The Battle of Jutland – 100 years of memories

May 31st marks the 100th anniversary of The Battle of Jutland where the main fleets of the British and German navies fought on the eastern side of the North Sea. The so-called Duke of Edinburgh, whose real name is Philip, although I’m unsure of his surname, and a woman who is referred to as Princess Anne, despite being over 13 years old (which normally disqualifies you from being referred to as ‘Princess’), will be there to commemorate it.

It was the largest naval battle of World War I and, according to our history books, played a decisive role in the allied ‘victory’ two years later. Two years?

Weeping Window

The ‘scores’ of the battle are laid out as if they are some sociopath’s cricket scores, which is quite possibly how they were viewed at the time:

United Kingdom
6,094 killed
674 wounded
177 captured
3 battlecruisers
3 armoured cruisers
8 destroyers
(113,300 tons sunk)

Germany
2,551 killed
507 wounded
1 battlecruiser
1 pre-dreadnought
4 light cruisers
5 torpedo-boats
(62,300 tons sunk)

Since it was a branch of their family who started the First World War, shouldn’t the ‘Royals’ be in Orkney to apologise rather than commemorate?

Feel free to leave a Reply :)