Jutland 1916: The Archaeology of a Naval Battlefield

by Innes McCartney

The Battle of Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the First World War. For years the myriad factors contributing to the loss of many of the ships remained a mystery, 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 vanished on the night of May 31, 1916, examining the circumstances behind the loss of each ship and reconciling what was known in 1916 to what the archaeology is revealing today. The knowledge of what was present was transformed in 2015 by a groundbreaking survey using the modern technology of multi-beam. This greatly assisted in unraveling the details behind several Jutland enigmas, not least the devastating explosions which claimed five major British warships, the details of the wrecks of the thirteen destroyers lost in the battle, and the German warships scuttled during the night phase.

This is the first book to identify the locations of many of the wrecks, and--scandalously--how more than half of these sites have been illegally plundered for salvage, despite their status as war graves. An essential and revealing read for anyone interested in naval history and marine archaeology.

Genres: History, Naval History, Military History

272 pages, Hardcover

Published March 14, 2017

Reviews

[Dimitri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Variety is the spice of reading about Jutland and this book is really something different. Aimed at advanced students, its Spartan narrative assumes prior knowledge of the battle narrative, while retaining a recognizable structure: the Battlecruiser Action, the Fleet Action and the Night Actions. The meat is in the composite images and underwater photos of the overgrown, dilapidated wrecks that litter the North Sea where titans clashed a century ago. While they are too far gone to provide us with definitive answers on whò got hit whèn by counting the holes any more than Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting or The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command, they allow for the occasional revisionism, especially where contemporary photography falls short or survivor's recollection grow confused with old age. It’s done wreck by wreck, from the famous exploded battlecruisers (Indefatigable, Queen Mary) to the humble destroyer.

Mccartney writes with passion and expertise. The young science of maritime battle archeology is the handmaiden of history and the work is hard, with dives to a depth of 60m or more still at least as important as remote-controlled robots. It’s also a race against the clock as the merciless North Sea nibbles away at the remains until even the massive boilers have dissolved, with the smaller ships on the verge of disintegration and even the Dreadnoughts unlikely to witness the bicentennial of Jutland. This much is already evident in the compartive condition of the site in the 1990s and 2015. To this must be added the infuriating and unscrupulous pillage of presentable artefacts by human vultures. Others found a home in legitimate museums; these are shown in an impressive before-and-after display.

It does not have all the answers, it does not end the debate on Jutland which has already outlived its participants. But it offers a fresh visual perspective opened by scientifc advancement; as such it's a
nice book to have... and to hold as a keepsake.

[Derek Nudd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Innes McCartney combines professional use of historical records with fifteen years' maritime archaeology to tease new insights from the rapidly deteriorating wrecks at the bottom of the North Sea. In the process he developed new techniques to identify class of vessel from the often partial and degraded remains.

The book itself is well produced: hardback, nicely printed on heavy 245x190mm paper. My main whinge is over the design. Squeezing the charts, a vital element, into landscape presentation within over-wide margins makes them unneccessarily difficult to read. They deserve to be full-page and have better colour separation. Using black text on blue boxes for captions probably looks OK on screen but doesn't translate well to print. Switching randomly from black-on-white pages to white-on-black may help the underwater photos to stand out but I for one found it jarring. The overall effect was as though the publisher had given the project to an intern to finish off.

A pity. Losing style points in my opinion (others may disagree) does not detract from the value of the content. I will be returning to this book time and again. Perhaps with a magnifying-glass.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting specialist book, full of detail, identifying all the known wrecks, detailing the various research expeditions and some commentary on protection and the way forward. Not a book for anyone not interested in the battle or marine archaeology in general, but I sure enjoyed it.

[David Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is solid rather than brilliant. The account, ship by ship, ends up reptitive, and there’s a checking-off-the-academic-paper boxes quality which marks this as a hybrid between scholarly and popular writing. As scholarly writing, it’s fine, lucid, and non-jargon-laden, but it’s more of a collection of papers than a monograph.

The publisher deserves a bit of criticism, because while the illustration is lavish, it’s not really effective—particularly the maps, which are just too small (about 2” x 2” usually) and unnecessarily so.

[Geoffrey White · Rating 5 out of 5]

A first rate naval archaeology resource, unique

McCartney has written a top class thorough survey of the casualties of this famous sea battle. It is scholarly in tone, but graphic in presentation of the history, loss and present condition of these lost warships and men. Many of the wrecks have suffered salvage, and the author documents this damage also. One for enthusiasts.

[Sue Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb presentation of the underwater archaeology of the Jutland seabattle field wrecks. Multibeam bathymetry makes a crucial contribution to recording these historical (and rapidly degrading) wrecks. Pity some of the degradation is due to scavenging...

[Bobble Hat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real gem going ship by ship and presenting sonar scans, colour photos and analysis of all of the wrecks. Answers a lot of questions about the manner of sinking, although sadly also bears testimony to the desecration of war graves by salvers. Recommended.

[Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent detailed review of the archaeology of the Jutland wrecks. Invaluable for anyone interested in the military hardware of the period, and marine archeaology in general.