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Details
CHURCHILL, Winston S. Autograph letter signed to Field Marshal H.H. Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener (the secretary for war), Admiralty, 24 January 1915, marked 'Secret', 2 pages, large 4to. Provenance: Sotheby's, 22 July 1985, lot 375.
REPORTING THE BATTLE OF DOGGER BANK. A squadron under Admiral Beatty has encountered a group of four German battle cruisers, who 'ran for home immediately, & a fierce pursuit ensued producing a severe action'. On the British side, the Lion 'is damaged, but is returning home at 12 Knots. Beatty has shifted his flag to the Princess Royal'; on the German side, 'The Blücher ... practically a battle-cruiser, tho' with 12 8.2 guns, & 880 men, sank. Two other German battle-cruisers reported seriously injured. Deserting the Blücher, the Germans managed to make good their escape into their own torpedo area ... There are no details so far of the destroyer & light-cruiser fighting, but ... I am hopeful that some business has been done ... This action gives us a good line for judging the results of a general battle', where the preponderance of British forces would be slightly larger than the 5:4 proportion in this case.
Though considered a British victory, the Battle of Dogger Bank fell short of Churchill's hopes -- foreshadowing the similarly unsatisfactory conclusion of the 'general battle' at Jutland 18 months later.
Writings of Sir Winston Churchill © Estate of Winston S. Churchill
REPORTING THE BATTLE OF DOGGER BANK. A squadron under Admiral Beatty has encountered a group of four German battle cruisers, who 'ran for home immediately, & a fierce pursuit ensued producing a severe action'. On the British side, the Lion 'is damaged, but is returning home at 12 Knots. Beatty has shifted his flag to the Princess Royal'; on the German side, 'The Blücher ... practically a battle-cruiser, tho' with 12 8.2 guns, & 880 men, sank. Two other German battle-cruisers reported seriously injured. Deserting the Blücher, the Germans managed to make good their escape into their own torpedo area ... There are no details so far of the destroyer & light-cruiser fighting, but ... I am hopeful that some business has been done ... This action gives us a good line for judging the results of a general battle', where the preponderance of British forces would be slightly larger than the 5:4 proportion in this case.
Though considered a British victory, the Battle of Dogger Bank fell short of Churchill's hopes -- foreshadowing the similarly unsatisfactory conclusion of the 'general battle' at Jutland 18 months later.
Writings of Sir Winston Churchill © Estate of Winston S. Churchill
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