May 31 marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea—the biggest naval battle of World War I, involving about 250 ships of the British and German fleets.
This etching by W. L. Wyllie (British, 1851–1931) depicts an early point in the battle, called the “Windy Corner” by the British because of the number and speed of ships crossing each other’s courses to get into position. On the left is battleship HMS Warspite under heavy fire from five German dreadnoughts. She’s actually saving the badly damaged battle-cruiser HMS Warrior (right) from destruction by the Germans, drawing fire away as Warrior withdraws. (Warrior later sank after her crew was safely taken off.) Warspite recovered and went on to a long and distinguished career, earning the most battle honors of any single ship in the British Navy and also the most awards for actions in World War II before being decommissioned in 1945.
Wyllie created a sequence of twelve Battle of Jutland images, of which this is the eighth. The series was published in More Sea Fights of the Great War, Including the Battle of Jutland (London: Cassell, 1919), which Wyllie also co-authored.
The Art Collection has a large number of artworks relating to World War I, by official war artists and by others. We also have many American and British posters: you can see some of them on exhibition web pages here (American) and here (British).
Christen E. Runge, Assistant Curator, University Art Collection
June 3, 2016