Dogger Bank

A large sandbank forming the shallowest part of the North Sea, c.17–37 m/55–120 ft deep, 250 km/155 mi N of the Norfolk coast, England. It is an important breeding ground for North Sea fish.

Dogger Bank (from dogge, an old Dutch word for fishing boat) is a large sandbank in a shallow area of the North Sea about 100 km off the coast of the United Kingdom. During the War of American Independence, a Royal Navy squadron fought a Dutch squadron on August 5, 1781 in the Battle of Dogger Bank (1781). During the Russo-Japanese War, Russian naval ships opened fire on British fishing boats in the Dogger Bank incident on October 21, 1904, mistaking them for Japanese torpedo boats. In the First World War, the area saw the Battle of Dogger Bank (1915), a naval engagement between the Royal Navy and German ships which were intending to shell the Yorkshire coastal towns of Scarborough, and Whitby and the town of Hartlepool in County Durham .

In 1931, the largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom took place below the bank, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale. Its focus was 23 km beneath the bank, and the quake was felt in countries all around the North Sea, causing damage across eastern England.

The bank is an important fishing area, with cod and herring being caught in large numbers.