Customer Reviews

Jutland - An Analysis of the Fighting

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a reference book more so than one you read through to gain an understanding of Jutland. Other reviewers have remarked that it is "dry", and the meaning of this word in this context merits explanation.

Campbell's work is about shells impacting ships or water, and their explosive damage in each case where a ship was hit. It is almost entirely devoid of discussion (or even mention!) of who was where, making which decisions based on what information. It is all "what" and little "why".

In other words, very much a reference work on a very narrow (but novel) forensic aspect of this pivotal naval battle. Indeed, you could read this book and come away with the impression that Jutland was about ghost ships steaming about with no one at the helm.

Every recent book on Jutland cites this as a source, and its accuracy and professionalism in cataloging the "'oo killed 'oo" aspects of the battle, but this book is not unchallenged in all that it contains. Andrew Gordon singles Campbell out tellingly on a point of whether the 5th Battle Squadron was taking fire during its belated turn to the North. Given that the handling of this squadron was amongst the most debated elements of the battle, and Campbell's intent was to track every single shellhole, it seems clear from several seemingly indisputable primary accounts cited in Gordon's book that the ships were receiving heavy fire this entire time -- in fact, at least half of the German ships firing were concentrating on them.

This book is a valuable addition to a scholar's library, but is in every case best when combined with other books, given its finely focused topic area. I would offer that Gordon's "The Rules of the Game" is a good companion to this volume in that it focuses on what distinguished Jutland as a battle worthy of study: the men crewing these vessels, the information available to them and what actions they took when so equipped, and the lamentable posturing and blame-laying that took place in the aftermath.

I gave the book five stars because it does a terrific job of achieving what it set out to do: describe the fighting in (unbelievable) detail. Of course this also means the book will be perceived as "dry" by most people and will appeal to a small audience. But if you're one of those rare people who wants to know the exact diameter of the hole punched into the second deck of the Barham by the shell that struck home at 5:21 PM, well, this is the book for you!

The author has compiled an impressive amount of technical data on the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Virtually every important detail concerning major caliber rounds fired and their effects is laid out. Each chapter covers a chronological part of the battle, usually 45-75 minutes each. The final summary provides a very detailed list of the damage to each ship, casualties and ammunition fired in the battle. However this book is limited in several areas. It is not particularly readable because the author seems to have an aversion to the English language in favor of excessive use of jargon and sentence fragments. Organizationally, the book needs a detailed chronology which might reduce some of the redundancy. A big part of the book focuses on the damage to each ship and a huge weakness is the reliance on poor-quality, hard-to-read crude sketches. After all the effort he made to collect the information, the author makes little effort to present it well. Standardized, well-drawn battle damage charts would have made this an outstanding work. The battle maps are generally adequate but the omission for one covering the critical night action was a serious deficiency. Finally, I reached the end and had two critical questions remaining unanswered by the author: first, where German warships really that superior or was it just lucky visibility conditions that aided their gunnery? Second, which fleet was hurt more seriously and how might this have affected a renewed battle if the British Grand Fleet had not lost contact on the night of 31 May 1916? Overall, this is a great technical work but it cannot be read without other, more thorough operational accounts handy.

Sometimes described as *dry and technically slanted*, Campbell's meticulously wonderful study in the epic sea battle is to me the definitive word on all that is to know about what happened at Jutland. Unprecedented and unsurpassed, Campbell fills in the holes that so many naval historians have left behind while attempting to recount the story of Jutland. The bottom line is I don't see anyone else giving a DETAILED analysis of how and where EACH heavy shell hit a capital ship at Jutland and what happened afterwards. Campbell brings us in fantastically up close to examine the workings of guns, armour, propulsion, fire control and shell hits like no one has done before or after. Rather than saying it should be read with other people's efforts to compensate for its alleged dryness, I'd say all other accounts on Jutland would be woefully superficial without the anchorage of Campbell's immaculately researched findings. To a beginner, you may need to say only *British battlecruiser are weak in armour*. But to a true and seasoned enthusiast, nothing short of how H.M.S Lion suffered each of her 12 (16?) shell hits at Jutland would do. Campbell is the only one so far who has given us that. No one else has come close. I recommend his fabulous work with no hesitation.

Only question : wonder why the drawings about hits on British ships much better than those on German ships???

As a military history buff, I am nearly awestruck by the degree of detail achieved by the author. Indeed, those with less interest in the subject may find the detail overwhelming to the point of distraction. I found the blow by blow account of the battle most impressive, particularly the descriptions of both the damage caused and the operational effect on the forces of both fleets. Perhaps a bit more attention should have been given to the human cost of the battle but those with any appreciable understanding of naval technology will be well able to imagine the effects for themselves. Besides, as the title states, this work is an analysis of the fighting, not a narrative and not a commentary. I found this volume to be of immense value to my better understanding of this pivotal engagement.

For those whose interest includes such detailed considerations as the comparison of shell velocity and diameter versus extent of armored protection, plus the often overlooked contributions of superior fire control and damage control, this work is invaluable.

A must for any true devotee of World War I naval warfare or the evolution of major surface warship types.

IN A NUTSHELL:A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF NAVAL HISTORY AIDS UNDERSTANDING

First, let me say that 'Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting' by John Campbell is not an easy or quick read for someone with a passing interest in naval warfare. Without a knowledge of the nautical, era-specific jargon and the particulars of era-specific warships, this fine text is hard both to understand and to follow. However, if one is prepared for Jutland, this edition is probably the best account of the specifics of the battle, especially concerning the engagements of individual ships and the damage sustained and meted out. With over 300 ships actively involved, including over 80 capital ships, the encyclopedic scope of the detailed accounts of the actual shell hits to and by individual ships in thorough diagramed detail is remarkable.

As you are reading this book, it is important to have access to a reference with all the particulars pertaining to the individual participants of the 'Battle-Line'. Antony Preston's, 'Battleships of World War I', is excellent as its concise format and accurate details make knowing the ships you're reading about easier, especially for comparison.

WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT: THE MOST VALUABLE BOOK IN 1916 [HAD IT EXISTED]

Reading this text imparts a working knowledge of the flaws and features of capital ships of the era and would be a crucial tool [had it existed at the time] in designing better capital ships after Jutland, as the lessons to be learned are all here for the reader to digest. In essence, this battle represented 'THE CLASSROOM EXPERIMENT' needed to measure the potency of the world's most lethal weapons, capital ships. From the results, carefully summarized in this text, we can determine the strengths and weaknesses of many of the experimental and theoretical design paradigms of the era that were installed in these Dreadnought and Super-Dreadnought vessels.

BOTTOM LINE: I LITERALLY COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN UNTIL IT DROPPED FROM MY HANDS

While I couldn't put the book down, people without a compelling urge to analyze the battle in detail found this quite dry and totally uninteresting. Furthermore, some people find the use of terms and era-specific jargon [without a glossary] throughout the text frustrating in the extreme. Some of the text is written in a coarse style that seems to be lacking in articles and prepositions, but that is typical of real, unvarnished 'battle accounts'.

Keeping all this in mind, 'Jutland: An Analysis of the Fighting' is a book written for highly motivated enthusiasts and historians whose strong background in naval history will facilitate fast comprehension of the unusual terms and jargon. For the specific niche that John Campbell is apparently addressing in his text, NO EQUAL yet exists to my knowledge.

RECOMMENDED COMPANION: BATTLESHIPS OF WORLD WAR I, ANTONY PRESTON, 1972.

This book describes almost every shot fired in the battle of Jutland anf its effects in the ships. One of the most attractive features of the book is that it is not particularly biased towards any of the contendants. This book is the result of a lifetime effort. Anybody interested in WWI naval warfare or battleship technology should read it.

This book is a painstaking analysis of virtually every large caliber hit sustained by every capital ship at the battle of Jutland. As well as an account of the ammunition usage by both fleets complete with an analysis of the accuracy of each ship's gunnery.

The damage is arranged chronologically and profusely illustrated with diagrams show the shell strike and the thickness of the armor and other ships structures in the vicinity of the hit. For some reason the damage diagrams of the hits on the British ships are significantly more detailed than the German ones. The British diagrams even include the weight per square foot of the decks and bulkheads.

Finally, there is a brief summary of the findings which assert that the loss of the British BCs, contrary to conventional wisdom was the result of over sensitive British propellant charges rather than the tendency of the crews to ignore safe ammunition handling practices to increase rate of fire.

This really is the definitive source on capital ship damage at Jutland, but potential readers should be advised that the book is very narrowly focused on damage. It is not a general history of the battle, nor does it have much narrative flow. It would best be read in tandem with a more general history of the battle such as Campbell's The Rules of the Game. That being said, the book is simply outstanding!

A very interesting book, but difficult to wade through. The narrative is so detailed that one is soon lost. Had there been a series of photos documenting the damage, or even better sketches to describe the hits I feel that this book would have been superb.

THE BEST. Just the facts. Careful analysis based on the facts. Throughly researched for details. The Best I have read.