McCartney, Innes Jutland 1916. The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield

The Battle of Skagerrak 1916 was the largest naval battle and the only direct clash between British and German capital ships in WW1. The myriad factors that contributed to the loss of many ships were a mystery for years, subject only to speculation and theory. In this book, marine archaeologist and historian Dr Innes McCartney reveals for the first time what became of the warships that sank on the night of 31 May 1916. In doing so, he examines the circumstances behind the loss of each ship and compares what was known in 1916 with the latest maritime archaeological findings. Knowledge of what actually lies on the seabed was transformed in 2015 by a groundbreaking investigation using the modern technology of the multibeam. This contributed significantly to unravelling the details behind several mysteries of this naval battle, not least the devastating explosions that killed five large British warships, the details of the wrecks of the 13 destroyers lost in the battle, and the German warships sunk during the night phase. This is the first book to identify the locations of many of the wrecks. What is scandalous is how more than half of these wrecks were illegally looted despite their status as war graves. An important and revealing read for anyone interested in naval history and maritime archaeology.