7,000 new naval war records from The Battle of Jutland now available to view in the ‘Roll of Honour’ collection on TheGenealogist!
I was looking at a family tree this week that recorded a family who had lost a number of their children in the late 1890s and then again a son in the First World War. To have him survive through to adulthood and then to lose him to enemy action must have seemed cruel fate to his parents.
Although some of my ancestors served in the Royal Navy I am not aware of any that took part in the Battle of Jutland, but for any of you that know your ancestors participated in the largest naval battle of the First World War, then this new data set is a must.
This week I’ve been told by my friends at TheGenealogist.co.uk that they have made available 7,000 new naval war records from that battle.
Here is what the team at TheGenealogist said about this new release…
Did your ancestor participate in the largest naval battle of The First World War? Now available to Gold and Diamond subscribers to TheGenealogist is a full record set of the Royal Navy servicemen killed or wounded in the Battle of Jutland. TheGenealogist is the only family history site to provide a complete specialist section devoted to these battle records.
After a number of smaller naval engagements in the first two years of World War One, the Battle of Jutland was the first major naval battle involving the large dreadnought battleships on both sides. Involving 250 ships and around 100,000 men it was the major naval military battle of the First World War.
After breaking German code, the British knew of the German plan to try to destroy the British fleet in two engagements and so left port to use the element of surprise and catch the German fleet off the coast of Denmark. What was hoped to be a decisive British victory turned into a confused and bloody battle with many British casualties.
The Royal Navy lost 14 ships and suffered nearly 7,000 casualties. The Germans lost 11 ships and 2,551 men. Confused leadership and poor quality ammunition hindered the Royal Navy in the battle and the losses shook morale in Britain at the time.
The new Battle of Jutland records provide a full list of the men killed or wounded in the battle with their rank, name of ship and date of death taken from official Admiralty sources. Records of the men lost range from Rear Admiral Robert Arbuthnot, commander of the 1st Cruiser Squadron who went down with his flagship HMS Defence, to 16 year old Jack Rutland who although mortally wounded stayed at his post on board the damaged HMS Chester.
Although the losses were heavy, the Royal Navy was still a major fighting force and the German fleet never put to sea again in such large numbers to challenge British sea superiority.
Available to view in the ‘Roll of Honour’ section of the Military Records on TheGenealogist, the records are taken from the Battle of Jutland ‘New Perspective’ publication which studied the battle in detail.
Mark Bayley, Head of Online Content at TheGenealogist comments: “As we near one hundred years since the start of the First World War, TheGenealogist has added further unique records to its already extensive military collections.â€
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