Jutland 1916 Author:John Costello The biggest naval battle in history occurred off the coast of Jutland in the afternoon of May 31, 1916 when the German High Seas Fleet confronted a six-mile line of grey-steel dreadnoughts of the British Grand Fleet. In this momentous 'clash of Titans' more than 200 warships of the rival navies were involved in a series of bitterly fough... more »t actions that lasted throughout the night. The result could determine the course of the First World War; as Churchill later put it, 'Britain could have lost the war in an afternoon'.« less