by Eric Dorn Brose
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2021. Pp. x, 350.
Illus., maps, notes, biblio., index. $49.95. ISBN: 1682477118
Why Jutland Happened
Prof. Brose (Drexel), author of numerous works in German military and naval history, gives us a fresh look at the Battle of Jutland, a subject one would think has been done to death. His approach is to look back at how naval operations from the outbreak of the Great War through the eve of the battle brought about and affected the events of May 31-June 1, 1916 in the North Sea.
Brose looks at what happened and, more importantly, why it happened, in the first two years of the war at sea. In effect, he explores how Coronel, the Falklands, the Yorkshire Raids, Dogger Bank, and so forth, help us better understand what happened and why in the North Sea on May 31st and June 1st of 1916.
We see how motivations, ideas, and actions of the men who commanded the fleets, from the Kaiser and Churchill down through the senior naval staffers and the admirals in their flagships, both influenced and were influenced by events as they unfolded. Brose offers some surprising insights, such as the initial concerns by the Kaiser and some of his senior officers about civilian losses during the German battle cruiser raids on the English coast, the ways in which their morale soared and plunged from successful actions to disastrous ones, leading to certain decisions. We also see how a senior British naval staff officer actually sent incorrect instructions to the fleet, because he thought his idea was better than that agreed upon by his superiors, leading to a remarkable “what if”.
Brose also explores the surprisingly well-known practice by British gunnery officers to compromise safety in order to achieve a higher rate of fire, leading to the disastrous loss of three battle cruisers at Jutland.
Having set the stage, as it were, for the great sea fight, Brose does a good job of detailing how Jutland unfolded.
Although it could use many more maps, and has some minor bloopers (e.g., an armored cruiser is not a “capital ship”), Clash of the Capital Ships is an excellent account of the war at sea through Jutland, which will prove rewarding reading for anyone interested in war at sea, particularly during the Great War.
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Note: Clash of the Capital Ships is also available in several e-editions.
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