Jutland by Donald Macintyre

To give him his full title that is Captain Donald Macintyre DSO & 2 Bars, DSC RN (Retd), so an authoritative figure with service in WW2 so not a contemporary, but someone who knows the business.

The book was published in 1957 and the copy I was given is the 2nd printing from 1966.  It has lovely, yellowed pages but is falling apart.

It gives a background to the war and the naval race, focuses on the challenges of both sides and gives an account of the operations leading up to the final encounter at Jutland.

Both sides were trying to gain an advantage over the other and both sides thought they had this which led to the battle major.  What the Germans didn't know was that the English were intercepting their radio communications and so had their trap ready.

What the British didn't expect was the superiority of German seamanship and the resilience of their warships to damage.  This enabled the Germans to escape the trap they had fallen into greatly assisted by the failure of various British commanders (including the Admiralty) to keep the commander of the Grand Fleet fully informed of what was happening.  Not easy with communications that required line of sight or wireless, which was still in its infancy.  However at least one commander managed it (mostly) - Commodore Goodenough of the First Light Cruiser Squadron.

Operationally it is best described as a draw, but strategically it was a British victory as the High Seas Fleet (although there were two subsequent sallies) wasn't able to break the blockade.  The blockade which contributed to the German collapse.

The book was enjoyable to read and contained plenty of detail plus useful diagrams to illustrate various stages of the battle.

Now to find some boardgames that cover it.  I have one, SPI's Dreadnought, but that would be a labour of love to use as although it has all the counters and a scenario for the battle, there is a lot of record keeping.  Also, having read the book, I doubt it would catch the fog of war (or in this case sea mist along with clouds of smoke deliberate and unintended) which played a major part in the battle.