the Germans into the area and sank three cruisers and
one destroyer without any British losses. On 24 Janu-
ary 1915, Beatty fought an even more famous battle at
Dogger Bank, an island in the North Sea. There, he
intercepted four German heavy cruisers and destroyers
commanded by Admiral Franz Von Hipper. This fleet
had intended to shell towns on the British coast, but
Beatty surprised them 60 miles east of England. Dur-
ing the clash, the German crusier Blücher was sunk by
Beatty’s flagship, the HMS Lion. However, just as the
Lion swung out to face more ships, she too was hit and
disabled; the battle was cut short with minimal British
losses.
On 30 May 1916, Beatty fought in one of the most
important naval encounters in world history: the battle
of Jutland in the North Sea. Once again, Beatty’s fleet
faced that of the German Admiral Von Hipper, this
time teamed with Admiral Reinhard scheer’s High
Seas Fleet. Beatty’s smaller force deliberately tempted
the Germans to attack, as he and his superior, John Jel-
licoe, had planned, so that Jellicoe’s Grand Fleet could
defeat them. Beatty fought this battle as he waited for
Jellicoe’s fleet to arrive, and during the fight, the HMS
Queen Mary and the HMS Indefatigable were sunk, with
massive losses; more than 1,000 sailors died on the Inde-
fatigable. However, Beatty did slow down the Germans
and forced equally devastating losses on them. Jellicoe,
in overall command of the Jutland action, was blamed
for the German fleet’s escape, and Beatty replaced him as
commander of the British Grand Fleet on 29 November
- Because there were several British naval officers
of higher rank and with more seniority than Beatty, his
promotion was quite controversial.
Beatty’s “loss” at Jutland in fact was a victory, be-
cause it showed the ultimate weakness of the German
ability to defeat the English fleet. Due to this, the Ger-
mans never again challenged British control of the seas,
and Jutland was his last major battle. He accepted the
surrender of the German navy at the Firth of Forth (Scot-
land) on 21 November 1918. On that day he stated,
“The German flag will be hauled down at sunset today
and will not be hoisted again without permission.” For
his services during the First World War, Beatty was given
the title of Earl Beatty of the North Sea and Brooksby,
promoted to Admiral of the Fleet, and given a grant of
£100,000.
Beatty remained as head of the British navy until
his retirement in 1927. During this period, he oversaw
the decommissioning of his beloved navy during the
period of peace following the end of the war. In 1921,
he served as a British delegate to the Washington Naval
Conference in the United States (1921–22). He died in
London on 11 March 1936 at the age of 65 and was laid
to rest in Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London next to John
Jellicoe. His gravestone reads simply “Beatty” and the
date MDCCCLXXI.References: Rawson, Geoffrey, Earl Beatty: Admiral of
the Fleet: Viscount Borodale and Baron Beatty of the North
Sea and of Brooksby (London: Jarrolds, 1930); Rosskill,
Stephen Wentworth, Admiral of the Fleet Earl Beatty: The
Last Naval Hero: An Intimate Biography (London: Col-
lins, 1980); Chalmers, William Scott, The Life and Letters
of David, Earl Beatty, Admiral of the Fleet... (London:
Hodder and Stoughton, 1951); Hunter, Francis T., Beatty,
Jellicoe, Sims and Rodman: Yankee Gobs and British Tars as
Seen by an “Anglomanic” (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday,
Page & Company, 1919).Belisarius (ca. 505–565) Byzantine general
Historians agree that Belisarius was one of the greatest
military commanders of his time. Perhaps one of the fin-
est works on him is The Life of Belavius (1829) by Lord
Mahon, who writes:Belisarius... was born at Germania, on the con-
fines of Thrace and Illyria.... The exact age of
Belisarius is not recorded; but in his first mili-
tary enterprise, which took place about two years
before the accession of Justinian, we find him
termed, by Procopius, a lately-bearded stripling.
The same expression is applied by the same his-
torian to Photius at his departure for the Gothic
war. Now the mother of Photius was then 36
years of age, and her son could, therefore, hardly
have exceeded twenty. If we suppose this to have
been the age of Belisarius at his earliest exploit,
and fix his birth at twenty years before, we shall,
I think, approach as nearly to the truth as our
imperfect information will allow.Belisarius first appears in histories of the Byzantine
period as a bodyguard to the Emperor Justinian I, who
soon made him commander of the Byzantine army of
some 25,000 men. Starting in 530, Belisarius took part beliSARiuS