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In the autumn of 1917, Schell also sent cruisers and destroyers to attack the convoy of convoys between Britain and Norway.

On 17 October, at the height of the Battle of Riga, two newly commissioned light cruisers, the Greenhead Fly and the Gadfly, successfully intercepted a British convoy about 50 nautical miles east of Shetland Islands.

They sent 9 of the 12 cargo ships to the bottom of the sea, sank 2 British destroyers, and returned triumphantly.

The British soon launched a counterattack, and Betty planned to send a fast formation with the large light cruisers "Glory" and "Brave" as the core to attack the German ships on regular minesweeping missions in the Gulf of Helgoland.

Lure the German battleships anchored in Wilhelmshaven into sail and annihilate them with battleships and battlecruisers ambushed behind the fast formation.

The British fleet attacked on 17 November, and the two fleets engaged in an unusually dangerous chase between the minefields, and when the battleships "Emperor" and "Empress" left behind in the harbor went to sea for reinforcements, the British rapid formation began to retreat.

But the cautious Germans did not pursue it deeply, and this time the battle, known as the Second Battle of the Gulf of Helgoland, came to an end.

On December 12, 1917, German battleships attacked the Norwegian convoy again, and the 2nd Destroyer Detachment managed to sink 6 cargo ships and 5 escort ships, including the destroyer "Partridge".

In February 1918, the 2nd Destroyer Detachment suddenly moved south and launched a surprise attack on British patrol ships in the Strait of Dover, sinking eight light ships.

Two months later, Scheer again planned to attack the Norwegian convoy and dispatched the main force of the High Seas Fleet, with Hipper's battle cruiser force accompanied by light cruisers and destroyers as the vanguard, and Scheer led the main fleet to break the rear cover in an attempt to seize a part of the British fleet and annihilate it.

The German fleet set sail covertly on the night of 23 April, but unfortunately, the battlecruiser "Moltke" suffered a serious failure on the way to the voyage and lost its ability to move, so it could only send a telegram for help, revealing the fleet's whereabouts.

On the way, the "Moltke" was struck by the British submarine E-42, but fortunately it was properly controlled, did not sink, and persisted until it returned to the port.

The last large-scale sortie of the German High Seas Fleet in the war ended hastily.

In fact, the German Navy wanted to make a last stand, and they were not willing to admit defeat, but they were not united at home.

In September 1918, Holzendorff resigned as Chief of the General Staff of the Navy for health reasons, and Schell took over, and the command of the High Seas Fleet was transferred to Hipper.

In October, the German Army suffered a setback on the Western Front, and the German government began to look for a way to end the war in the face of a large-scale Allied counteroffensive, but the navy's top brass still pinned its hopes on a last-ditch effort.

Hipper was instructed to draw up a battle plan for a decisive battle with the British Grand Fleet, which was approved by Scher, and the navy was completely indifferent to the government's diplomatic efforts to reach an armistice.

On 27 October, Hipper ordered the fleet to assemble and prepare for battle, but the war-weary rank-and-file sailors had already heard that an armistice was imminent, and some of the soldiers on the battlecruisers and light cruisers refused to carry out the order.

By October 29, the sailors of the entire 3rd battleship detachment joined the confrontation.

In order to prevent a large-scale mutiny, Hipper ordered the transfer of the 3rd Battleship Squadron to Kiel, which only provoked even greater discontent at the base of the fleet, and finally rose up in the port of Kiel.

On November 11, 1918, the German government declared an armistice. Finally, the High Seas Fleet finally sailed out of port on November 20, but instead of fighting, they surrendered to the British.

In 1918, the First World War was nearing its end. After four years of war, the once-mighty German Empire was dying.

Although the German Army was still fighting hard and had in fact defeated Russia, the economic and productive resources of Germany had been depleted because the British naval blockade could not be broken.

The starving people could no longer afford to send more supplies to their soldiers on the front lines.

Moreover, under the influence of the Russian Revolution, war-weariness was spreading among the German army.

At the same time, on the Western Front, the Entente was greatly strengthened by the entry of the United States into the war.

By the end of the summer, the Germans had to begin to retreat towards the mainland.

Already in a desperate situation, Germany announced on October 4 that it had accepted US President Wilson's "14-point plan" as the basis for negotiating an armistice with the Allies.

However, even after negotiations had begun, Germany wanted to obtain the most lenient terms possible for an armistice.

The Germans pinned their hopes on the German Navy, which was still intact in strength.

The Germans knew that in the Second Anglo-Dutch War more than 200 years ago, the Dutch navy had invaded the Thames to force Britain to make concessions at the negotiating table and win a decent peace for themselves.

Now, the Germans are planning to do it again.

The specific battle plan was that, first, the German naval light ships based along the coasts of northern France and Belgium would carry out a series of surprise attacks on the British Thames estuary to lure the British main fleet stationed in Scapa Gulf, Scotland, to rush south.

Next, German mines and submarines, which had already been lying in ambush near the British fleet's shipping channels, would attack the British fleet in transit, doing everything possible to weaken the adversary.

Finally, the German High Seas Fleet was to assemble all the warships that could fight and fight a decisive battle with the main British fleet.

After a long wait, the decisive battle at sea that Tirpitz had envisioned seemed to be at hand.

There is no doubt that both the light fleet, the submarine forces and the high seas fleet will be blocked by an superior enemy.

All sorts of favorable conditions were not on the side of the Germans. Nor could they have hoped for the good results that the Dutch had achieved back then.

But in order to gain more leverage for its peace negotiations, the German Navy will have to risk its life and fight to the death.

Win or lose, this will be the last battle for the German Navy.

Such a bleak prospect made many German sailors feel hopeless, can they not despair? There is a kind of grief and indignation that knows that he is going to die, but he can't resist, and that feeling is difficult for future generations to understand.

On 29 October, 22 capital ships, 12 light cruisers, and 70 destroyers of the High Seas Fleet left port as planned for their final journey.

But shortly after the fleet left port, a revolution broke out among the sailors on several capital ships, who refused to carry out this order to send them to their deaths.

Although the Commander of the fleet, Hipper, quickly suppressed the revolution, the elaborate plan of action had been disrupted and the battle plan was aborted.

The High Seas Fleet had no choice but to return to base the same route.

When the 3rd Battleship Squadron arrived at the port of Kiel, news of the fleet's sailor revolution spread rapidly, which led to an even larger sailor revolution.

This time, the naval authorities could no longer suppress the revolution.

Within a few days, the revolution spread throughout Germany.

Emperor Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate and went into exile in the Netherlands, and the Second German Empire was declared extinct.

The new German government, built on its ruins, can no longer expect any new bargaining chips.

On November 11, Germany signed an armistice agreement with the Allies.

In accordance with Articles 21 and 23 of the Armistice Agreement, in order to express its sincerity in seeking peace, Germany was required to immediately surrender all its submarines to the Entente.

The 10 battleships, 6 battlecruisers, 8 light cruisers, and 50 destroyers, the main force of the High Seas Fleet, were to be disarmed and held hostage in the ports of neutral or Entente powers until their fate was decided by a final peace treaty.

The list of all extradited warships was provided by the Entente and Germany had to implement it to the letter.

This means that the lieutenants of the High Seas Fleet will have to hand over the best warships in their hands.

At this time at Wilhelmshaven, the base of the German High Seas Fleet, the German Navy was already on the verge of collapse due to the social unrest caused by the revolution.

The sailors had no military discipline and openly drank and prostituted on the ship. The officers had no authority and were helpless.

The Germans had asked the Allies for a period of grace so that they could put their military discipline in order before fulfilling the agreement.

However, Betty, the hero of the Battle of Jutland, who had already risen to the rank of commander of the British main fleet, categorically refused to do so.

He explicitly warned that the terms of the agreement must be fulfilled within a week, i.e. by 18 November.

Otherwise, the British fleet would have stormed the Helgoland Bay and destroyed the German fleet.

After four years of waiting, the British fleet was finally about to rush to its intended battlefield, as the Germans had estimated before the war.

However, the German Navy, which by this time had been disintegrated by the revolution and civil strife, could no longer calmly deal with the enemy.

In the face of the intimidation of the British, both revolutionary sailors and conservative officers recognized the need to immediately prepare the fleet for going to sea.

The Germans believed that as long as the Armistice Agreement was honored, the fleet would be able to return to their own hands when the peace treaty was finally signed.

On the contrary, failure to honour the Armistice would give the British an excuse to occupy the island of Helgoland and destroy the entire German fleet and shell the German coastal cities.

So, although the situation remained volatile, the revolutionaries and the revolutionaries cooperated.

On the docks, people began to carry supplies to the warships.

In accordance with the requirements for the disarmament of the warship, the bolts of the battleship's cannons were disassembled.

In order to keep their country's military secrets, the Germans even dismantled the ship's fire control equipment.

In addition, the German Navy had to designate a commander to be in charge of the fleet crossing.

For such an honorless task, it is obvious that no one will take the initiative to ask for help.

In the end, the commander of the High Seas Fleet, Hipper, "requested" (not "ordered") Rear Admiral Root to take charge of the matter.

After some deliberation, Root came to the conclusion that if the fleet could not go to sea as scheduled, the Allies would use this as an excuse to attack the German mainland.

The German Navy could not bear such historical responsibility, so at such a historical juncture, he decided to accept the task.

Revolutionary fervor still pervaded the German Navy, and although the officers and men wished to fulfill the Armistice Agreement, there were still many contradictions in the concrete work.

Some of the emotionally charged sailors tried to bring the red flag, a symbol of revolution, to the warships in order to show them the spirit of the German revolutionaries when they met the British fleet.

But the officers warned that if the British were shown their identity at sea with a red flag, the German warships would most likely be treated as pirate ships.

That means the warship was sunk without warning.

Although this warning discouraged the sailors from hoisting the red flag on the warship, the relationship between the officers and men was not harmonious, which directly hindered the fleet's preparations for sailing.

The High Seas Fleet was scheduled to sail at noon on 18 November, but had to be postponed for 24 hours. Fortunately, the British did not pursue this small delay.

At noon on November 19, 1919, 9 battleships, 4 battlecruisers, 8 light cruisers and 50 destroyers of the High Seas Fleet went to sea as planned.

This number is less than the 74 warships required under the Armistice Agreement.

Among them, the battleship "King", which was included in the extradition list, was unable to go to sea for a short period of time due to mechanical problems.

The battlecruiser "Mackensen", which had just been launched, was also on the list. But it was clear that the intelligence services of the Entente had gone wrong - the warship was not finished and could not go to sea.

And the battlecruiser "von. Morality. The absence of the Tarn was caused by the Germans themselves: the ship did not receive the order to go to sea in time due to the unauthorized departure of the watchman on duty.

In the end, the ship had to sail alone, and it was easy to catch up with the large forces.

Another mistake of the Germans occurred on the destroyer V30, which, while passing through a minefield laid by itself, deviated from course, resulting in a mine-striking and sinking.

These omissions fully reflect the fact that the current German Navy has lax military discipline and low quality.

Although the Second Reich no longer existed, German battleships still flew the Imperial Navy flag.

The entire fleet, led by the battle cruiser "Seydlitz", formed a 12-nautical-mile queue and moved slowly at a speed of 10 knots.

When the German fleet went to sea, radio telegraphy from the British fleet became very frequent.

Betty was anxious to know the speed, course, and current position of the German fleet in order to arrange a "welcome ceremony" for them.

After being told the truth, the Germans soon found out that they were "waiting" for the Entente fleet - it was the entire British main fleet and an American fleet!

34 battleships, 10 battlecruisers, 2 aircraft carriers, 46 cruisers and 160 destroyers, a full 252 battleships, the size of which stunned the German sailors.

After the two armies met, the Allied fleet immediately moved closer to the German fleet, encircling the German fleet in the middle.

On the surface, the Allied warships were not abnormal, but they accompanied the German warships, sailing side by side.

In fact, according to Betty's orders, all the warships under his command were in the highest level of combat readiness.

If the Germans made any move, the British and American ships would immediately turn their turrets and destroy the enemy.

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