The High Seas Fleet (1907-1918) Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This warship was the first "dreadnought"-class warship in the German fleet and the response to HMS Dreadnought herself. At Jutland, she rammed a British destroyer in the night action, which heavily damaged both ships.

Answer: SMS Nassau

Nassau was quickly made obsolete upon the creation of the superdreadnought several years after her conception. Following the war, she was given to Japan as a gift. The Japanese, finding no use in an outdated dreadnought, sold her to British scrappers.

2. Leader of I Scouting Group, this man was a Vice-Admiral during most of the war and became known for his daring and skill with his command. Commanding the battlecruisers of the High Seas Fleet, this officer became commander of the Fleet following the Battle of Jutland.

Answer: Franz von Hipper

Hipper would be "honored" after the war by having a class of heavy cruisers named after him. The five-ship class (of which only four were completed) served throughout WWII with distinction.

3. After submitting several bills to the Reichstag to allot large sums of money to the navy for building purposes, this man also helped design many of Germany's dreadnoughts. He would come to be known as the "Father of the German Navy".

Answer: Alfred von Tirpitz

Like Hipper, Tirpitz was also "honored" before and during the Second World War by having the battleship Tirpitz, sistership of the famed Bismarck, named in his honor.

4. The Battle of Jutland in 1916 devastated the Royal Navy, and left the German High Seas Fleet in a dominant position in the North Sea.

Answer: False

Despite being the largest naval battle of the war, and one of the largest battleship-on-battleship engagements in history, Jutland was inconclusive. Despite being a German tactical victory, with the High Seas Fleet losing one battlecruiser to three British counterparts, the battle did not give the Germans any strategic advantage over the still massive Royal Navy, which remained dominant if the North Sea for the rest of the war.

5. Who was the commander of the High Seas Fleet at Jutland?

Answer: Reinhard Scheer

Scheer, a torpoedo expert, planned to catch portions of the British Grand Fleet separately, where he could annihilate them systematically with superior numbers. The failure of his scouting submarines, however, and the near-destruction of his battle line twice during the battle, prevented a total victory. Upon return home, he was offered an honorary barony by the Kaiser, which he gracefully declined.

6. This warship class was the first class of superdreadnought in the German Navy, and were finished too late to see action at Jutland.

Answer: Bayern class

The Bayerns, a German response to the British Queen Elizabeth class, mounted eight 15 inch guns (a massive jump from the previously used 12 inch) and were heavily armored. Of the four planned, only two were completed (Bayern and Baden) and the other two (Saschen and Wurttemburg) were scrapped for war materiel.

The two ships never saw any notable naval action, and were lost following the war.

7. Following the Armistice, fearing that the German dreadnoughts would be handed over to the Allies, a German admiral ordered the destruction of almost the entire fleet.

Answer: True

Ludwig von Reuter, commander of most of the German dreadnoughts that traveled to Scapa Flow in June 1919, was not willing to hand over the German dreadnoughts and other ships to the British. Thus, on 19 June, he ordered the scuttling of the dreadnoughts. Among the ships destroyed were the newly-minted Bayern and Baden.

This act of defiance was enormously popular with the 'folks back home'.

8. Right before Jutland, Admiral Scheer made an impulsive decision that many believe cost him a grand victory. Which of the following was it?

Answer: He brought along obsolete battleships

Scheer brought along six pre-dreadnought battleships - five of the Deutschland class and one of the even older Braunschweig class - for "added firepower". However, as a fleet can only travel as fast as its slowest ship, this brought his top speed (as a full formation) from around 20 knots down to 18 knots - a seemingly small amount, but vital in battle.

He would lose one of these ships - SMS Pommern - in a massive explosion that cost over 740 crewmen.

9. If Admiral Scheer was commander of the High Seas Fleet and Admiral Hipper commander of the battlecruisers, which two admirals were their British counterparts (respectively, i.e. #1 Commander of the British Fleet, #2 Commander of the British battlecruisers)?

Answer: Jellicoe and Beatty

Admiral Jellicoe was a kind and determined individual, loved by the men of his command particularly for his kindness and caution, yet after Jutland he was criticized heavily for the latter.

Vice Admiral Beatty was a fierce and skilled officer, and rightfully so, being commander of the fastest and most experienced ships of the British Fleet. After the perceived British "disaster" at Jutland, he succeeded Jellicoe as commander of the Grand Fleet.

10. Which German warship, despite having the specifications of a super-armored cruiser, is considered the first German battlecruiser?

Answer: SMS Blucher

Blucher, being underpowered (with only 8.2 inch guns), was sunk at the Battle of Dogger Bank after being overwhelmed by 13.5 and 12 inch shells from British battlecruisers.

SMS Seydlitz was the fourth official German battlecruiser, and barely survived Jutland with extreme damage. At Dogger Bank, she served as Hipper's flagship.

SMS Hindenburg was added to the High Seas Fleet near the end of the war, in November of 1917, long after the last major fleet actions of the war. She saw no action.

SMS Von der Tann was the first "official" battlecruiser of the High Seas Fleet, armed with 11 inch guns. She, along with the Hindenburg and the Seydlitz, were scuttled at Scapa Flow.

Source: Author MastahCheef117

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Throughout World War I, the British Navy was denied superiority of the Atlantic by the German warships of the High Seas Fleet. This quiz deals with leaders, battles, and ships of the Fleet before it ceased to exist in 1918.

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