so Pommern and the other five ships of the squadron were located on the disengaged side of the German line. Mauve considered moving his ships to the rear of the line, astern of III Battle Squadron dreadnoughts, but decided against it when he realized the movement would interfere with the maneuvering of Hipper's battlecruisers. Instead, he attempted to place his ships at the head of the line. Later in the evening of the first day of the battle, the hard-pressed battlecruisers of I Scouting Group were being pursued by their British opponents. Pommern and the other so-called "five-minute ships" came to their aid by steaming in between the opposing battlecruiser squadrons. Pommern could not make out a target in the darkness, but several of her sisters could, though their shooting was ineffective. The British battlecruisers scored several hits on the German ships, including one on Pommern by a shell fired by , forcing her to haul out of line. Mauve ordered an 8-point turn to the south to disengage from the British, and they did not follow. At 3:10 on the morning of 1 June, Pommern was torpedoed by the British destroyer . At least one torpedo, and possibly a second, struck the ship, detonating one of the 17 cm ammunition magazines. A tremendous explosion broke the ship in half. The stern capsized and remained afloat for at least 20 minutes with her propellers jutting into the air. , the ship directly astern of Pommern, was forced to haul out of line to avoid the wreck. Pommerns entire crew of 839 officers and enlisted men were killed when the ship sank. She was the only battleship, pre-dreadnought or dreadnought, in either fleet to be sunk at Jutland; her loss, coupled with the vulnerabilities of the surviving pre-dreadnoughts, prompted Scheer to leave them behind during the sortie of 18–19 August 1916. The ship's bow ornament, which had been removed at the outbreak of war in July 1914, is preserved at the Laboe Naval Memorial. Footnotes Notes Citations References Further reading Deutschland-class battleships Ships built in Stettin 1905 ships World War I battleships of Germany Maritime incidents in 1916 Ships sunk at the Battle of Jutland Ships lost with all hands Naval magazine explosions Warships lost in combat with all hands