#OnThisDay 1916 The Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of WW1 raged in the North Sea between the German and British Navies. Both navies competed with each other in the build up to the war during the ‘Naval Race’, Germany trying to build a navy as powerful as Britains. While it was a tactical victory for the German Navy (They sank more British ships, took more prisoners, suffered less damage), the strategic victory went to the Royal Navy because the German High Seas Fleet never left port again in force.
Roughly 10,000 Irish men served in the Royal Navy during WW1, including my great-grandfather and 358 Irish-men died during the Battle of Jutland & one, Barry Bingham got the Victoria Cross.
(Pic: Not from the Battle of Jutland, actually an Austro-Hungarian ship, but it’s a good pic)
The Irish at War 