Second Battle of Heligoland Bight


The Second Battle of Heligoland Bight, also called the Action in the Helgoland Bight was an inconclusive naval engagement fought between British and German squadrons on 17 November 1917 during the First World War.

Background

Following the German Navy's successful raid on the Scandinavian convoy on 17 October 1917, Admiral Sir David Beatty, Commander-in-Chief of the British Grand Fleet, was determined to retaliate. On 17 November 1917 a strong force of cruisers under Vice Admiral Trevylyan Napier was sent to attack German minesweepers, which were clearing a channel through British minefields in the Heligoland Bight. The intentions of the German force had been revealed by British Naval Intelligence, allowing the British to mount an ambush. The German sweepers were escorted by a group of cruisers and torpedo-boats under Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter.

The battle

The action began at 7.30 a.m., roughly 65 nautical miles west of Sylt, when HMS Courageous sighted the enemy. She opened fire at 7:37 a.m. Admiral Reuter, the German commander, with four light cruisers and eight destroyers, advanced to engage the Royal Navy units in order to cover the withdrawal of his minesweepers, all of which escaped except for the trawler Kehdingen, which was sunk. The battle thereafter developed into a stern chase as the German forces, skillfully using smoke-screens, withdrew south-east at their best speed, under fire from the pursuing British ships of the 1st Cruiser Squadron, the 1st and 6th Light Cruiser Squadrons, and, later, HMS Repulse. Both sides were hampered in their maneuvers by the presence of naval minefields.
At about the same time, the light cruisers came under fire from two German Kaiser-class battleships, SMS Kaiser and SMS Kaiserin which had come up in support of Reuter's ships; HMS Caledon was struck by one shell which did minimal damage; shortly thereafter, the British ships gave up the chase as they reached the edge of known minefields.
All personnel on the bridge of the light cruiser HMS Calypso, including her captain, Herbert Edwards, were killed by a shell. The battle cruiser HMS Repulse briefly engaged the German ships at about 10:00, scoring a single hit on the light cruiser SMS Königsberg that ignited a major fire on board.
It was during this battle that HMS ‘'Caledon's’' Able Seaman John Henry Carless of Walsall, won a posthumous Victoria Cross for his bravery in continuing to man a gun despite mortal shrapnel wounds.

Order of battle

British forces

The following British vessels were engaged:
;1st Cruiser Squadron: Vice Admiral Trevylyan D. W. Napier CB, MVO
;6th Light Cruiser Squadron: Rear Admiral Edwyn S. Alexander-Sinclair CB MVO
;1st Light Cruiser Squadron: Commodore Walter H. Cowan CB, MVO, DSO
;1st Battle Cruiser Squadron : Rear Admiral Richard F. Phillimore CB, MVO
The following German vessels were engaged:
;2nd Scouting Group: Rear Admiral Ludwig von Reuter
;7th Torpedo-Boat Flotilla:KKpt Hermann Cordes
;Minesweepers
;4th Battle Squadron : KptzS Kurt Graßhoff