Dogger Bank

Dogger Bank (dô`gər, dŏ`–), extensive sandbank, c.6,800 sq mi (17,610 sq km), central North Sea, between Great Britain and Denmark. Covered by shallow water (c.55–120 ft/17–36 m deep), it is a major breeding ground for many types of fish. Important cod and herring fisheries are there.

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Dogger Bank

an extensive submerged sandbank in the North Sea between N England and Denmark: fishing ground

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Dogger Bank 

a shoal in the central part of the North Sea. Stretching 260 km from southwest to northeast, Dogger Bank has a width of up to 33 km and a minimum depth of 13 m. It is an area of intensive fishing, especially for cod.

On Oct. 9 (22), 1904, British fishing boats in the vicinity of Dogger Bank were fired upon by a Russian squadron under Admiral Z. P. Rozhestvenskii (the “Hull Incident”).

During World War I, on Jan. 24, 1915, a battle occurred in the Dogger Bank area between British and German cruiser squadrons. In January 1915 the commander of the German “Open Sea” fleet, Admiral F. Ingenohl, decided to send ships out to sea to reconnoiter and destroy light forces of the enemy, which, the German command believed, intended to block up the mouths of rivers in northwestern Germany. On January 23 a German squadron (three battlecruisers, one armored cruiser, four light cruisers, and 15 destroyers) went to sea in the Dogger Bank area. The British command, which had intercepted a radiogram about the impending movement of the German squadron, sent to the area a squadron under Vice Admiral D. Beatty (five battlecruisers, seven light cruisers and 35 destroyers), which on January 24 encountered German ships at the eastern edge of Dogger Bank. As a result of a three-hour battle, the German armored cruiser was sunk, a battlecruiser was seriously damaged, and the German squadron withdrew. The British had one battlecruiser put out of commission, while another ran aground. The British fleet failed to make use of its superiority to annihilate the enemy.

REFERENCE

Corbett, J. S. Operatsii angliiskogo flota v mirovuiu voinu, vol. 2. Moscow, 1941. (Translated from English.)