Battle of Dogger Bank ( 1916 ) The Battle of Dogger Bank on 10 February 1916 was a naval battle between the " Kaiserliche Marine " of the German Empire and the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during the First World War . Three German torpedo boat flotillas sortied into the North Sea and encountered the British 10th Mine - sweeping Flotilla near Dogger Bank . The German vessels at first hesitated , mistaking the British ships for cruiser s , but eventually decided to engage them . The British vessels were actually minesweeping sloop s and attempted to flee . In the engagement that ensued , the sloop was sunk before the British squadron was able to escape . Although the Germans were victorious , they inflated their victory by reporting they had sunk two British cruisers ; in fact , the only vessel sunk was " Arabis " . Background . With Admiral Hugo von Pohl becoming ill and Admiral Reinhard Scheer taking command of the German High Seas Fleet in 1916 , the Germans began to take a more offensive strategy in the North Sea . As part of this strategy , raids and incursions into British dominated areas became more frequent . The Germans sent the 2nd , 6th , and 9th Torpedo - Boat Flotillas on a sortie to Dogger Bank in an attempt to intercept Allied shipping . All together , at least 25 torpedo boats were deployed . The only vessels in the area the torpedo boats were deployed in were those of the British 10th Minesweeping Flotilla , consisting of HMS " Arabis " , , , and . Each of these " Arabis " - class sloops was armed only with two guns as well as two 3 - pounder anti - aircraft gun s and were little match to the large numbers of German torpedo boats pitted against them . Battle . " Arabis " — along with the other three sloops of her division — had been engaged in sweeping a clear channel east of Dogger Bank when they were sighted by a large number of German torpedo boats . When the British sloops were first sighted , the Germans at first hesitated in attacking them as the new " Arabis " - class vessels could not be immediately identified . The Allied ships were mistaken for much more powerful cruisers , but the Germans decided to press their attack anyway as they had a significant numerical advantage . Upon being attacked , the British attempted to flee back to the safety of the coast . Although " Poppy " , " Buttercup " , and " Alyssum " were able to make good their escape , " Arabis " was not so fortunate and was caught and engaged by three of the German torpdeo boats . After fighting off this attack , " Arabis " was again assailed . This time , six of the German boats attacked and " Arabis " finally went down after being struck by a torpedo . Thirty of " Arabis " ′ crew were pulled from the sea by the Germans , but four of them died shortly thereafter due to exposure to the elements . Aftermath . Besides some minor damage to a few of the German destroyers , the only losses from the action were HMS " Arabis " sunk along with 56 of her crew killed and another 24 captured by the Germans , including " Arabis " ' captain and two other officers . For his actions during the battle , " Arabis " ′ commanding officer , Lieutenant Commander Robert Raymond Hallowell - Carew , received the Distinguished Service Order . Despite the fact that they had only sunk a single minesweeping sloop , the Germans spread news reports of a great victory . They claimed that they had engaged a squadron of four new cruisers and sunk two of them with torpedoes . The British Admiralty quickly responded by citing the truth , that no other Allied forces had been engaged besides the 10th Minesweeping Division and that no cruisers had been sunk in the action . In response to the action off Dogger Bank , the British deployed the Battlecruiser Fleet from Rosyth , the 5th Cruiser Division from Harwich , as well as other elements of the Grand Fleet . These British forces assembled in the North Sea and swept southward , but abandoned their efforts on the 11th when it became clear that the only German forces deployed had been torpedo boats and that these had already returned to their bases . Upon returning from the failed intercept operation , the light cruiser struck a German mine and sank , losing 12 of her crew .