Night action at the Battle of Jutland Hipper succeed in sinking two British battlecruisers during the chase. Once the German fleet came in sight, the British ships reversed course, now intending to lead the German fleet in pursuit of them back towards the main British fleet. Despite minimal information, Admiral John Jellicoe managed to deploy his ships to good advantage across the path of the approaching German fleet, so that some success was gained in the short battle before the Germans in turn reversed course and withdrew. Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer was now in a difficult position, because his smaller force was cut off from Germany by the
Order of battle at Jutland according to current NATO practice): Other abbreviations Ships sunk during the action are indicated thus: * ; officers killed in action thus: . British Section German Section The German designations of ship types, fleets, squadrons and flotillas are given in brackets after the English designation. Order of battle at Jutland This is the complete order of battle for the Battle of Jutland fought between 31 May and 1 June 1916. The battle involved 250 warships of the British and German navies, and, in terms of combined tonnage of vessels engaged, was the largest naval battle in history. The Grand Fleet