Battle of Jutland, greatest naval battle of WWI, begins | May 31, 1916 | HISTORY

Today in Military History -- 1916

Just before four o’clock on the afternoon of May 31, 1916, a British naval force commanded by Vice Admiral David Beatty confronts a squadron of German ships, led by Admiral Franz von Hipper, some 75 miles off the Danish coast. The two squadrons opened fire on each other simultaneously, beginning the opening phase of the greatest naval battle of World War I: the Battle of Jutland.