Fought in the North Sea off the Danish coast on 31 May 1916, the battle of Jutland was the biggest naval engagement of the First World War and was the only direct confrontation between the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet. The battle involved 274 warships and over 70,000 sailors and by the time the opposing fleets finally broke contact in the small hours of 1 June, the British had lost 14 ships and 6,784 men, and the Germans 11 ships and 3,209 men. Jutland was narrow tactical victory for the Germans but ultimately proved to be a strategic victory for the British - the German High Seas Fleet never again ventured into the North Sea on a significant scale.