Battle of Heligoland Bight (1914)

First Battle of Heligoland Bight
Part of the First World War
Sinking of the German cruiser Mainz seen from a British warship
Date 28 August 1914 Location Heligoland Bight, North Sea Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom	Germany
Commanders and leaders
David Beatty Reginald Tyrwhitt Roger Keyes	Franz Hipper Leberecht Maass †
Strength
5 battlecruisers 8 light cruisers 33 destroyers 8 submarines	6 light cruisers 19 torpedo boats 12 minesweepers
Casualties and losses
35 killed 55 wounded 1 light cruiser heavily damaged 3 destroyers damaged	712 killed 149 wounded 336 captured 3 light cruisers sunk 2 torpedo boats sunk 1 destroyer sunk 3 destroyers heavily damaged 1 light cruiser heavily damaged 2 light cruisers moderately damaged

The First Battle of Heligoland Bight was the first naval battle of the First World War, fought on 28 August 1914, between the United Kingdom and Germany. The battle took place in the south-eastern North Sea when the British attacked German patrols off the north-west German coast.

The German High Seas Fleet remained largely in safe harbours on the north German coast while the British Grand Fleet remained in the northern North Sea. Both sides engaged in long-distance sorties with cruisers and battlecruisers, and close reconnaissance of the area of sea near the German coast—the Heligoland Bight—by destroyer. The British devised a plan to ambush German destroyers on their daily patrols. A British fleet of 31 destroyers and two cruisers under Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt and submarines commanded by Commodore Roger Keyes was dispatched. They were supported at longer range by an additional six light cruisers commanded by William Goodenough, and five battlecruisers commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty.

Three German light cruisers and one destroyer were sunk. Three more light cruisers were damaged, 712 sailors killed, 530 injured and 336 taken prisoner. The British suffered one light cruiser and three destroyers damaged, 35 killed and 40 wounded. The battle was regarded as a great victory in Britain, where the returning ships were met by cheering crowds. Publicly, Vice Admiral Beatty was regarded as a hero, although he had taken little part in the action or planning of the raid, which was led by Commodore Tyrwhitt and conceived by himself and Keyes, who had persuaded the Admiralty to adopt it. However, the raid might have led to disaster had the additional forces under Beatty not been sent by Admiral John Jellicoe at the last minute.

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