John Campbell (2)

Campbell has been accused of having a very dry, though entirely factual, presentation that some find slow going and not entertaining, and this book is not short. For myself I find the book to be easy to read and understand, and if people are willing to take time over the book it will repay them many times over.

That said, this book is the only really serious study of the damage suffered by the ships at Jutland available to people, and it is far superior to any work in its analysis of the damage, making most look superficial. Each stage of the action is covered in great detail, showing the course of the battle and a narrative of the action. Then the damage suffered in that phase is discussed for each ship in turn, allowing the reader to understand how each hit affected the ship and the implications of it long term during the battle.

Obviously this is not just an account of the action, and many seem to regard that as a fault, ignoring Campbell’s intention was to provide an analysis of exactly what happened to the ships and why by examining the damage suffered. The damage is examined in great detail, following the path a shell took after striking the ship, the damage from its explosion. It does not the shell fragments that ended up in very close proximity to magazines or powder rooms, but miraculously did no more than come to a halt!

The book also deals with the Battle of Dogger Bank and shows how performance there led both sides to make changes to their systems, with fatal results on the British side, but with better results for the Germans. Anyone reading this book will come away with a far greater knowledge of Jutland, and to any historian it is utterly indispensible.… (more)