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The battle of Dogger Bank - The First World War - January 1915

The battle of Dogger Bank took place on 24th January 1915. A small fleet of four German Battlecruisers were instructed to make for the Dogger Bank, an area off the Northumberland coast. From this position they intended to attack British patrols and fishing vessels. The British however managed to find out about the German intentions due to good naval intelligence and during the night of the 23rd/ 24th two forces of British ships left ports at Rosyth and Harwich to rendezvous to the north of the Dogger bank. As the sun rose the German Rear Admiral von Hipper was alarmed to see a host of British ships on the horizon. He immediately set sail for port, hoping to avoid contact with the larger British force.

The British though knew that von Hipper was there and set course for a pursuit. Superior in both numbers and speed it wasn't long before the German fleet was within firing range. From a range of around 10 miles the firing began, with hits being made on the German vessels. One ship, Blucher, was clearly crippled and the British sent Indomitable to sink her.

As the battle continued though the flagship of the British fleet at Dogger bank, HMS Tiger, was hit by a shell. Tiger withdrew leaving HMS New Zealand to take charge of the pursuit. In the confusion that followed this change of command the British fleet switched tactics and HMS New Zealand also aimed at Blucher. The remainder of the German ships, much slower than the British one's, were thus allowed to escape from almost certain annihilation. The battle resulted in the loss of over 900 German sailors lives and one Battlecruiser The British losses were 15 fatalities and no lost ships. For the British navy though the battle, whilst won, was a missed opportunity to inflict much higher damage on the German Fleet.

Click here to read about other Sea battles of the First World War.

On the Western Front the First battle of Champagne continued, with neither side making any great gains. (See December 1914 for further details of this offensive, which continued through until March of 1915).