Dogger Bank (1915) order of battle

Ship movements during the Battle of Dogger Bank

The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval engagement during the First World War that took place on 24 January 1915 near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the Kaiserliche Marine (High Seas Fleet).

The British surprised the smaller and slower German squadron, which fled for home. During a stern chase lasting several hours, the British caught up with the Germans and engaged them with long-range gunfire. The German squadron returned to harbour, with some ships in need of extensive repairs. The Germans lost Blücher and most of her crew. The British flagship Lion was out of action for several months, but they lost no ships and suffered few casualties.

After the British victory, both navies replaced officers who were thought to have shown poor judgement and made changes to equipment and procedures because of failings observed during the battle.

Summary

Ships present

	Royal Navy	Imperial German Navy
Battlecruisers	5 total 8 × 13.5-in. main-battery broadside HMS Tiger (28,500 tons, 28 kn.) 2 × Lion class (26,270 tons, 27.5 kn.) 8 × 12-in. main-battery broadside HMS New Zealand (18,500 tons, 25 kn.) HMS Indomitable (17,408 tons, 25.5 kn.)	3 total 8 × 12-in. main-battery broadside SMS Derfflinger (26,600 tons, 26.5 kn.) 10 × 11-in. main-battery broadside SMS Seydlitz (24,988 tons, 26.5 kn.) SMS Moltke (22,979 tons, 25.5 kn.)
Armored cruisers		1 total 8 × 8.3-in. main-battery broadside SMS Blücher (15,842 tons, 25.4 kn.)
Light cruisers	7 total 4 × Town class (5,400 tons, 25.5 kn.) 3 × Arethusa class (3,512 tons, 28.5 kn.)	4 total SMS Graudenz (4,834 tons, 27.5 kn.) SMS Rostock (4,800 tons, 29.3 kn.) SMS Stralsund (4,500 tons, 27.5 kn.) SMS Kolberg (4,293 tons, 25.5 kn.)
Destroyers / torpedo boats *	37	18
Submarines	4
Totals	53	26

* The German Navy's torpedo boats were of similar size and function to the destroyers in the Royal Navy, and are often referred as such.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations for Officers’ Ranks

Adm / Admiral

VAdm / Vice-admiral : Vizeadmiral / VAdm

RAdm / Rear-admiral : Konteradmiral / KAdm

Cdre / Commodore : Kommodore / Kom

Capt / Captain : Kapitän zur See / KptzS

Cdr / Commander : Fregattenkapitän / FKpt

Lt Cdr / Lieutenant-commander : Korvettenkapitän / KKpt

Lt / Lieutenant : Kapitänleutnant / KptLt

SLt / Sub-lieutenant : Oberleutnant zur See / OLtzS

Other Abbreviations

AdC.: Aide de Camp to The King

C.B.: Companion of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath

C.M.G.: Companion of The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George

C.V.O.: Commander of The Royal Victorian Order

D.F: Destroyer Flotilla

D.S.C.: Distinguished Service Cross

D.S.O.: Distinguished Service Order

HMS: His Majesty's Ship

SMS: Seiner Majestät Schiff (German; translation: His Majesty's Ship)

K.C.B.: Knight Commander of The Most Honourable Order of the Bath

M.V.O.: Member of The Royal Victorian Order

the Hon.: The Honourable

Royal Navy

Vice-Adm. Sir David R. Beatty

Adm. Sir Reginald Y. Tyrwhitt

Light cruiser Arethusa underway

Battlecruiser Force

1st Battlecruiser Squadron

Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, K.C.B., M.V.O., D.S.O.

HMS Lion (flagship): Capt Alfred E. M. Chatfield, C.V.O.

HMS Tiger: Capt Henry B. Pelly, M.V.O.

HMS Princess Royal: Capt Osmond de B. Brock, A.d.C.

2nd Battlecruiser Squadron

Rear-Admiral Sir Archibald Moore, K.C.B., C.V.O.

HMS New Zealand (flagship): Capt Lionel Halsey, C.M.G., A.d.C.

HMS Indomitable: Capt Francis W. Kennedy

1st Light Cruiser Squadron

Commodore (2nd Class) William E. Goodenough, M.V.O.

HMS Southampton: Cdre Goodenough

HMS Nottingham: Capt Charles B. Miller

HMS Birmingham: Capt Arthur A. M. Duff

HMS Lowestoft: Capt Theobald W. B. Kennedy

Harwich Force

Commododre (T) Reginald Y. Tyrwhitt, C.B.

HMS Arethusa (light cruiser) Cdre Tyrwhitt

Attached Destroyers

HMS Meteor: Capt the Hon. Herbert Meade

HMS Miranda: Cdr Barry E. Domvile

HMS Mentor: Cdr Rafe G. Rowley-Conwy

HMS Milne: Lt-Cdr Henry R. Clifton Mogg

HMS Mastiff: Lt-Cdr James L. Forbes

HMS Minos: Lt-Cdr Ernest H. B. Williams

HMS Morris: Cdr Reginald Henniker-Heaton

1st Destroyer Flotilla

Captain Wilmot S. Nicholson

HMS Aurora (flotilla cruiser, Capt Nicholson)

1st Division/1st D.F.

HMS Acheron: Cdr Brien M. Money

HMS Attack: Lt-Cdr Cyril Callaghan

HMS Hydra: Lt-Cdr Robert S. Buchanan

HMS Ariel: Lt-Cdr James V. Creagh

3rd Division/1st D.F.

HMS Ferret: Cdr Geoffrey Mackworth

HMS Forester: Lt-Cdr Montague G. B. Legge

HMS Defender: Lt-Cdr Cecil H. H. Sams

HMS Druid: Lt-Cdr Roger V. Allison

4th Division/1st D.F.

HMS Hornet: Cdr Cecil G. Chichester

HMS Tigress: Lt-Cdr Paul Whitfield

HMS Sandfly: Lt-Cdr Francis G. C. Coates

HMS Jackal: Lt-Cdr John C. Tovey

5th Division/1st D.F.

HMS Goshawk: Cdr Dashwood F. Moir

HMS Phoenix: Lt-Cdr Michael K. H. Kennedy

HMS Lapwing: Lt-Cdr Alexander H. Gye

3rd Destroyer Flotilla

Captain Francis G. St. John, M.V.O.

HMS Undaunted (flotilla cruiser, Capt St.John)

1st Division/3rd D.F.

HMS Lookout: Cdr Arthur B. S. Dutton

HMS Lysander: Lt-Cdr George W. Taylor

HMS Landrail: Lt-Cdr Bruce Lloyd Owen

2nd Division/3rd D.F.

HMS Laurel: Cdr George P. England

HMS Liberty: Lt-Cdr Reginald B. C. Hutchinson D.S.C.

HMS Laertes: Cdr Malcolm L. Goldsmith

HMS Lucifer: Lt-Cdr Ralph M. Mack

3rd Division/3rd D.F.

HMS Laforey: Cdr Graham R. L. Edwards

HMS Lawford: Lt-Cdr Arthur A. Scott

HMS Lydiard: Lt-Cdr George H. Knowles

HMS Louis: Lt-Cdr Richard W. U. Bayly

4th Division/3rd D.F.

HMS Legion: Lt-Cdr Claud F. Allsup

HMS Lark: Lt-Cdr Charles E. Hughes-White

8th Submarine Flotilla

Commododre (S) Roger Keyes

Destroyers

HMS Firedrake: Lt-Cdr Alfred B. Watts

HMS Lurcher: Cdr Wilfred Tomkinson

Deployed submarines

HMS E4: Lt-Cdr E. W. Leir

HMS E7: Lt-Cdr F. Fielmann

HMS E8: Lt-Cdr F. H. H. Goodhart

HMS E11: Lt-Cdr M. E. Nasmith

Imperial German Navy

Kadm Franz Hipper

Battle cruiser Seydlitz, KAdm Hipper's flagship, with zeppelin.

Battle cruiser Moltke at Hampton Roads

Light cruiser Rostock

1st Scouting Group (I. Aufklärungsgruppe) (battlecruisers)

Konteradmiral Franz von Hipper

SMS Seydlitz (flagship): Kapt.z.S. Moritz von Egidy ^(GE)

SMS Moltke: Kapt.z.S. Magnus von Levetzow^(GE)

SMS Derfflinger: Kapt.z.S. Ludwig von Reuter

SMS Blücher (sunk): F.Kapt. Alexander Erdmann

2nd Scouting Group (II. Aufklärungsgruppe) (light cruisers)

Konteradmiral Georg Hebbinghaus

SMS Graudenz (flagship): F.Kapt. Theodor Püllen ^(GE)

SMS Stralsund: F.Kapt. Viktor Harder

SMS Rostock: Kapt.z.S. Johannes Hartog

SMS Kolberg: F.Kapt. Wilhelm Widenmann^(GE)

5th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (V. Torpedoboots Flottille)

K.Kapt. Bernd von dem Knesebeck

SMS G12: Kptlt. Hans Loening

9th Half-Flotilla (9. halbflottille)

SMS V1: Kptlt. Walter Hoffert

SMS V4: Kptlt. Kurt Heeseler

SMS V5: Kptlt. Wolf von Eichhorn

10th Half-Flotilla (10. halbflottille)

SMS G11: K.Kapt. Oskar Heinecke

SMS G9: Kptlt. Hans Anschütz

SMS G7: Kptlt. Johannes Weineck

SMS G8: Kptlt. Adolf Müller

SMS V2: Kptlt. Gerhard Hoefer

8th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla (VIII. Torpedoboots Flottille)

SMS S178: K.Kapt. Paul Hundertmarck

15th Half-Flotilla (15. halbflottille)

SMS V181: K.Kapt. Georg Weißenborn

SMS V182: Kptlt. Hans Hufnagel

SMS V185: Kptlt. Carl August Claussen^(GE)

18th Half-Flotilla (18. halbflottille)

SMS V30: K.Kapt. Werner Tillessen ^(GE)

SMS S33: Oblt.z.S. Hartmut Buddecke

SMS S34: Kptlt. Otto Andersen

SMS V29: Kptlt. Erich Steinbrinck

SMS S35:

Sources

British

• Beatty, David (2 March 1915). "Action in the North Sea on Sunday, the 24th of January, 1915". The London Gazette (29088). London. ISSN 0374-3721. Retrieved 26 January 2016.
• Corbett, J. S. (1929) [1921]. Naval Operations. History of the Great War based on Official Documents. Vol. II (2nd ed.). London: Longmans, Green. OCLC 220474040. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
• Home Waters: From November 1914 to the End of January 1915 (PDF). Naval Staff Monographs. Vol. III. Appendix C. The Naval Staff, Training and Staff Duties Division. 1921. OCLC 220734221. Retrieved 27 January 2016.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
• The Navy List for January 1915. London: HMSO. 1915. OCLC 59612658. Retrieved 27 January 2016.

German

• Groos, Otto (1925). Der Krieg in der Nordsee: Von Ende November bis Anfang Februar 1915 [The War in the North Sea: From the End of November until the Beginning of February, 1915]. Der Krieg zur See, 1914–18. Vol. III. Berlin: Verlag von E. S. Mittler & Sohn. OCLC 260121080.
• Stoelzel, Albert (1930). Ehrenrangliste der Kaiserlich-Deutschen Marine 1914–18 [Honor Rank List of the Imperial German Navy 1914–18]. Berlin: Marine-Offizier-Verband. OCLC 62432982.