The Grand Fleet was based first at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, and later at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth. It participated with the biggest fleet action of the war – the Battle of Jutland – in June 1916. [1]

The Royal Navy had three main tasks at the beginning of the war: to bring the British Expeditionary Force to France and ensure its supplies and reinforcements; to establish and maintain a blockade against Germany; and to ensure the security of British world trade.

The primary threat to the British forces in the channel was the German High Seas Fleet based near Heligoland; the German fleet, if let out into the North Sea, could have destroyed any ship in the channel.

Many who are cited as S, V and W were of great help during the Second World War as escort ships in the Atlantic. All these destroyers will form the bulk of the British fleet to the mid 1930s.

The Grand Fleet was Britain’s most important manifestation of sea power in World War I. As the primary instrument of blockade in the North Sea, it was tasked with denying Germany the succor of oceanic trade while also holding that state’s most formidable assemblage of naval might, the High Seas Fleet, in check throughout the war.

3 days ago · On December 15 battle cruisers of the German High Seas Fleet set off on a sortie across the North Sea, under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper: they bombarded several British towns and then made their way home safely.

Aug 4, 2014 · In 1914 the British Royal Navy (RN) remained the largest in the world. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, supported by Kaiser Wilhelm II, had attempted to create a German navy that could match the RN, but the British had comfortably maintained their lead in …

In 1914, the largest naval power was undoubtedly the British pride, her majesty’s Royal Navy. Confirmed and maintained at the highest level by the will of Queen Victoria and her advisers, the Royal Navy grow from uncertain equality with the French and Spanish fleets to …

Between 1901 and 1913, the Royal Navy changed from this imperial role to a battle fleet designed and prepared for conflict in the North Sea. This was in response to the perceived threat brought about by the enlargement of the German Fleet.

Nov 11, 2015 · ROYAL NAVY LOG BOOKS OF THE WORLD WAR 1-ERA, 350,000 pages transcribed, all 318 ships now online, including Battle of the Falklands, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, East Africa, China Station. Follow this link for brief details of all 318 ships.