Nicholas C. Jellicoe - The Last Days of the High Seas Fleet: From Mutiny to Scapa Flow

THE LAST DAYS OF THE HIGH SEAS FLEET

REVIEWS OF

JUTLAND: THE UNFINISHED BATTLE

The best narrative account of the battle currently available.

Prof Eric Grove, Navy News, May 2016

closely reasoned, fair-minded and thoroughly readable.

Allan Mallinson, The Times, July 2016

A compelling and dramatic accountscrupulously accurate and fair.

Robert Massie (Pulitzer prize-winning author, Castles of Steel, Dreadnought )

Thoroughly researched and absorbingan excellent addition to the vast array of literature about the epic clash.

Warships, International Fleet Review, June 2016

A lively and engaging analysis of the controversial Fleet action that combines new material with the sympathetic but not uncritical perspective of the British Commander-in-Chiefs grandson.

Rear Admiral James Goldrick, RAN (Author, Before Jutland )

A dramatic, often gripping, and surprisingly objective, look at the battle, any student of naval warfare will find this a rewarding read.

The NYMAS Review

This whole package, book and companion website, is a must for serious naval historians. But, Jellicoes writing is entertaining enough to engage anyone simply looking for a delightful read.

Commander Stephen Philips, USN Naval Historical Foundation

A superb analysisA balanced, measured and yet nuanced account of the greatest sea battle of World War 1.

Prof Holger Herwig ( Luxury Fleet ), Naval War College Review, Autumn 2016

A worthy addition to the enormous Jutland literary compendium. The authors familial links to Admiral Jellicoe, his graphic website supporting the book and his balanced, objective treatment of the subject make this book well worth reading.

Tim Coyle, Australian Naval Institute

This is a marvelously enthralling account of the battle that combines academic thoroughness with a unique element of personal observation. I found it totally absorbing and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Warship World, May/June 2016 PW-M. Commodore Peter Wykeham-Martin, Chairman Friends of the NMRN

An exceptionally well written and researched account which provides an insight into the relationship between high ranking officers of that era. All-in-all this is a good read and is very highly recommended.

Richard Osborne, Marine News, June 2016

The best account I have read about this greatest of sea battles.

Capt Don Walsh USN retd

A book not to be missed by serious scholars and students of the Great War at sea his evidence and argument finish the battle.

International Journal of Maritime History, February 2017

His description of the battle itself is a masterpiece of historical writing.

Prof Dr Michael Epkenhans, Centre for Military History and Social Sciences of Bundeswehr, Potsdam

To the memory of nine German sailors who never made it home.

And to my family, my wife Patricia and our two talented daughters,

Zo and Francesca. Always, for their love and support.

From Mutiny to Scapa Flow

NICHOLAS JELLICOE

Foreword by P ROF D R M ICHAEL E PKENHANS

Copyright Nicholas Jellicoe 2019

First published in Great Britain in 2019 by

Seaforth Publishing,

A division of Pen & Sword Books Ltd,

47 Church Street,

Barnsley S70 2AS

www.seaforthpublishing.com

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 5267 5458 5 ( HARDBACK )

ISBN 978 1 5267 5460 8 ( KINDLE )

ISBN 978 1 5267 5459 2 ( EPUB )

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing of both the copyright owner and the above publisher.

The right of Nicholas Jellicoe to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Pen & Sword Books Limited incorporates the imprints of Atlas, Archaeology, Aviation, Discovery, Family History, Fiction, History, Maritime, Military, Military Classics, Politics, Select, Transport, True Crime, Air World, Frontline Publishing, Leo Cooper, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing, The Praetorian Press, Wharncliffe Local History, Wharncliffe Transport, Wharncliffe True Crime and White Owl.

BETWEEN PAGES 64 AND 65

A defaced Cap tally from SMS Braunswchweig. Red arm band. Red ink used to paint on red flags on postcard. Cap Tally / armband: Authors collection, postcard: Deutsche Marinemuseum, Wilhelmshaven).

Unloading munitions from the High Seas Fleet flagship, SMS Friedrich der Groe , Wilhelmshaven, 17 November 1918. (Deutsche Marine Bund)

The railway car at Compigne. (Beaverbrook Collection, Public Domain)

HMS Cardiff leads the German internment fleet into Rosyth. Painting by Charles Dixon. ( National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

The internment terms being handed to Rear Admiral von Meurer aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth . Painting by Sir John Lavery. ( National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London)

Rear Admiral von Reuter being taken aboard a British drifter. Painting by Bernard Gribble. (National Museums Scotland)

Beatty (Admiral Sir David). (Authors collection)

Meurer (Rear Admiral Hugo von). (Unknown)

Madden (Admiral Sir Charles). (Madden Family)

Fremantle (Rear Admiral Sir Sydney). (Fremantle Family)

Reuter (Rear Admiral Ludwig von). (von Reuter Family)

Trotha (Admiral Adolf von). (Unknown)

Cox (Ernst Guelph) & McKenzie (Commander Tom, RN). (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

McCrone (Robert W (Courtesy of Ian Buxton, Author Metal Industries )

SMS V.82 , one of the German destroyers beached before her scuttling. Painted by Sir William Wyllie. ( National Maritime Museum)

Some crew of V82 in Bruges. (Deutsche Marine Bund)

The crew of the Zeebrugge-based V.82 pictured on their boat in Calais. (SeaWar Museum)

BETWEEN PAGES 128 AND 129

View of the German fleet at anchor, seen from the Houton Seaplane terminal. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

SMS Bayern coming into Scapa Flow. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

The Admiralty tug and former fleet water tender, Flying Kestrel . (Unknown)

Sailors on the former flagship, SMS Friedrich der Groe . (Unknown)

Amateur theatrics on a German torpedo boat. (Deutsche Marine Bund)

The battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz . (Blohm und Voss, Hamburg)

SMS Seydlitz lying on her starboard side after sinking at 13:50. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

A British destroyer attempting to beach a German torpedo boat. (Alamy)

SMS Bayern sinking by the stern. (SeaWar Museum, Denmark)

A series of time-lapse photographs of SMS Karlsruhe sinking. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

SMS Hindenburg sinking by the bow. (Alamy)

Only the funnels of SMS Hindenburg visible. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

Armed British marines pull alongside a German destroyer. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

A British officer climbs on to the G.102 to hoist a British Ensign. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)

Admiral von Trotha meeting the returning interned sailors. (Wilhelmshavener Zeitungs FotoBild Sammlung)

Aboard the salvaged battleship, SMS Hindenburg. (Kirkwall Library & Archives)