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GERMANY-DENMARK-NORWAY. Jutland. North Sea. 2014/06. Site of the WW1 Battle of Jutland, Skagerrakschlacht.Caption:Skagerrak, North Sea. Despite the noise of the pre-war Anglo-German naval arms race, the British Grand Fleet spent most of its time enforcing the sea blockade against Germany while the Imperial High Seas Fleet remained holed up in port, with neither side wanting to risk their battleships in a major action. In 1916, German Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer planned to engage the British in battle on the high seas by sending out lightly armoured battle cruisers to Skagerrak, the straits between Norway and Denmark, to lure British ships into the firing line of the German navy's larger battleships. On 31st May 1916, Scheer's battle cruisers engaged and sank HMS Indefatigable and HMS Queen Mary. In pursuit of the British ships which had disengaged, Scheer sailed into a larger contingent of British ships waiting for him - tipped off by British naval intelligence - so disengaged but not before sinking HMS Invincible. Both sides claimed victory at the Battle of Jutland. Historians give the tactical victory to Germany for sinking more ships but the strategic one to Britain as the German navy remained bottled up for the rest of the war.
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