I'm going to try a new series, doing brief histories of interesting ships. I'll start with the other three Iowa class battleships, in order, which brings us to the USS New Jersey, BB-62.

New Jersey shortly before being launched

New Jersey was ordered at the same time as Iowa, from Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Launched on December 7th, 1942, and commissioned on May 23rd, 1943, she spent the next 6 months working up in the Atlantic. On January 7th, 1944, she, in company with Iowa, passed through the Panama Canal, and into the Pacific. The two ships stayed together when they joined the Fifth Fleet, where Admiral Spruance chose New Jersey as his flagship. He was aboard her during the sweep around Truk, and kept his flag aboard until mid-April, including the bombardment of Milli.

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We're going to follow Scott Alexander's lead and do an Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, although I do request that you avoid culture war. (Talking about regular war is encouraged.)

A couple of things:

1. I've booked a ticket to visit LA. I'll be arriving on September 6th and flying out on the 10th. On Saturday the 8th, I plan to hold a meetup for blog readers and who want to tour Iowa. This should be in the afternoon, which will give anyone who wants to a chance to do the Full Steam Ahead tour of the engines in the morning. Anyone interested?

2. I recently watched the TV series "Britain's Biggest Warship". It's a documentary about the process of taking HMS Queen Elizabeth to sea, and it's really good. It does an excellent job of looking at the technical side of the ship in a TV-accessible way, and of seeing the people that make a warship work, without falling into pointless drama. I'd highly recommend tracking down a copy and watching it.

Bean: Now that we’ve gotten at least some clarity over our strategic mission, it’s time to turn our attention to our surface fleet. Taking a broad view, this covers an incredibly wide array of missions, everything from high-end AAW and ASW to land attack to maritime presence and low-end escort operations right down to inspecting shipping and maritime law enforcement. Most of us were Americans, and thus view the last two of these as missions for the Coast Guard. But the US Coast Guard is the world’s 12th-largest navy, and we at this point need to figure out how to fill those roles.

Actually, those are our most urgent problems. We’re already starting to get reports of undesirables on our coasts, so we need to work fast. The basic outline of what we need to do is fairly simple. At the bottom end, you have boats in the 25’-50’ range. These do all sorts of missions, maritime security, harbor patrol, delivering boarding teams, fishing idiot boaters out of the drink, enforcing environmental laws and so on. We’ve already ordered a few under law enforcement auspices, but we’re going to need quite a few more. Read more...

The British and German Fleets spent the first part of World War I staring at each other across the North Sea before finally clashing in May of 1916. The initial battlecruiser encounter didn't go brilliantly for the British, with three ships suffering magazine explosions, but they managed to trap the Germans perfectly when the two main fleets met. The Germans tried to break past, but the British were between them and their bases, and held the line. They were saved from complete defeat only by nightfall, which let them sneak past and reach safety, despite a series of chaotic night actions. After the battle, the Germans never came out again in a big way, but controversy raged in Britain over who had won and why the victory hadn't been more complete.

Jutland: Alternate History

This brings us to the what-ifs of the battle. What could either side have done better? Could Jellicoe have won a victory on the scale of Trafalgar? If so, what would have happened? Could Scheer have managed to do enough damage to the British fleet to break the blockade?

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In May of 1916, the British and German Fleets clashed in the North Sea. The initial battlecruiser encounter saw three British ships lost to magazine explosions. The battlecruisers, under David Beatty, lead the Germans straight into the teeth of the Grand Fleet under John Jellicoe. The British drove the Germans off, then repeated the performance when the Germans came back. Darkness fell, and Jellicoe had maneuvered his fleet between the Germans and safety, but the Germans broke through the British fleet with minimal losses despite a chaotic series of night actions.

Jutland: Aftermath

As both fleets returned home, the immediate analysis of Jutland on both sides was as a German victory. The Germans had lost one battlecruiser, one pre-dreadnought, four light cruisers, and five destroyers totaling 62,300 tons and approximately 2,500 men killed. The British total was three battlecruisers, three armored cruisers, and eight destroyers, 113,300 tons and about 6,100 men. The Germans also managed to get into port first, and put out a press release while the British were still on their way home, listing British losses accurately, but neglecting to mention the loss of Lutzow. The British government badly bungled their messaging, and the resulting public perception of a defeat deeply shocked the British. The beginning of the Somme pushed it off the front page just as a more nuanced view began to come out. Read more...

The stalemate in the North Sea finally ended in May of 1916. The battle began with a clash between the two side's battlecruisers. David Beatty then lead the German High Seas Fleet into the arms of John Jellicoe's Grand Fleet. Jellicoe managed to pound the High Seas Fleet, but Scheer eventually broke contact. Unfortunately, Jellicoe was still between him and his base, and it was now night.

Jutland: The Night Action

After darkness fell, Jellicoe kept his fleet moving south, trying to cut off the direct path to Wilhelmshaven. To cover the possibility that the Germans would make for Horns Reef instead, he dispatched a minelayer to the area to join the submarines already on station. For the night, he placed his battleships in four columns alongside each other, and placed his destroyers behind his fleet to catch the Germans if they tried to cut behind him. The cruisers were spread out on the flanks and ahead. Beatty was steaming parallel to Jellicoe, ahead and to the west. He had cut ahead of the Germans, and was directly in front of them by 2230.

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Tomorrow is the 102nd anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, and in honor of it I’m reposting my series on the battle written last year.

The British Grand Fleet and German High Seas Fleet had been facing off across the North Sea since the beginning of the war, but in May of 1916, they finally met in battle. The British battlecruisers under David Beatty pursued their German counterparts under Franz von Hipper south after their first encounter until they met the body of the German Fleet, commanded by Reinhard Scheer. They turned north, and lead the Germans directly into the teeth of John Jellicoe, with the British main body. Jellicoe timed his deployment to perfection, placing his line across the Germans and crossing their T. Scheer saved his force with a swift turn away.

Jutland: The end of the main fleet action

Scheer had dodged Jellicoe's trap when he turned away, but the battle wasn't over. After losing sight of Scheer, Jellicoe took his fleet south, intending to keep the Germans to the west of him, and intercept them when they tried to get home.

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In May of 1916, the stalemate in the North Sea between the British Grand Fleet under John Jellicoe, and the German High Seas Fleet under Reinhard Scheer came to an end. The British used German signals to learn of the fleet's sailing and sent Jellicoe out to trap him. The British battlecruisers under David Beatty first met Hipper's German battlecruisers, and chased them south until they met the main body of the High Seas Fleet, losing two of their number to magazine explosions in the process.

Jutland: The Run to the North

As the British turned north, the battle began to shift. The weather was getting worse, as it often does in the North Sea. Beatty finally signaled Jellicoe ‘Fleet action is imminent’, although he did not give details, and took five more hits from Hipper without hitting back before his ships pulled out of range. The German battle fleet divided its fire between the escaping HMS Southampton and the 5th BS, who also suffered under Hipper’s fire. Malaya, in the rear of the line, was particularly badly hit, taking a total of 7 shells from the German battleships. None were fatal, although a large cordite fire put the starboard 6” battery out of action, killed over 100 men, and came close to setting off the 6" magazines. Barham took four shells from Derfflinger and Warspite two from Seydlitz. The battle wasn't entirely one-sided, as Seydlitz was hit by a destroyer torpedo during the British turn north.

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Thursday is the 102nd anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, and I'm reposting my series on the battle from last year.

Last time, we looked at the strategic situation leading up to the battle. 1916 saw the British Grand Fleet, under John Jellicoe, and the German High Seas Fleet under Reinhard Scheer, facing off across the North Sea. The British outnumbered the Germans, and had managed to cut Germany off from seaborne trade.

Jutland: Preliminaries to battle

Scheer planned the operation that led to Jutland as a trap for the British, a battlecruiser raid on the north coast of England to draw the British out past submarines stationed off their bases,¹ with the main body of the High Seas Fleet waiting to pounce. Due to condenser problems and delays in repairs to the battlecruiser Seydlitz, the operation's planned start date of May 17th had to be pushed to the end of the month. The Germans had a force of zeppelins they used for reconnaissance, but high winds on May 28th prevented them from reaching their positions, and the plan was altered to a sweep into the Skagerrak, the area between Denmark and Norway. The British continued to trade with Norway, and this raid would have seriously disrupted that trade. The High Seas Fleet finally sailed shortly after midnight on May 31st.

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Jutland: Strategic Background

The Battle of Jutland,² the greatest clash of dreadnoughts in history, was fought in the North Sea on May 31st and June 1st, 1916. This was the titanic clash of the British and German fleets that both sides had been waiting for since the outbreak of war.

At the beginning of the war, both sides had known that the primary use of seapower would be to interdict the enemy’s trade. The British did this by declaring a blockade, and searching any ship that tried to enter the North Sea, while the Germans initially dispatched commerce raiders against the British. These were quickly hunted down, which led to the switch to submarines.

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