Battles of Dogger Bank: Long Patrol P5/6 1916

On 10 February 1916, four British minesweeping sloops encounter twenty-five German torpedo boats east of Dogger Bank.

The Arabis class traded speed and firepower for the shallow draft and endurance needed for minesweeping work.

Lieutenant Commander Robert Raymond Hallowell-Carew keeps HMS Arabis behind to cover three sister sloops escaping toward the British coast.

German accounts claimed between one and four cruisers, while the British response sortie later lost the real cruiser HMS Arethusa to a mine.

The available citable sources identify the German flotillas, but not the individual torpedo boats.

Three slow, lightly armed sloops escape after the much larger German force fails to exploit its speed and numbers.

The German hesitation prompts a comparison with Hipper's communications advantage over Beatty during the 1915 Battle of Dogger Bank.

Even after nine attackers dealt with Arabis, sixteen faster boats remained available to chase three sloops making about 17 knots.

German vessels retained a torpedo-boat identity despite having the speed, guns, crews, and maneuverability to continue the action.