded into the railway station and the roads leading out of the town. At 09:30, the two battlecruisers ceased fire and moved on to nearby
Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
, where a coastguard station was shelled, incidentally hitting
Whitby Abbey Whitby Abbey was a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church was situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian ...
and other buildings in the town. Hartlepool was a more significant target than the resort town of Scarborough. The port had extensive docks and factories and was defended by three 6-inch naval guns on the seafront. Two guns were at
Heugh Battery The Heugh (pronounced: ) Gun Battery is located on the Headland at Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The museum bills itself as the only battlefield of World War I in Great Britain. History Heugh Battery was one of three erected in 1860 to p ...
and one at Lighthouse Battery. The guns were manned by 11 officers and 155 local men of the
Durham Royal Garrison Artillery Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...
. The gun crews were warned at 04:30 of the possibility of an attack and were issued live ammunition. At 07:46, they received word that large ships had been sighted and at 08:10, a bombardment of the town began. No warning had been given to naval standing patrols in the area and the poor weather just before the raid meant that only four destroyers were on patrol, while two light cruisers and a submarine remained in Hartlepool harbour. Destroyers , , and were on patrol when ''Doon'' saw three large vessels approaching at 07:45, which opened fire shortly after. The only weapons the destroyers carried capable of damaging large vessels were torpedoes; as the ships were out of torpedo range the destroyers turned away except for ''Doon'', which closed to , fired one torpedo which missed and also turned away. The shore batteries remained confused about the approaching ships until shells began to fall. The German ships were at such short range that the shell fuzes did not have time to set and many failed to explode or ricocheted into the town, because they were travelling horizontally, rather than plunging. Two shore guns fired at the leading ship, while the third fired at the last, smaller, vessel. The gunners were hampered by a rising cloud of smoke and dust around them, affecting visibility. They found their shells had no effect on the armoured sides of the ships, so instead aimed at masts and rigging. The accuracy of the third gun was sufficient to oblige ''Blücher'' to move behind the lighthouse to prevent further hits. Two of her guns were disabled; the
bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
and a gun were damaged. In the harbour, Captain Alan Bruce of the
scout cruiser A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers. Intended for fleet scouting duties a ...
attempted to put to sea but the ship was hit by two 210 mm shells, forcing Bruce to
beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
the ship. The second scout cruiser, , had no steam in her boilers and could not move. The submarine followed ''Patrol'' to sea but had to dive when shells started falling around it and at 08:50, the German ships departed. The ships had already departed when ''Patrol'' was clear of the harbour; Commodore
Roger Keyes Admiral of the Fleet Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes, (4 October 1872 – 26 December 1945) was a British naval officer. As a junior officer he served in a corvette operating from Zanzibar on slavery suppression missions. Ea ...
commented afterwards, that a target of three stationary cruisers was exactly what the submarine had been intended to attack.


Encounter with the High Seas Fleet

The battleships and cruisers commanded by Warrender set out from Scapa Flow at 05:30 on 15 December. The bad weather meant that he could not take destroyers with him but Beatty brought seven when he departed from
Cromarty Cromarty (; gd, Cromba, ) is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, it is seaward from In ...
at 06:00, together with the battlecruiser squadron. The two forces rendezvoused at 11:00 near
Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...
. As the senior admiral, Warrender had command of the force, which sailed toward its ambush position at Dogger Bank. At 05:15 on 16 December, the destroyer sighted an enemy ship (the destroyer ). The destroyer squadron went to investigate and an engagement began with a force of German destroyers and cruisers; ''Lynx'' was hit, damaging a propeller. was taking on water and had to turn away. came under heavy fire from the cruiser , suffering severe damage and catching fire but managed to fire a torpedo. News of a torpedo attack was passed to Ingenohl, whose outlying destroyers were the ones involved in the fighting. The engagement was broken off after a couple of hours in the dark but at 06:03 the following morning one of the four destroyers still able to fight, , again came in contact with five enemy destroyers and the British destroyers attacked. The German ships withdrew, reporting another contact with an enemy force to Ingenohl. Ingenohl had already exceeded his standing orders from the Kaiser by involving the main German fleet in the operation, without informing the Kaiser. At 05:30, mindful of the orders not to place the fleet in jeopardy and fearing he had encountered the advance guard of the Grand Fleet, he reversed course towards Germany. Had he continued, he would shortly have engaged the four British battlecruisers and six battleships with his much larger force, which included 22 battleships. This was the opportunity that German strategy had been seeking, to even the odds; the ten British capital ships would have been outnumbered and outgunned; their loss would have ended the British numerical advantage. Churchill later defended the situation, arguing that the British ships were faster and could have turned about and run. Others, such as Jellicoe, felt there was a risk that an admiral such as Beatty would have insisted upon engaging the enemy once contact was established. Admiral
Alfred von Tirpitz Alfred Peter Friedrich von Tirpitz (19 March 1849 – 6 March 1930) was a German grand admiral, Secretary of State of the German Imperial Naval Office, the powerful administrative branch of the German Imperial Navy from 1897 until 1916. Prussi ...
commented "Ingenohl had the fate of Germany in his hand". At 06:50, ''Shark'' and the destroyers sighted the cruiser with its destroyer escort. Captain Loftus Jones reported his sightings at 07:25, the signal being received by Warrender and also by ''New Zealand'' in Beatty's squadron but the information was not passed on to Beatty. At 07:40 Jones, attempting to close on ''Roon'' to fire torpedoes, discovered that she was accompanied by two other cruisers and was obliged to withdraw at full speed. The German ships gave chase but could not keep up and shortly returned to their fleet. Warrender changed course towards the position given by ''Shark'', expecting Beatty to do the same. At 07:36, he attempted to confirm that Beatty had changed course but did not get a reply. At 07:55, he managed to make contact and Beatty sent ''New Zealand'', his nearest ship, followed by the three light cruisers, spaced apart, to maximise their chance of spotting the enemy, followed by the remaining battlecruisers. At 08:42, Warrender and Beatty intercepted a message from ''Patrol'' at Scarborough that she was under attack by two battlecruisers. The chase of ''Roon'', which might have led to an encounter with the main German fleet, was abandoned and the British squadron turned north to intercept Hipper.


Hipper's return

At 09:30 on 16 December, Hipper's ships recombined and headed for home at maximum speed. His destroyers were about ahead, still moving slowly in bad weather. On inquiring where the High Seas Fleet was, he discovered that it had returned home and that his destroyers had sighted British ships. Jellicoe was requested to move south with the Grand Fleet, which was waiting at Scapa Flow. Tyrwhitt was ordered to join Warrender with his destroyer flotilla but bad weather prevented this. Instead he joined the chase with his four light cruisers. Keyes's submarines were to move into
Heligoland Bight The Heligoland Bight, also known as Helgoland Bight, (german: Helgoländer Bucht) is a bay which forms the southern part of the German Bight, itself a bay of the North Sea, located at the mouth of the Elbe river. The Heligoland Bight extends fro ...
to intercept ships returning to Germany. Warrender and Beatty kept apart to avoid shallow water over the Dogger Bank and to cut off different routes which Hipper might take to avoid minefields laid off the
Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
coast. Beatty's light cruisers entered the mined channels to search. At 11:25, the light cruiser ''Southampton'' sighted German ships ahead. The weather had started clear with good visibility, deteriorated again. ''Southampton'' reported that she was engaging a German cruiser accompanied by destroyers and ''Birmingham'' went to assist. Goodenough sighted two more cruisers, ''Strassburg'' and ''Graudenz'' but failed to report them. The two remaining British light cruisers moved off to assist but Beatty, not having been informed of the larger force, called one of them back. Due to confused signalling, the first cruiser misunderstood the message flashed by searchlight, passed it on to the others and all four disengaged and turned back to Beatty. Had Beatty appreciated the number of German ships, it is likely that he would have moved forward with all his ships, instead of recalling the one cruiser to screen his battlecruisers. The larger force suggested that bigger German ships would be following. The ships had disappeared but were heading toward the opposite end of the minefield, where Warrender was waiting. At 12:15, the German cruisers and destroyers exited the southern edge of the minefield and saw battleships ahead. ''Stralsund'' flashed the recognition signal, which had been sent to her shortly before, when she encountered ''Southampton'', gaining a little time. Visibility was now poor through rain and not all the British battleships had seen the enemy. ''Orion''s captain, Frederick Dreyer, trained his guns on ''Stralsund'' and requested permission of his superior, Rear Admiral Sir Robert Arbuthnot, who refused until Warrender granted permission. Warrender also saw the ships and ordered Packenham to give chase with the four armoured cruisers but these were too slow and the Germans disappeared again into the mist. Beatty received the news that Warrender had sighted the ships and assumed that the battlecruisers would be following on behind the lighter vessels. He abandoned the northern exit of the minefield and moved east and then south, attempting to position his ships to catch the German battlecruisers, should they slip past the slower British battleships. Hipper initially attempted to catch up with his cruisers and come to their aid but once they reported the presence of British battleships to the south and that they had slipped past, he turned north to avoid them. Warrender, realising that no battlecruisers had appeared in his direction, moved north but saw nothing. ''Kolberg'', damaged in the raid and lagging behind the others, saw the smoke from his ships but was not seen; Hipper escaped. Belatedly, the Admiralty intercepted signals from the High Seas Fleet at Heligoland as it returned to port and now warned the British ships that the German fleet was coming out. Jellicoe with the Grand Fleet continued the search on 17 December, to engage the High Seas Fleet but it was safely in harbour. Keyes's submarines had been despatched to find returning German ships and also failed, although one torpedo was fired at by , which missed. The Admiralty ordered Keyes to take his two destroyers and attempt to torpedo Hipper as he returned home around 02:00; Keyes had considered this and wanted to try but the message was delayed and failed to reach him until too late.


Aftermath


Analysis

The raid caused a great scandal in Britain, became a rallying cry against Germany for its attack upon civilians and against the Royal Navy for failing to prevent it. The attack became part of a British propaganda campaign; 'Remember Scarborough' was used on army recruitment posters and editorials in neutral America condemned it; "This is not warfare, this is murder". At first, blame for the light cruisers disengaging from the German ships fell upon the commander, Goodenough, but the action was contrary to his record. Blame eventually settled on the confused signals, which had been drafted by Lieutenant Commander Ralph Seymour, who remained flag officer to Beatty, making similar costly mistakes at the Battle of Dogger Bank and at 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 ...
. An order was promulgated to captains to double-check any orders to disengage if in an advantageous position. The High Seas Fleet had failed to engage the inferior British squadrons at Dogger Bank and the British nearly led a chase into the German fleet even after it had turned away. By chance the British drew back and Hipper escaped the two forces set to trap him. Jellicoe resolved that the entire Grand Fleet would be involved from the start in similar operations and the battlecruisers were moved to Rosyth to be closer. The Kaiser reprimanded his admirals for their failure to capitalise upon an opportunity but made no changes to the orders restricting the fleet, which were largely responsible for Ingenohl's decisions. In 2010 archaeologist Bob Clarke, a local to Scarborough, wrote that at the time Scarborough was noted in maritime literature as a ''defended town'' due primarily to the castle site. The town had three radio stations as well as new technology in the organisation of the British fleet. The shell patterns suggest that these were the targets for the raid on 16 December 1914, not civilians as reported at the time and since.


Casualties

The German ships fired 1,150 shells into Hartlepool, striking targets including the steelworks, gasworks, railways, seven churches and 300 houses. People fled the town by road and attempted to do so by train; 86 civilians were killed and 424 injured (122 killed and 443 wounded according to Arthur Marder in 1965). Seven soldiers were killed and 14 injured. The death of Private Theophilus Jones of the
Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and t ...
, age 29, was the first death of a British soldier from enemy action on British soil for 200 years. Eight German sailors were killed and 12 wounded.


See also

*
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 ...
(1914) *
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 battlecruise ...
(1916)


Photo gallery

File:Naval Bombardments of British Port Towns during the First World War Q53463.jpg, Five members of the Bennett family were killed during the raid. File:Lighthouse damage Scarborough 1914 IWM Q 53462.jpg, The damaged lighthouse at Scarborough. File:Piece of shell (5633824487).jpg, A shell fragment from the raid. File:Three men with shell (5634004381).jpg, An unexploded shell from the raid. File:The Literary digest history of the world war, compiled from original and contemporary sources- American, British, French, German, and others (1919) (14780791072).jpg, Further damage to the ruined Whitby Abbey. File:Grand Hotel, Scarborough (5).jpg, Damage to The Grand Hotel in Scarborough. File:Rugby Terrace (5633886175).jpg, A damaged house at Rugby Terrace. File:Sussex Street (5633991483).jpg, A damaged house at Sussex Street. File:Union Road (5633824475).jpg, A damaged house at Union Road. File:St Barnabas (5634342218).jpg, Damage at St. Barnabas church. File:Prissick Schools (5634342204).jpg, Damage at Prissick Schools.


Notes


Footnotes


References


Books

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Newspapers

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Further reading

* *


External links

* Gary Staff (translation)
"German Bombardment of Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough on 15th and 16th December 1914."
From the ''Kriegsmarine''s Official History (''Krieg zur See'')

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/19991007055519/http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWnavy.htm Royal Navy
The bombardment of Scarborough 1914
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

Bibliographical details of ''Der Krieg zur See 1914–1918'' (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raid On Scarborough, Hartlepool And Whitby Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby Conflicts in 1914 Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby History of Scarborough, North Yorkshire Whitby Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby Military history of County Durham 1910s in Yorkshire 20th century in County Durham Maritime incidents in England December 1914 events Germany–United Kingdom military relations History of Hartlepool Military history of Yorkshire