Action of 5 November 1916

J1 in 1919

Date	5 November 1916
Location	off Horn Reef, North Sea 55°11′09″N 7°27′27″E / 55.185962°N 7.457599°E / 55.185962; 7.457599
Result	British success

Belligerents

United Kingdom

German Empire

Commanders and leaders

Cdr NF Laurence

Strength

1 submarine

4 dreadnoughts

Casualties and losses

none

unknown
2 ships damaged

The Action of 5 November 1916 was a naval engagement of the First World War. The action was fought between a Royal Navy submarine and a dreadnought squadron of the Imperial German Navy. This action took place in the months after the Battle of Jutland and is significant in that it signalled a major shift in German naval policy.

On 2 November 1916, the German U-boat U-30 suffered a mechanical failure while patrolling off the Norwegian coast. She sent a distress signal which was answered by U-20, which was returning from patrol northabout from Ireland. They met and both U-boats started for the Danish coast, where they were to be met off the Bovsberg Light. The British meanwhile had intercepted this wireless traffic, and dispatched a destroyer force to intercept them, but were unsuccessful.

However, on 4 November, both U-boats went aground in evening fog. Concerned that the Danes would intern the two U-boats—or that the British would find them—and mindful of the reputation of U-20 and her skipper as being responsible for the sinking of the ocean liner RMS Lusitania, Admiral Scheer—the commander of the High Seas Fleet—dispatched a salvage group, with a cover force, comprising destroyers of the 4th Half-Flotilla, with the battlecruiser SMS Moltke. These were followed by the four dreadnoughts of 3rd Battle Squadron; SMS König, Grosser Kurfürst, Kronprinz and Markgraf. This move was also detected by the British, who alerted the submarine HMS J1, which was on patrol in the area.

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Wikipedia