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Invincible-class battlecruiser
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===Battle of Jutland=== {{Main|Battle of Jutland}} At the end of May 1916, the 3rd Battlecruiser Squadron was temporarily assigned to the [[Grand Fleet]] for gunnery practice. On 30 May, the entire Grand Fleet, along with Admiral Beatty's battlecruisers, had been ordered to sea to prepare for an excursion by the German [[High Seas Fleet]]. To support Beatty, Rear Admiral Hood took his three battlecruisers ahead of the Grand Fleet. At about 14:30 ''Invincible'' intercepted a radio message from the British light cruiser {{HMS|Galatea|1914|2}}, attached to Beatty's Battlecruiser Force, reporting the sighting of two enemy cruisers. This was amplified by other reports of seven enemy ships steering north. Hood interpreted this as an attempt to escape through the [[Skagerrak]] and ordered an increase in speed to {{convert|22|kn}} at 15:11 and steered East-Southeast to cut off the fleeing ships. Twenty minutes later ''Invincible'' intercepted a message from Beatty reporting five enemy battlecruisers in sight and later signals reporting that he was engaging the enemy on a south-easterly course. At 16:06 Hood ordered full speed and a course of south-southeast in an attempt to converge on Beatty. At 16:56, with no British ships in sight, Hood requested Beatty's course, position and speed, but never received a reply.<ref>Tarrant, pp. 98–99</ref> Hood continued on course until 17:40 when gunfire was spotted in the direction to which his light cruiser {{HMS|Chester|1915|2}} had been dispatched to investigate other gunfire flashes. ''Chester'' encountered four light cruisers of Hipper's 2nd Scouting Group and was badly damaged before Hood turned to investigate and was able to drive the German cruisers away from ''Chester''. At 17:53 ''Invincible'' opened fire on {{SMS|Wiesbaden||2}} and the other two ''Invincible''s followed two minutes later. The German ships turned for the south after fruitlessly firing torpedoes at 18:00 and attempted to find shelter in the mist. As they turned ''Invincible'' hit ''Wiesbaden'' in the engine room and knocked out her engines while ''Inflexible'' hit {{SMS|Pillau||2}} once. The 2nd Scouting Group was escorted by the light cruiser {{SMS|Regensburg||2}} and 31 destroyers of the 2nd and 9th Flotillas and the 12th Half-Flotilla which attacked the 3rd BCS in succession. They were driven off by Hood's remaining light cruiser {{HMS|Canterbury|1915|2}} and the five destroyers of his escort. In a confused action the Germans only launched 12 torpedoes and disabled the destroyer {{HMS|Shark|1912|2}} with gunfire. Having turned due west to close on Beatty's ships, the ''Invincible''s were broadside to the oncoming torpedoes, but ''Invincible'' turned north, while ''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'' turned south to present their narrowest profile to the torpedoes. All the torpedoes missed although one passed underneath ''Inflexible'' without detonating. As ''Invincible'' turned north, her helm jammed and she had to come to a stop to fix the problem, but this was quickly done and the squadron reformed heading west.<ref>Tarrant, pp. 103–105</ref> [[File:InvincibleWrecksp2470.jpg|thumb|left|The wreck of ''Invincible'' prior to the ship finally sinking]] At 18:21, with both Beatty and the Grand Fleet converging on him, Hood turned south to lead Beatty's battlecruisers. Hipper's battlecruisers were {{convert|9000|yd|m}} away and the ''Invincible''s almost immediately opened fire on Hipper's flagship {{SMS|Lützow||2}} and {{SMS|Derfflinger||2}}. ''Indomitable'' hit ''Derfflinger'' three times and {{SMS|Seydlitz||2}} once,<ref>Campbell, pp. 185–187</ref> while the ''Lützow'' quickly took 10 hits from {{HMS|Lion|1910|2}}, ''Inflexible'' and ''Invincible'', including two hits below the waterline forward by ''Invincible'' that would ultimately doom her.<ref>Campbell, p. 183</ref> But at 18:30 ''Invincible'' abruptly appeared as a clear target before ''Lützow'' and ''Derfflinger''. The two German ships then fired three salvoes each at ''Invincible'', and sank her in 90 seconds. A 305 mm (12-inch) shell from the third salvo struck ''Invincible''{{'}}s midships 'Q' turret, flash detonated the magazines below, and the ship blew up and broke in half, killing all but 6 of her crew of 1,032 officers and men, including Hood.<ref>Campbell, p. 159</ref> ''Inflexible'' and ''Indomitable'' remained in company with Beatty for the rest of the battle. They encountered Hipper's battlecruisers only {{convert|10000|yd|m}} away as the sun was setting about 20:19 and opened fire. ''Seydlitz'' was hit five times before the battlecruisers were rescued by the [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s of Rear Admiral Mauve and the British shifted fire to the new threat. Three of the predreadnoughts were hit before they too were able to turn into the gloom.<ref>Campbell, pp. 252–254, 272</ref>
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