RockyMountainNavy, 22 January 2025
The first major battle between capital ships of the British Royal Navy and the German Imperial Navy in World War I. Though lauded as a British victory it set the stage for the later Battle of Jutland of May 31, 1916 with lessons learned…and ignored.
The Battle of Dogger Bank took place on the night of January 24, 1915 in the North Sea near an area called Dogger Bank. The German Imperial Navy sortied three battlecruisers (SMS Seydlitz, Moltke, Derrflinger) and the armored cruiser SMS Blucher supported by four light cruisers and 22 destroyers. The German ships were ordered to conduct a reconnaissance to the north of Dogger Bank. Interestingly, Blucher was added to the sortie in place of the battlecruiser SMS von der Tann which was damaged in an air raid.
The British Royal Navy, tipped off by codebreakers in Room 40, sortied the Third Battle Squadron (eight pre-Dreadnoughts) and two Battle Cruiser Squadrons (five battlecruisers) along with supporting ships to intercept. As luck would have it, the five battlecruisers and a handful of light cruisers and destroyers actually found the German fleet.
The Battle of Dogger Bank is perhaps best described as a stern chase where the German Imperial Navy ships attempted to escape the pursing Royal Navy.

The Battle of Dogger had many features that make for good wargame scenario fodder:
- Dim light (battle was joined in the early morning) and later smoke from some forty coal- and oil-fired ships, limited visibility for both sides.
- Though wireless (radio) was available, most command and control was conducted via signal flags…that were difficult to see given the geometry of the battle and the amount of smoke.
- Fire control proved difficult for both sides – the Germans preferred to fire at ranges of about 7,000 yards (3.5 nautical miles) while the British had practiced shooting out to ranges as far as 14,000 yards (7 nautical miles); during the battle the first shots were taken by the British at 20,000 yards (10 nautical miles).
- The Royal Navy was in the process of installing a new centralized fire control direction system to control all turrets on some of its capital ships though usage was spotty and not well understood or practiced.
- The Germans used individual turret control based on information from a range finder in the ship’s upper works.
- Observing fall of shot and adjusting fire was difficult for both sides given the number of ships firing and the smoke of battle.
- At one point a German Navy Zeppelin attempted to enter the battle but was chased way; what if?
- Both sides were extremely worried that submarines would intervene; this explains some of the manuevers during the chase and even the British decision to end the battle.

In terms of losses, the only major ship sunk was the SMS Blucher that had been struck by about 70 shells—mostly of large caliber—and seven torpedoes. The ship sunk with 792 killed, 234 captured, and 45 wounded. Though the Royal Navy did not have any ships sunk several were heavily damaged. HMS Lion, Admiral Beatty’s flagship, was struck by sixteen large-caliber shells. HMS Tiger was also struck by seven large-caliber shells. Both ships were taken under tow at the end of the battle; Lion’s engines were broken down completely.


Following the Battle of Dogger Bank the German Kaiser relieved the commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet and ordered no further sorties into the North Sea. That order held until May 31, 1916 and the Battle of Jutland.
Perhaps the most important lesson of the Battle of Dogger Bank is the one that the Germans learned but the British apparently ignored. The Germans observed that SMS Seydlitz was nearly lost from an ammunition explosion when first hit. They noted a vulnerability from shells penetrating ammo handling areas of lightly armored battlecruisers. The result was the introduction of better ammo handling procedures and redesigned doors and hatches to prevent flashback of fire from explosions. The British, however, appear to ignore similar problems in their battlecruisers and made no changes. Such changes may have prevented the loss of the battlecruisers Invincible, Princess Royal and Queen Mary at the later Battle of Jutland (the source of the famous,“There’s something wrong with our bloody ships today!” quote).
Primary reference for above; “Battle of Dogger Bank,” britishbattles.com.
For wargames? There are scenarios in a bunch different games, but here are a few games that focus on the battle
- The most recent is Jutland: Dogger Bank 1915 from Avalanche Press
- Minden Games had one a while ago
- There’s a book-length set of minis scenarios
- And the NavTec minis rules1 scenario book for the battle can be found on Amazon
Feature image HMS Lion at Dogger bank by Lionel Wyllie via britishbattles.com.
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