CPMH War at Sea Conference 2026

This one-day event brings together leading historians and independent scholars to re-examine the Battle of Jutland and its wider strategic, intellectual and social legacy. Through a series of themed papers, speakers will explore debates around decisive battle, maritime strategy, fleet composition, and naval thought, alongside the human consequences of the war at sea, including its impact on port cities and naval families. The programme concludes with a keynote lecture on the Zeebrugge Raid, situating Jutland within the broader context of naval warfare in the First World War.

 

PROGRAMME

09.30am: Registration and Refreshments

10.00am: Welcome: Dr David Clampin, Centre for Port and Maritime History

10.15am: Dr Laura Rowe, University of Exeter. 'The Battle of Jutland ‘Big Debate’

10.55am: Dr Martin Robson, University of Exeter. 'Julian Corbett, the Battle of Jutland and the controversial concept of 'decisive battle’

11.35am: Refreshments

12.00pm: Dr Louis Halewood, University of Lincoln. 'Jutland: the Idea of Battle in Maritime Strategy'

12.40pm: Lunch

13.25pm: Chris Sams, Independent Scholar. 'The pre-dreadnoughts, the German High Seas fleet and the Battle of Jutland'

14.05pm: Dr Melanie Bassett, University of Portsmouth. 'Naval Widows, Port Cities, and the War at Sea: The Aftermath of the Battle of Jutland'

14.45pm: Refreshments

15.15pm: Keynote Alan Wakefield, Imperial War Museum North. 'The Zeebrugge Raid'

16.35pm: Close: Prof. Nicholas J. White, Co-director, Centre for Port and Maritime History