0:00:08 > 0:00:11Eight miles north of the Scottish mainland lies the island of Hoy.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16The south east corner of the Orkney Islands.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Five days before Britain declared war,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25this remote community was already on red alert.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29In the early hours of July 30th 1914,
0:00:29 > 0:00:32ten soldiers from the Orkney Garrison were dispatched here,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34the tiny village of Rackwick.
0:00:36 > 0:00:40Orkney was to be placed under direct military rule.
0:00:40 > 0:00:44These ten soldiers were on a mission of national importance.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49They were to take immediate control of the telegraph station.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52The one vital link between the Admiralty in London
0:00:52 > 0:00:55and Orkney's great natural harbour.
0:00:55 > 0:00:56Scapa Flow.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02Scapa was to become the base
0:01:02 > 0:01:05of the most powerful fighting force in all history.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07The British Grand Fleet.
0:01:07 > 0:01:11Already, the great ships, the mighty dreadnoughts of the Royal Navy,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15had left Portsmouth en route to Orkney.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20Their role was crucial, protecting vital British cargos,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23and protecting Britain from invasion.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Command of the sea was something Britain just could not lose.
0:01:28 > 0:01:31Lose command of the sea, we've had it.
0:01:34 > 0:01:39What was to follow was a naval war of industrialised superpowers,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42a war of terrifying technologies.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Between two sides separated by one savage body of water.
0:01:49 > 0:01:50The North Sea.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56For the Royal Navy, this would be a war like none before.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00Fighting a new enemy, with new weaponry,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03from a new, Scottish base.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23VOICES OVER RADIO
0:02:23 > 0:02:29The Northern Hemisphere's greatest natural harbour. Scapa Flow.
0:02:29 > 0:02:32You've got 120 miles of water ringed by beautiful islands.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44For centuries, ships had come here,
0:02:44 > 0:02:46seeking shelter from the vicious waters
0:02:46 > 0:02:48where the Atlantic meets the North Sea.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53To a harbour said to be big enough for all the ships
0:02:53 > 0:02:56of all the navies of all the world.
0:02:57 > 0:03:03To a place forever linked to the great ships of the Great War.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11On the last day of July 1914, in broad daylight,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15the entire fleet sailed through that narrow channel -
0:03:15 > 0:03:16and into Scapa Flow.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20This was a fighting force of more than 40,000 men.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35In charge of that force was Admiral George Callaghan.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39But he would not remain so for long.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46Two days after the fleet arrived at Scapa Flow, Callaghan's friend
0:03:46 > 0:03:51and second in command, Admiral John Jellicoe, arrived from London.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58And 48 hours later, on the very day Britain declared war,
0:03:58 > 0:04:03Jellicoe opened a letter from First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08A letter that appointed Jellicoe commander in chief.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11He was due to succeed Sir George Callaghan
0:04:11 > 0:04:14in two and a half months anyway.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18So it was only bringing it ahead by a matter of weeks, you might say.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21And Callaghan was aware of this?
0:04:21 > 0:04:23No, it came as a bit of a shock.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27You have to think of this in the context of a new Trafalgar
0:04:27 > 0:04:32was expected daily, right at the beginning.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36And Callaghan kind of assumes that he would be leading
0:04:36 > 0:04:40the fleet that he had trained into the new Trafalgar.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43Jellicoe, what was his leadership style?
0:04:43 > 0:04:47I would say the only Nelsonic aspect to Jellicoe's character
0:04:47 > 0:04:52was the rapport he had with his men. He was very good at names and faces.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54He knew every job on board.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57If you were painting a bulkhead, he would come along and talk to you
0:04:57 > 0:05:01about it and say, this is a better way to do it,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04and he would probably know your name.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07He was very nervous of his command,
0:05:07 > 0:05:11because he now commanded, in the Grand Fleet,
0:05:11 > 0:05:16pretty much the whole of the Royal Navy's fleet capability
0:05:16 > 0:05:20and Jellicoe, as Churchill said, cleverly,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23was the only man who could lose the war in an afternoon.
0:05:23 > 0:05:28That burdened Jellicoe - he didn't carry his responsibility lightly.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Jellicoe had been promoted to a position
0:05:38 > 0:05:40of immense national responsibility.
0:05:42 > 0:05:44The Royal Navy had long been the figurehead
0:05:44 > 0:05:46of Britain's imperial might.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50But in the first years of the 20th century,
0:05:50 > 0:05:53this was a fighting force on the cusp of change.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58Coming to terms with a new balance of world power.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05You could say that the navy was in the process of shifting its gaze.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Before the 20th century, the traditional enemies
0:06:08 > 0:06:11were across the channel - France and also Spain,
0:06:11 > 0:06:15but by the First World War, the navy was looking at a new threat -
0:06:15 > 0:06:18the gathering naval power of Germany across the North Sea
0:06:18 > 0:06:24in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, so you have bases becoming more important
0:06:24 > 0:06:27in Dover, in Harwich, in Rosyth, in Cromarty in Scotland,
0:06:27 > 0:06:31and in Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So in a sense, this was an institution,
0:06:36 > 0:06:38- the Royal Navy, in transition?- Yes.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41Going from low-tech to high-tech. How did they cope with that?
0:06:41 > 0:06:43It was a very complex time.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46The Royal Navy in the First World War - you still have sailors mopping
0:06:46 > 0:06:49the decks, you still have a daily issue of rum,
0:06:49 > 0:06:51you still have men sleeping in hammocks,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54but at the same time, it's at the forefront of a whole host
0:06:54 > 0:06:57of technologies - long range gunnery, torpedoes,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59aircraft, submarines.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08We have the institution, the Royal Navy, now based in Scapa, we have the men -
0:07:08 > 0:07:10do we have the ships to win the war?
0:07:10 > 0:07:13Well, Britain was the pre-eminent naval power of the period
0:07:13 > 0:07:15so if Britain didn't have the ships, no-one did.
0:07:15 > 0:07:18In 1906 HMS Dreadnought was launched,
0:07:18 > 0:07:22which was the first of a new series of all big gun battleships
0:07:22 > 0:07:25and because Britain also had the industrial might,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28it was possible to drive these into production with great speed
0:07:28 > 0:07:31so that the British had more ships than the Germans
0:07:31 > 0:07:34at the start of the war and continued to outbuild them during it.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46Before and during the Great War, Britain built 35 dreadnoughts.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51But to see one today, I've had to come to the USA.
0:07:54 > 0:08:00This is the only world's only remaining dreadnought-type battleship - the USS Texas.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04Now a museum piece, she was built in Virginia to a very British design.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13I grew up around ships, I've made films about them,
0:08:13 > 0:08:18but this is the most deadly and awe-inspiring ship I've ever experienced.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21It's something cooked up in the imagination of HG Wells.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Even the name says it. She's a dreadnought.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27And the sight of one of these coming over the horizon towards you
0:08:27 > 0:08:31must have sent a shiver of fear down the spine of every seaman.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36And in her day, she was quite simply the most powerful weapon of war
0:08:36 > 0:08:38ever conceived and built by man.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44Well, the dreadnought was a great leap forward,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47it was the space shuttle of its time.
0:08:47 > 0:08:48All big guns,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50they had the main calibre main battery
0:08:50 > 0:08:52which made gunfire so much easier.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54They unleashed devastation.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57You would launch a ton, half a ton,
0:08:57 > 0:09:00projectile, ten, 15 miles.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04When it hit its target, it left a hole the size of a tennis court,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06so times ten, it's just unfathomable,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10the amount of destructive force these ships could unleash on a target.
0:09:12 > 0:09:14They were also heavily armoured and faster,
0:09:14 > 0:09:17so the HMS Dreadnought, when it was launched
0:09:17 > 0:09:19had a turbine engine which was a lot faster
0:09:19 > 0:09:23than the previous engines and it was a technological leap forward,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26and made these ships like the dreadnought, to their namesake -
0:09:26 > 0:09:28they feared nothing, they dread not.
0:09:36 > 0:09:37That power came at a price.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Each dreadnought cost the British treasury around £2 million.
0:09:44 > 0:09:45In today's terms,
0:09:45 > 0:09:50Admiral Jellicoe's 1914 Dreadnought Fleet cost over £4 billion.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55Yet the dreadnoughts were considered essential
0:09:55 > 0:09:59to maintaining the supremacy of Britain and her Empire.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07The purpose of dreadnoughts was to find an answer,
0:10:07 > 0:10:12a technical answer, to Britain's increasing numerical threat,
0:10:12 > 0:10:19by other industrialising nations. France, Russia, Germany, America.
0:10:19 > 0:10:26Britannia was still supreme but no longer head and shoulders supreme.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31So dreadnought was this fantastic technical ploy
0:10:31 > 0:10:34to trump Britain's competitors.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41That day at Scapa Flow, when Admiral Jellicoe opened the envelope
0:10:41 > 0:10:45that promoted him to commander of the British Grand Fleet,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48he had 21 dreadnought battleships.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53His opposite number, the German Admiral Ingenohl, had 13.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56But as he took command, Jellicoe's first concern wasn't
0:10:56 > 0:11:00how to sink those German ships. It was how to protect his own.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09A new danger had emerged from under the waves.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11The German Navy's fleet of ocean-going U-boats.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17And in the seas off Scotland's south east coast,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21just one month into the war, the U-boats claimed a famous victory.
0:11:31 > 0:11:3417 years before he would write Brave New World,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36the 20-year-old Aldous Huxley
0:11:36 > 0:11:40was on holiday in the village of St Abbs, just north of Berwick.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43He stayed with family here at Northfield House.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50On the afternoon of the 5th of September 1914,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52he heard a tremendous noise...
0:11:52 > 0:11:55LOUD ECHOING BANG
0:11:59 > 0:12:02..the sound of a torpedo exploding in the magazine
0:12:02 > 0:12:06of the British light cruiser HMS Pathfinder.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24The torpedo had been fired by the U-boat U-21,
0:12:24 > 0:12:28which had, that moment, become the first German submarine
0:12:28 > 0:12:29to sink a British warship.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34250 British sailors were killed.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40In a letter to his father dated nine days later,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43Huxley described the scene.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45He called the explosion...
0:12:45 > 0:12:49"A great white cloud with its foot in the sea.
0:12:49 > 0:12:51"The St Abbs lifeboat came in
0:12:51 > 0:12:53"with the most appalling account of the scene.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58"They brought in a sailor's cap with half a man's head inside."
0:13:03 > 0:13:07At Scapa Flow, Admiral Jellicoe was shocked to discover
0:13:07 > 0:13:11that his new base was wide open to submarine attack.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16A solution had to be found that would allow the fleet
0:13:16 > 0:13:18to move freely whilst keeping the U-boats out.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25In 1914, German submarines could carry and fire six torpedoes.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30A single U-boat could potentially devastate Jellicoe's fleet.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Well, that essentially was Jellicoe's worst nightmare.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36when he arrived here
0:13:36 > 0:13:39and found that he'd brought
0:13:39 > 0:13:41his surface fleet to a place
0:13:41 > 0:13:44that had no defences to speak of
0:13:44 > 0:13:48against a submarine or anything else.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50And that's why he took his Grand Fleet on a tour
0:13:50 > 0:13:53- round the Western Isles and Northern Ireland...- Absolutely.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55He spent the first months -
0:13:55 > 0:13:57in fact, the first year - of the war
0:13:57 > 0:14:00virtually steaming up and down the west coast of Scotland,
0:14:00 > 0:14:03down to Northern Ireland and back again,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08until they were able to get the main fleet base
0:14:08 > 0:14:10into some defensive order.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17In November 1914, the Royal Navy began to close off
0:14:17 > 0:14:20the narrow channels leading from the open sea into Scapa Flow...
0:14:22 > 0:14:25..with deliberately scuttled ships -
0:14:25 > 0:14:26blockships.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31The schooner Reginald was built in Govan in 1878...
0:14:32 > 0:14:34..and sacrificed in 1914.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39So, they got these blockships on this side of the flow
0:14:39 > 0:14:42within the first few months of the war.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47By the end of 1914, we had 17 of these in position
0:14:47 > 0:14:50and another six at the north end.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53They were strung together
0:14:53 > 0:14:56so that they weren't just isolated hulks.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58There would be a net between them
0:14:58 > 0:15:03that would stretch right across, from shore to shore,
0:15:03 > 0:15:07so that they were actually... It's like a big chain.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10So even if there were little gaps between the sunken ships,
0:15:10 > 0:15:11they were netted to make sure...
0:15:11 > 0:15:13They were netted to make sure.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15They did a report on them
0:15:15 > 0:15:18within a year of dropping them in the first place,
0:15:18 > 0:15:20in September 1915,
0:15:20 > 0:15:25and they described this one as "likely to last".
0:15:25 > 0:15:27THEY CHUCKLE
0:15:27 > 0:15:28Well, they were proven right.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35All aboard the Reginald.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38It's great. Touching a 100-year-old wreck -
0:15:38 > 0:15:43a ship that was built in 1878 in Glasgow...
0:15:44 > 0:15:48..and now it's a rusting hulk.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53And you can actually peel layers of the iron off...
0:15:53 > 0:15:56All the rolled iron is just splitting.
0:16:01 > 0:16:05- At least she went down with no hands on board, eh?- Absolutely.
0:16:08 > 0:16:10The blockships were the perfect way
0:16:10 > 0:16:13to keep U-boats out of Scapa Flow's narrow inlets.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20But the main southern entrance, Hoxa Sound,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22was a mile and a half wide.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26It was the Grand Fleet's main entry and exit point.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30It called for an altogether different solution.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37Hoxa Sound was the key to the security of Scapa Flow.
0:16:37 > 0:16:42It is the most vital waterway in this whole system.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45This is a coast battery.
0:16:45 > 0:16:51It's one of 13 coast batteries that were built in Orkney,
0:16:51 > 0:16:55and its job is to act as the shore defences.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00There were guns emplaced here to cover the anti-submarine booms,
0:17:00 > 0:17:04which are like big net curtains
0:17:04 > 0:17:06that are strung across these channels.
0:17:08 > 0:17:13The booms had gates which would be opened for friendly ships,
0:17:13 > 0:17:17and the gates were operated by small boats that would sit,
0:17:17 > 0:17:21that would just be on station all the time.
0:17:27 > 0:17:30The booms and batteries were in place by early 1915.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35With the blockships closing access to smaller channels,
0:17:35 > 0:17:38Jellicoe could end his Hebridean cruises
0:17:38 > 0:17:40and safely anchor his warships.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43His growing fleet of dreadnoughts,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46his high-speed battlecruisers,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48the hunter-killers...
0:17:48 > 0:17:52and his smaller ships - the nimble destroyers and long-range cruisers.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57Like this - HMS Caroline.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02Docked in Belfast,
0:18:02 > 0:18:06she's the only ship from Jellicoe's fleet still afloat.
0:18:08 > 0:18:13And deep inside, it's still possible to get a sense of life on board
0:18:13 > 0:18:15during the Great War.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22You know, it's quite amazing...
0:18:22 > 0:18:24We're in the engine room.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28There are two massive steam turbines here
0:18:28 > 0:18:30and two in the forward chamber
0:18:30 > 0:18:33with a great steam condenser in the middle.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35If you can just imagine being down here
0:18:35 > 0:18:37as one of the men who worked in the engine room -
0:18:37 > 0:18:39the noise, the vibration, the heat.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44They must have been continually pouring with sweat.
0:18:47 > 0:18:49There's one place on HMS Caroline
0:18:49 > 0:18:51that must have been particularly terrifying.
0:18:54 > 0:18:58In battle, the emergency steering compartment would be used
0:18:58 > 0:19:00to manoeuvre the ship...
0:19:00 > 0:19:03when everything else had been blown apart.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09Eight to ten men would be down in this chamber,
0:19:09 > 0:19:13with the hatch locked, following orders that came down from above.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16You can imagine the sheer, SHEER power needed
0:19:16 > 0:19:20to turn these gigantic wheels in this massive ship.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Being trapped down here in the heat of battle,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24rocking and rolling,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27and the blasts from shells, torpedoes...
0:19:27 > 0:19:30It wouldn't be a pleasant place to be,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and then suddenly, you could be sinking to the bottom,
0:19:32 > 0:19:35trapped in a cage of steel.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42The men on board these ships
0:19:42 > 0:19:45had come from Britain's bustling naval towns -
0:19:45 > 0:19:47Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50Some as young as 14.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53Most had signed up for 12 years.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56Over 40,000 of them.
0:19:58 > 0:20:03They came to a remote, windswept place of farmers and fishermen...
0:20:03 > 0:20:07and outnumbered the local population by almost two to one.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16It took the island and turned it upside down and shook it.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18It must have done. So, how did the locals react?
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Was it a positive reaction?
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Well, you have to remember, I suppose,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26that society was very different in those days,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30and if you were helping the fleet,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33then you were doing your part for the country, you know?
0:20:33 > 0:20:35There was that kind of patriotism,
0:20:35 > 0:20:39which you might not necessarily get these days.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43But...I have to say, though,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45it was lucrative.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Farming was in decline on the run up to World War I,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and then, suddenly, there's, like, a small city
0:20:53 > 0:20:55floating in the middle of the islands...
0:20:55 > 0:20:58- and needing to be fed. - And they need to be fed and watered.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03For Orkney's tenant farmers,
0:21:03 > 0:21:05selling produce directly to the navy
0:21:05 > 0:21:08was a new and welcome form of income.
0:21:09 > 0:21:11This was the first opportunity they had
0:21:11 > 0:21:13to have real money in their pockets,
0:21:13 > 0:21:14that they could spend
0:21:14 > 0:21:16on whatever they wished.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18That's quite a dramatic difference, isn't it?
0:21:18 > 0:21:20Oh, it was very liberating.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23What about the social exchange between people?
0:21:23 > 0:21:24Did much of that go on?
0:21:24 > 0:21:29Recreation was provided on shore for a lot of the fleet,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31and there was dances and concerts,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36and land was requisitioned for turning into football pitches.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42The fleet's main recreation centre was on the tiny island of Flotta,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45now dominated by an oil terminal.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48A hundred years ago,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53King George faced Admiral Jellicoe on Flotta's improvised golf course.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57But not all activities were quite so distinguished.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59The navy catered to all tastes.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02They organised boxing matches...
0:22:02 > 0:22:04And, I mean, these things were massive.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06They were fleet boxing matches,
0:22:06 > 0:22:09so you were fighting for the honour of your ship.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11And there is a photograph of it...
0:22:11 > 0:22:13- and it's just... I mean, there are... - I've seen it.- Yeah.
0:22:13 > 0:22:15It looks like 100,000 people.
0:22:15 > 0:22:18Yeah, watching this boxing match going on in the middle of it.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29The men on board made the best of things,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31but for the young sailors,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34Orkney lacked the attractions of southern harbours.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41They'd complain that Scapa was too cold, too windy, too far away.
0:22:42 > 0:22:44But for now, it was home.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49And from here, the most powerful navy in the world
0:22:49 > 0:22:53would square up to the second most powerful navy in the world
0:22:53 > 0:22:55for control of the North Sea.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02The Imperial German Navy was based in the harbour towns of Kiel
0:23:02 > 0:23:04and Wilhelmshaven.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14And German warships patrolling near Wilhelmshaven were
0:23:14 > 0:23:18the target for the first British naval attack of the war.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25At first light on the morning of the 28th of August 1914,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29a British force of eight light cruisers and a destroyer escort
0:23:29 > 0:23:33sailed into German waters just a few miles north of here.
0:23:37 > 0:23:41Alerted to the intruders, Admiral Franz Hipper, in charge
0:23:41 > 0:23:45of German defences, dispatched ten of his light cruisers.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50By lunchtime, only seven remained...
0:23:52 > 0:23:55..as first the Mainz, then the Ariadne and Kohl were sunk.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03The short-lived Battle of Heligoland Bight was Britain's first
0:24:03 > 0:24:05naval success of the war.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09Crowds gathered to cheer the ships home.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15But the effects of the attack were much more profound in Germany,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19and in particular with the German leader, Kaiser Wilhelm.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Well, the Kaiser was rather horrified. That was his toy.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25The Navy was his toy.
0:24:25 > 0:24:26This should not have happened.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31And he decided that no German ships were to sail out into the North Sea
0:24:31 > 0:24:33to seek out the Royal Navy
0:24:33 > 0:24:36unless they had express permission from him personally.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40So, all these wonderful ships are essentially cooped up here
0:24:40 > 0:24:43in Wilhelmshaven or in Kiel.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51The great irony was that Germany's leader was an honorary admiral...
0:24:51 > 0:24:53of the Royal Navy.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56His grandmother, Britain's Queen Victoria,
0:24:56 > 0:24:59had given him the title in 1889.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07A quarter of a century later, Germany's idiosyncratic leader
0:25:07 > 0:25:10seemed to be running scared of the Royal Navy.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15A situation that suited the British perfectly.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19"We don't actually have to fight you
0:25:19 > 0:25:24"because if you don't want to fight us, we still run the world.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27"That's OK. If we catch you, watch out -
0:25:27 > 0:25:30"you're going to get the drubbing of your lives."
0:25:32 > 0:25:36For four months, the German ships were ordered to remain in harbour.
0:25:40 > 0:25:46But ten days before Christmas, 1914, the Kaiser allowed Admiral Hipper
0:25:46 > 0:25:49to take his battle cruiser fleet to sea.
0:25:52 > 0:25:55The next morning, the 16th of December,
0:25:55 > 0:26:02Hipper ordered his ships to open fire on the town of Scarborough.
0:26:13 > 0:26:16Whitby and Hartlepool were next.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20For the first time in almost two and a half centuries, British men
0:26:20 > 0:26:24and women had been killed, on British soil, by enemy warships.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28The final death toll was 137.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Jellicoe's boss, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38called the Germans "baby killers".
0:26:42 > 0:26:44The Royal Navy had left Scarborough undefended.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50Jellicoe's fleet was 300 miles to the north, 15 hours away.
0:26:51 > 0:26:53Something had to be done.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08So, five days before Christmas, 1914,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11the still incomplete Rosyth Dockyard became the base
0:27:11 > 0:27:14for the Royal Navy's newest and fastest ships -
0:27:14 > 0:27:15the battle cruisers.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22The Navy's ferocious hunter-killers.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25The best possible protection against further attacks
0:27:25 > 0:27:27by Hipper's German battle cruisers.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37These five glamorous ships were placed under the command
0:27:37 > 0:27:43of a glamorous 43-year-old Vice Admiral - David Richard Beatty.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48Beatty was careless, he was dashing,
0:27:48 > 0:27:52he bore his command responsibilities lightly.
0:27:52 > 0:27:57As a junior officer, he hadn't bothered much with his exams.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02It was as if either he didn't care much about his naval career or
0:28:02 > 0:28:06he assumed that circumstance would just enable him to rise to the top.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09He sounds a very different character from Jellicoe.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Very different character from Jellicoe.
0:28:11 > 0:28:16Jellicoe was an absolute by the rule book, honourable,
0:28:16 > 0:28:18completely honest...
0:28:18 > 0:28:21Everything, in a way, that Beatty wasn't.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Seven miles east of Rosyth,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Beatty rented a house in the village of Aberdour.
0:28:32 > 0:28:33He lived there with his wife,
0:28:33 > 0:28:39a fabulously wealthy American divorcee, Ethel Field.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43Both husband and wife were notoriously promiscuous.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49Beatty was a frequent visitor to Edinburgh
0:28:49 > 0:28:52and to this one fashionable hotel.
0:28:57 > 0:29:03As an individual, some people say that the word "cad",
0:29:03 > 0:29:07he's a perfect definition of the word "cad".
0:29:07 > 0:29:11He was almost a rakish, raffish individual.
0:29:12 > 0:29:17He visited this building, the North British Hotel in Edinburgh,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20on many occasions, not just to drink coffee as well,
0:29:20 > 0:29:22but to visit his mistress.
0:29:22 > 0:29:28So he was a very... dynamic individual,
0:29:28 > 0:29:32but in the rather discreet days of Edwardian Britain,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35he could carry out his liaison without too much publicity.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Can you describe the difference to me -
0:29:37 > 0:29:40there must be quite a marked difference from being based up
0:29:40 > 0:29:44- at Scapa Flow and based in Rosyth... - Yeah.- ..close to Edinburgh?
0:29:44 > 0:29:45Well, I think that's right.
0:29:45 > 0:29:50Scapa Flow was a rather remote location. Not many... No big urban
0:29:50 > 0:29:54areas with entertainment facilities close at hand, so I think the
0:29:54 > 0:29:58officers had a much more pleasant time when they were based at Rosyth.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03They were very close to a number of landed estates, at Dalmeny...
0:30:03 > 0:30:06Hopetoun House - the gardens of Hopetoun House on this side
0:30:06 > 0:30:11of the Forth were made available to them, and lots of opportunities
0:30:11 > 0:30:15for walking and other activities. Beatty himself...
0:30:15 > 0:30:17And walking being the least of them, I'd imagine!
0:30:17 > 0:30:21Walking maybe being the least of Beatty's favourite activities.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28The Belfast-born war artist, Sir John Lavery,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31depicted these sailors returning to their ships on the Forth.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37The area offered a host of distractions,
0:30:37 > 0:30:40but there remained serious work to be done.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44And just weeks into the New Year, Beatty's battle cruiser
0:30:44 > 0:30:46fleet would be called to action.
0:30:57 > 0:31:03Just before 6pm, on the afternoon of the 23rd of January 1915,
0:31:03 > 0:31:07Admiral Hipper again lead his battle cruiser fleet
0:31:07 > 0:31:08out of Wilhelmshaven.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14British naval intelligence alerted Vice Admiral Beatty,
0:31:14 > 0:31:17who brought his battle cruiser fleet out of the Forth.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23The next morning, at 7am,
0:31:23 > 0:31:26at Dogger Bank in the middle of the North Sea...
0:31:29 > 0:31:31..the two came together,
0:31:31 > 0:31:34and the German Admiral had no idea who he was up against.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42Hipper feared that he had stumbled upon Jellicoe's Grand Fleet.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46He ordered his ships to turn 180 degrees and head for home.
0:31:46 > 0:31:5214 miles behind, Beatty - on board HMS Lion - began the chase.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57They started a pursuit action at the Dogger Bank.
0:31:57 > 0:32:02And this was a classic thing that battle cruisers were meant for.
0:32:05 > 0:32:08Beatty's ships were faster than their German equivalents.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Just before 9am, the rearmost German ship
0:32:12 > 0:32:15came into range of HMS Lion.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21At a distance of 20,600 yards, almost 12 miles,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24Beatty gave the order to open fire.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37In the battle that followed, Hipper's flagship, Seydlitz,
0:32:37 > 0:32:39lost two of its five guns.
0:32:42 > 0:32:43Beatty's flagship, Lion...
0:32:46 > 0:32:48..lost both port engines and half her speed.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54On board, the journalist, Filson Young,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58timed the trajectory of the German shells approaching his ship.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02When he saw the flash from the German guns, he started his watch.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07"It is strange to think that I have perhaps 23 seconds to live.
0:33:07 > 0:33:12"When the little hand reaches that mark, then, oblivion."
0:33:21 > 0:33:23Young survived,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26but HMS Lion was critically injured.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30Meanwhile, the rearmost German ship, the Blucher,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34began to slip astern and was pounded by the British.
0:33:41 > 0:33:46Now, just minutes before 11am, both sides were one ship down.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Beatty still had the balance of power,
0:33:51 > 0:33:53four ships to three.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58But at that crucial moment at 10.54am, Beatty blinked.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04Without warning, Beatty ordered a major course change,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06because he thought he saw a submarine.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08There weren't any submarines there.
0:34:09 > 0:34:15Minutes later, using flag signals, Beatty issued a second order.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19It read, "Attack the rear of the enemy."
0:34:19 > 0:34:22So all the other British battle cruisers then teamed up,
0:34:22 > 0:34:28ganged up on Blucher, pounded her, torpedoed her, sank her.
0:34:37 > 0:34:42As Admiral Hipper's three remaining battle cruisers made their escape,
0:34:42 > 0:34:45Beatty's ships dispatched the crippled Blucher
0:34:45 > 0:34:48and over 700 of her crew.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54They didn't need three battle cruisers to do that.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56It needed a few destroyers to do that.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01In effect, they were almost finding an excuse
0:35:01 > 0:35:03not to chase after the Germans.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11As the Blucher disappeared, British destroyers moved in
0:35:11 > 0:35:14and attempted to pull German sailors from the water.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18But the British ships were themselves
0:35:18 > 0:35:22attacked by a German airship and forced to withdraw,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25leaving the German sailors to their fate.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34The British newspapers would portray the Battle of Dogger Bank as
0:35:34 > 0:35:39a great victory - revenge on Hipper and the baby killers of Scarborough.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45But for Beatty's many critics, it was never that.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49For them, the cavalier Vice Admiral had missed his chance.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54But really what went wrong at Dogger Bank was the signalling
0:35:54 > 0:35:58mistake which appeared to order the battle cruisers to stop
0:35:58 > 0:36:02pursuing the fleeing enemy - that wasn't what he intended at all.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06And he blamed everybody else he could possible incriminate.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31Vice Admiral Beatty was using the same signal flag technology
0:36:31 > 0:36:36that Admiral Nelson had used on HMS Victory at Trafalgar...
0:36:36 > 0:36:39110 years before.
0:36:39 > 0:36:43Messages had to be communicated, and we're talking about an age where
0:36:43 > 0:36:46radio and, at the time, wireless telegraphy, was in its infancy.
0:36:46 > 0:36:49So you had to use visual signalling methods - flags,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52semaphore, and flashing lights.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55So, was radio that imperfect at the time of the Great War?
0:36:55 > 0:36:58Yes, it was for naval use.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01It has to be coded, it has to go down to the wireless office,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04be transmitted. You have to hope that allowing for
0:37:04 > 0:37:07the primitive equipment it is received by the
0:37:07 > 0:37:08ship at the other end.
0:37:08 > 0:37:12It all eats into time, and in a battle, tactical communications
0:37:12 > 0:37:19is very time sensitive. With flags you can go, "TURN TO PORT NOW,"
0:37:19 > 0:37:23and it is almost as quick as going, "Turn to port now."
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Duncan, give me a simple explanation of how flag communication
0:37:26 > 0:37:28physically works.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31Every letter in the alphabet has a flag,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34every numeral has a flag. Say you
0:37:34 > 0:37:39want to turn all your ships at the same time 90 degrees to port.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41You hoist a flag to indicate that it was going to be a turn
0:37:41 > 0:37:45and all of the other ships would acknowledge that they had received
0:37:45 > 0:37:46and understood the signal.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49The moment you pull them down
0:37:49 > 0:37:53all of the ships will turn 90 degrees to the left together.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59Such was the system.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02It had served the Royal Navy for centuries.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06110 years before, Nelson's flags at Trafalgar
0:38:06 > 0:38:10had famously expected, "Every man to do his duty."
0:38:11 > 0:38:13But by 1915
0:38:13 > 0:38:17the limitations of this venerable system were becoming clear.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22Admirals were used to being able to fight with all of their ships
0:38:22 > 0:38:24in sight of each other. That was the system that
0:38:24 > 0:38:27flag signalling particularly suited.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31But you have parts of the battle now that are going on over the horizon.
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Perhaps the biggest shortcoming in the Royal Navy's command
0:38:34 > 0:38:36and control system in the
0:38:36 > 0:38:39First World War were the brains behind it,
0:38:39 > 0:38:43not necessarily the means of articulating the orders.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50For Vice Admiral Beatty, the Battle of Dogger Bank
0:38:50 > 0:38:51had been a signal failure.
0:38:53 > 0:38:56But the new year would bring another opportunity...
0:38:57 > 0:39:01..and the chance to defeat the entire German navy.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10By the early summer of 1916,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14the Naval Base at Rosyth had been completed
0:39:14 > 0:39:18and Vice Admiral Beatty's fleet had almost doubled in size.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22He had been given command of the five
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Queen Elizabeth-class battleships...
0:39:25 > 0:39:29..called the super-dreadnaughts, the pride of the fleet.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35The strategic importance of the Forth had increased substantially.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41And so, in turn, had its defences.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46Rosyth, the dockyard at the heart of the base was enormous,
0:39:46 > 0:39:48and it took from 1903 to the middle of the
0:39:48 > 0:39:50First World War to actually complete it.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53But the fleets based here were so enormous that first of all
0:39:53 > 0:39:56they started being berthed on the west side,
0:39:56 > 0:40:00upriver from the railway bridge, but very soon the number of ships
0:40:00 > 0:40:04berthed here meant that the ships were berthed downriver as well,
0:40:04 > 0:40:08below the bridge. And there were huge defences in place to protect
0:40:08 > 0:40:11this fleet from submarines and from surface ships.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14And where is it we are actually heading towards?
0:40:14 > 0:40:17We are heading to the island of Inchgarvie, and the central
0:40:17 > 0:40:23pier of the rail bridge sits on one end of the island and that was
0:40:23 > 0:40:27the centre of the innermost line of defence of the naval base.
0:40:27 > 0:40:31And by the middle of the war was mounting four 4-inch guns to
0:40:31 > 0:40:34protect the base from fast moving motor torpedo boats.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38- And why are you taking me to Inchgarvie?- Every other island,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41virtually every other battery was re-armed in the Second World War,
0:40:41 > 0:40:43and changed. Inchgarvie is virtually
0:40:43 > 0:40:46unchanged from when they walked away from it in the early 1920s.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50Not many people get onto it so there's very little damage or
0:40:50 > 0:40:53vandalism, its pretty well in perfect condition.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59Every day tens of thousands of people pass above the island.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02But only a handful ever get to visit.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05You can see the magazines are under there.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12From this wonderful vantage point, can you point out to me the
0:41:12 > 0:41:15strength of the outward defences from the bridge eastward?
0:41:15 > 0:41:19From where we are standing there were anti-submarine nets under
0:41:19 > 0:41:21the railway bridge and guns on Inchgarvie
0:41:21 > 0:41:25where we are standing. There were batteries on
0:41:25 > 0:41:28the shore to the north and south of the island.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33The middle defences, almost four miles downriver from here,
0:41:33 > 0:41:36ran from a battery at Braefoot on the north shore
0:41:36 > 0:41:42out to Inchcolm and Inchmickery and the southern shore at Cramond Island.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45These guns also covered the anti-submarine boom that
0:41:45 > 0:41:47blocked the river from shore to shore.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53All these batteries had powerful search lights to illuminate
0:41:53 > 0:41:54targets at night.
0:41:54 > 0:41:55Some of these were movable.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01Others shone a fixed beam and the guns were ranged on these in advance.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08And then way out in the distance you can see
0:42:08 > 0:42:11Inchkeith, the big island, the headquarters of
0:42:11 > 0:42:13the defences of the Forth.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16All the defences were linked by telephone to Inchkeith
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and the observers there would be able to assess what
0:42:19 > 0:42:21sort of attack was coming.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24What was the worst case scenario, what were
0:42:24 > 0:42:26we defending ourselves against?
0:42:26 > 0:42:29The defences are designed to tackle a whole range of
0:42:29 > 0:42:30levels of attack.
0:42:30 > 0:42:33From the heavy guns out on the outer defences to where
0:42:33 > 0:42:36we are on the inner defences, quick-firing guns which were
0:42:36 > 0:42:40intended to tackle fast-moving motor torpedo boats and destroyers
0:42:40 > 0:42:42coming in very quickly
0:42:42 > 0:42:46to raid, fire off torpedoes into a very densely packed anchorage where
0:42:46 > 0:42:49it would have been very difficult to miss a target, turn and run for it.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00Four miles downriver the defences on the island
0:43:00 > 0:43:03of Inchmickerry shape a rather familiar profile.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09From a distance it looks remarkably like a battleship.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11Well, the story is it was designed to look like that
0:43:11 > 0:43:15but I think that is people trying to explain it in retrospect.
0:43:15 > 0:43:16Particularly before the
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Second World War battery control tower was built,
0:43:19 > 0:43:22I don't think it looked particularly ship-like.
0:43:22 > 0:43:26There is the story that a German airplane dropped a torpedo at it
0:43:26 > 0:43:30because they thought it was a ship, but I can't find any evidence
0:43:30 > 0:43:33that that is anything other than an apocryphal story.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Here on the Forth, on the afternoon of the 30th of May 1916,
0:43:39 > 0:43:43Admiral Beatty received an intelligence report.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49It indicated that the pugnacious new commander-in-chief of the
0:43:49 > 0:43:51German High Seas Fleet,
0:43:51 > 0:43:54Admiral Scheer, was taking his ships to sea.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02Immediately Beatty and Jellicoe were to set out and hunt him down.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11Jutland, the biggest sea battle of the war, was now just hours away.
0:44:15 > 0:44:17Overnight, the two British fleets sailed
0:44:17 > 0:44:19towards their rendezvous point.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Jellicoe's force of 70
0:44:26 > 0:44:29warships included 24 dreadnoughts and three battlecruisers.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37Beatty's force of 50 warships included six battle cruisers
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and four Queen Elizabeths.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47On Beatty's port side was the light cruiser Galatea.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51At 2:15pm,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53she received a signal from Beatty to turn to the north.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57Just seconds before that signal,
0:44:57 > 0:44:59the lookout saw a shape on the horizon.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02The captain disregarded the order and pressed on.
0:45:02 > 0:45:06Straining through his binoculars he saw a neutral Danish steamer.
0:45:06 > 0:45:10And just behind that two German cruisers slowly came into view.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14At 2:28pm,
0:45:14 > 0:45:19HMS Galatea fired the first shots of the Battle of Jutland.
0:45:27 > 0:45:29The two battlecruiser fleets,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32commanded by Beatty and Hipper, had come together again.
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Hipper had five battlecruisers.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39Beatty had six, plus his four Queen Elizabeths.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45At 3:28pm Hipper turned his ships through
0:45:45 > 0:45:50180 degrees attempting to lure Beatty's ships towards the south.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58Lying in wait, 50 miles to the south,
0:45:58 > 0:46:01was Admiral Scheer's High Seas Fleet.
0:46:02 > 0:46:07This remarkable photograph, taken that very day from
0:46:07 > 0:46:10a German airship, shows one section of his 16 dreadnoughts.
0:46:15 > 0:46:16Unaware of their position,
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Beatty signalled for his ships to follow Hipper's ships.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23But once again, his signals didn't work
0:46:23 > 0:46:26and the Queen Elizabeths were left behind.
0:46:30 > 0:46:32The battleships stationed
0:46:32 > 0:46:39five miles northwest of Beatty, for various reasons...
0:46:39 > 0:46:41did not understand
0:46:41 > 0:46:46the signal being too far away and not specifically addressed to them.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Finally when they turn round to the southeast
0:46:49 > 0:46:54they are actually ten miles apart instead of five miles apart.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Beatty had lost touch with four of his ten ships.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04But as he closed on Hipper, he maintained a one-ship advantage.
0:47:06 > 0:47:11At 3:45, at a range of nine miles, Chatfield,
0:47:11 > 0:47:16the captain of Beatty's flagship, HMS Lion, gave the order to fire.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19Beatty's ships start losing a gunnery
0:47:19 > 0:47:22duel with Hipper's battle cruisers.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25Beatty's ships were short on gunnery practice,
0:47:25 > 0:47:27the German ships were better at gunnery.
0:47:34 > 0:47:36The rearmost ship in Beatty's line,
0:47:36 > 0:47:40the battlecruiser Indefatigable, was hit and blown apart.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50She sank in minutes.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08For Beatty, five battlecruisers remained.
0:48:16 > 0:48:18Then four as the Queen Mary imploded.
0:48:28 > 0:48:32The Queen Mary disappeared in a very few seconds.
0:48:32 > 0:48:34She folded inwards.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38People noticed bizarre things like a blizzard of paperwork coming
0:48:38 > 0:48:41out of the quarterdeck hatch.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44It took a minute and then it was gone, just gone.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Beatty turned to Chatfield, the captain of the Lion
0:48:50 > 0:48:54and gave voice to the most famous words of the battle,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57"There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today."
0:48:59 > 0:49:03This is Beatty just being a stiff upper lip about
0:49:03 > 0:49:06watching his friends being killed in huge numbers.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14Already over 2,000 British sailors were dead or dying.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20At 4:38 Beatty received a priority radio
0:49:20 > 0:49:23signal from his light cruiser squadron, alerting him to the
0:49:23 > 0:49:26presence of Scheer's Highs Seas Fleet.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32Immediately, Beatty ordered an about turn.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36Hipper followed,
0:49:36 > 0:49:40unaware that Jellicoe's dreadnoughts lay just 40 miles to the north.
0:49:42 > 0:49:45Jellicoe was coming down from the north
0:49:45 > 0:49:46as fast as he possibly could.
0:49:46 > 0:49:50He had received signals from Beatty and the light cruisers.
0:49:50 > 0:49:56Beatty's great achievement was to bring the German High Seas Fleet
0:49:56 > 0:50:02to Jellicoe in spite of the losses he suffered on the run to the south.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Jellicoe's plan was to deploy his ships
0:50:09 > 0:50:12side-on to the oncoming German dreadnoughts.
0:50:12 > 0:50:15A technique called crossing the enemy "T",
0:50:15 > 0:50:18that would bring his 200 heavy guns into action.
0:50:21 > 0:50:22His job was to
0:50:22 > 0:50:26get his fleet from cruising formation which is six columns of four ships
0:50:26 > 0:50:32into a single battle line so that the enemy
0:50:32 > 0:50:38comes in such a fashion at them that the enemy has his "T" crossed.
0:50:38 > 0:50:42So the head of the enemy line gets beaten in by the whole
0:50:42 > 0:50:46panoply of the British 25 ships.
0:50:46 > 0:50:48And he did it very well.
0:50:50 > 0:50:54Beatty assembled his fleet into a single arced line, six miles long.
0:50:56 > 0:50:58The official historian of the
0:50:58 > 0:51:01Royal Navy, Sir Julian Corbett, would
0:51:01 > 0:51:04describe this as, "The supreme moment of the naval war".
0:51:06 > 0:51:07And just moments later,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11the German dreadnoughts came into the range of Jellicoe's guns.
0:51:15 > 0:51:19At 6:17, at a range of seven and a half miles,
0:51:19 > 0:51:23his dreadnoughts opened fire on the German High Seas Fleet.
0:51:32 > 0:51:34When the German admiral gets the fright of his life
0:51:34 > 0:51:41and finds the Grand Fleet spread out across an 80 degree arc in front
0:51:41 > 0:51:44of him, the German admiral reverses course and sends in his destroyers.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51Now Jellicoe has only one response to a destroyer attack
0:51:51 > 0:51:53and that's to turn away.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00Probably what Jellico should have done is to turn towards
0:52:00 > 0:52:04and combed the torpedo tracks. By getting all ships
0:52:04 > 0:52:06to turn towards together,
0:52:06 > 0:52:12he might have lost two or three ships but the payoff might have been
0:52:12 > 0:52:16the annihilation of the German High Seas Fleet.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18He wasn't prepared to take that chance.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21He could lose the war in an afternoon.
0:52:21 > 0:52:25He wasn't going to do that. Maybe we should be grateful that he doesn't.
0:52:25 > 0:52:30But the idea has rankled ever since,
0:52:30 > 0:52:34that had Beatty been in command of the battle fleet,
0:52:34 > 0:52:40Beatty would have known, as Nelson said, to leave something to chance.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43Beatty might have turned the whole fleet towards.
0:52:43 > 0:52:46And might have destroyed the High Seas Fleet.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54At 6:30pm, the British lost another battlecruiser.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58The third of the day, as the Invincible was blown in two.
0:53:23 > 0:53:26Half an hour later, Admiral Scheer
0:53:26 > 0:53:28ordered his dreadnought fleet back towards Jellicoe.
0:53:31 > 0:53:35For the second time, he was overpowered and turned away.
0:53:35 > 0:53:38And overnight his wounded ships crept back to Wilhelmshaven.
0:53:40 > 0:53:44Just as damaged British ships began to arrive on the Forth.
0:53:47 > 0:53:49A junior midshipman on HMS Warspite,
0:53:49 > 0:53:54a man called Bill Fell, described the reception the sailors received
0:53:54 > 0:53:56bringing their wounded ships home.
0:53:56 > 0:54:00He wrote, "As we passed under the bridge all the railway people
0:54:00 > 0:54:02"were lined along it.
0:54:02 > 0:54:07"To our dismay they shouted 'Cowards! Cowards! You ran away!'
0:54:07 > 0:54:09"They chucked lumps of coal at us."
0:54:24 > 0:54:27The Battle of Jutland had been marked by poor signals.
0:54:29 > 0:54:32As ships continued to arrive in Rosyth, this signal flag,
0:54:32 > 0:54:36the letter D, served a grim purpose.
0:54:42 > 0:54:46It was used to cover the wounded when the ships came in
0:54:46 > 0:54:50after Jutland, as they were being brought into the dockyard at Rosyth.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52In a fleet action in the First World War,
0:54:52 > 0:54:59you get this terrible destruction on board ship, men are...
0:54:59 > 0:55:00burned alive.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05But the other thing about this is that it's not clean.
0:55:05 > 0:55:09We have textile conservation experts who could clean this
0:55:09 > 0:55:10if we wanted to.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14- Why do you choose not to? - Because this is the dirt
0:55:14 > 0:55:19and the grime from the ships, so it's part of the story of the battle.
0:55:23 > 0:55:25Just wondered if there was still a smell...
0:55:26 > 0:55:28..of the battle.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32So the smoke and the grime from over 100 years ago are still
0:55:32 > 0:55:37- embedded in this flag.- And that moment when the ships came in
0:55:37 > 0:55:41and the people waiting didn't know the outcome of the battle.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44And they see damaged British battleship,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47damaged British battlecruisers coming back
0:55:47 > 0:55:52and the wounded coming off and there's no news of victory.
0:55:52 > 0:55:56There was concern that the British navy had been
0:55:56 > 0:55:57defeated which would have
0:55:57 > 0:56:02been catastrophic for the British war effort, possibly terminal.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07In the days immediately following the Battle of Jutland,
0:56:07 > 0:56:09a key question remained unanswered.
0:56:11 > 0:56:16Just who had won? Admiral Scheer had twice turned his ships away.
0:56:17 > 0:56:22But around the world, newspapers printed German reports
0:56:22 > 0:56:23of a German victory.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28You can see why they claimed victory,
0:56:28 > 0:56:31they sunk more ships, they killed more men.
0:56:33 > 0:56:396,500 or thereabouts British sailors drowned, little over 2,000
0:56:39 > 0:56:43on the German side, but in the end none of that matters greatly.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46What matters is the overall strategic balance between the two
0:56:46 > 0:56:48navies, and that hasn't changed.
0:56:48 > 0:56:51The Germans know that they cannot challenge the Royal Navy,
0:56:51 > 0:56:55the Royal Navy effectively has command of the North Sea.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01After Jutland, the great ships of the
0:57:01 > 0:57:04Imperial German Navy would scarcely leave harbour.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10And yet across the North Sea, no-one could claim that
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Jutland was a great British triumph.
0:57:15 > 0:57:19A strategic victory, a tactical embarrassment.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24And it lead to a lot of recriminations and a lot
0:57:24 > 0:57:30of people considering that actually we need Beatty as commander-in-chief.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35Five months after Jutland in November 1916, Beatty
0:57:35 > 0:57:39was promoted to admiral, placed in charge of the Grand Fleet.
0:57:44 > 0:57:49The man he replaced, Jellicoe, reluctantly became First Sea Lord.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54As Jellicoe left his flagship at Scapa Flow, one witness
0:57:54 > 0:57:57recalled that every officer on the quarterdeck was in tears.
0:58:00 > 0:58:05Together Jellicoe, Beatty, their officers and men,
0:58:05 > 0:58:09had negated the threat of the German High Seas Fleet.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14By not winning the Battle of Jutland, Britain had
0:58:14 > 0:58:16nonetheless won the war of the dreadnoughts.
0:58:17 > 0:58:22What remained, what was still to come, was the war under the sea,
0:58:22 > 0:58:24the war of the U-boats.