Flawed Victory

When the British and German fleets met at Jutland on 31 May 1916, it was believed that the long-awaited final battle for world naval dominance had come. Yet the outcome of the action fell far short of the expectations of both sides: the Germans had failed to decisively defeat the Grand Fleet, but equally the Royal Navy had failed to win a second Trafalgar. The controversy over the battle's outcome began as the ships returned to port, with both sides claiming victory, and continued long after the war was over. In this fresh study, Keith Yates sets the scene with a description of the backgound to the battle and the personalities involved, gives a detailed account of the confused fighting on the day, and also describes the post-war arguments as the participants sought to apportion blame and exonerate themselves.