The Dominion SATURDAY, JULY 8, 1910. THE STORY OF THE GREAT SEA FIGHT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2818, 8 July 1916, Page 8

The Dominion SATURDAY, JULY 8, 1910. THE STORY OF THE GREAT SEA FIGHT

Admiral Jellicoe tells tho story of the greatest sea fight in history in a plain straightforward manner. There is -no striving after effect, and lhetorical flourishes are conspicuous by their absence. His aim is not to thrill, but to state the facts in an orderly way, and to give a lucid description of what actually occurred'off the- Jutland coast on May 31, 1916, making that day memorable for ever in its association with one of the greatest events in the annals oHhe British Empire. Yet the thrill is there. It permeates the whole narrative. The Admiral's severely, matter-of-fact style cannot suppress it. He indulges in no flights of imagination, and his touches of picturesque detail are few ancl far between; but dull indeed must bo the mind that cannot read between the. .lines ..and make Sir. John -.Jellicoe's,- historic dispatch.- -,throb with life and movement. A -few of - the 'more 'dramatic episodes of the smashing encounter receive a little more than passing notice. .We are told enough, to make us long for a fuller' description of each .of the. hundred and more separate acts of skilful seamanship and stirring gallantry in this tremendous! drama: What writpr could do justice to the story of the Onslow and the Defender which Admiral Jellicoe tells in a few terse sentences'! iho bat-: 'Onslow slowly retires, Commander Tovey.-believing that all his torpedoes had been fired. When he learns that three still remain he dashes back into the dreadful fray and' fights'tiU 'hc can fight no more, and his gallant ship has to be dragged out of the arena amid a hurricane of shells by the Defender, who would not leave her though the tow- . line-parted twice. The performance of these two vessels were. indeed "gallant in the extreme," and but serve to illustrate the conduct of the-whole fleet. ,They are typical of scores of equally-gallant deeds done that day.- For every man who took part in the battle the excitement of a .lifetime was concentrated in those few.hour's. The chance of a trial of strength on a great scale, for which ■the Navy; had been watching and waiting'since the beginning of the ■syar, had at,last presented itself, and one can well, imagine the intensity ■of the eagerness with which admirals, officers, and man set out in pursuit' of the foe. The men and the shins did all that men ancl ships could do. The highest traditions of the British Navy were fully maintained. Every man did his duty, from- the Commander-in-Chief down t0... the boy on the Chester who, though .'mortally -wounded,- refused :to quit .his'post, where he stood awaiting orders, with his gun's crew dead all around .him. . Incidents such as these reveal the spirit of the British Navy, with more truth and power than columns of descriptive writing. The .Empire expected great -.things of .our sailors, but high as ;'o'iir;'expectations'ivei-e, they' were more than fulfilled; by 'the manner in which -our' men sought, and fought,-and smashed the enemy in the Battle of Jutland. The Admiral.tells us that they were cool and determined, and they showed a cheeriness which, would have carried ' them through- anything. Their courage and efficiency have been put to the sunreme test, and they have nroved themselves worthy of the boundless confidence which the Empire has placed in them. ' One of the finest tributes, to the British Navy was the refusal of. the' world to accept the original German version of the battle; Though the \first account of the fight issued by the British Admiralty might well have caused, neutrals to think, that the German claim to victory was not altogether baseless, yet the civilised world felt that the whole truth had not been told. Further information, amply justified this attitude of mind. Each new \fact mado the fictitiousness of the' 4 ,Berlin version, more evident, and it was deprived of its last 'slired of credibility by the subsequent admission that it had been deliberately falsified for military reasons. We are now told that the German authorities admit, that .their story was an. exaggeration in their own favour, but they still holdthat it was not their fault that the fight was not fought to a finish. But Admir.4. Jellicoe's dispatch makes it quite clear that the British fleet forced .the enemy ! to accept battle, and also took great risks in the hope of renewing the ' conflict after it had been broken off through the enemy taking advantage of the fall of night to creep off in battered disarray to the shelter of its homo ports. Admiral Jellicoe tells us that his fleet remained in the proximity of the battlefield near the lino of approach to tho German ports until 11 o'clock in the morning of June 1, the clay after the battle, despite tho disadvantage of being a long distance from his bases and the danger incurred by being iii waters adjacent to the enemy's coasts. The enemy, however, made no sign, and Sir John Jellicoe was reluctantly compelled to come to. the conclusion that the- German High Seas Fleet had declined to risk a continuance of'the' battle. Everything goes to show that the German High Seas, Fleet would have ceased to exist as a factor in the war if it had not mado that desperate dash for safety under cover of mist and. darkness. That our. fleet achieved so much under such adverse conditions fully warrants the belief, that it would have achieved all had the light of day lasted long enough. We can imagine and sympathise with the disappointment of the Admiral and his gallant 'men when they found that, great as their achievement had been,, they would have to be content with less than the full measure of success that seemed to bo within their grasp. Our fleet had skilfully manoeuvred tho enemy into a position that forced him to fight. It had cut him off from his base. It would have been possible to inflict a decisive defeat but, for the mist which obscured tho scene of the battle.,- Wo cannot help regretting that the victory 'could not be carried to completion, but, as the Admiral . says, the enemy was nevertheless beaten, -and it was, a broken fleet that escaped-with the loss of many units, its crews demoralised, and its gunnery gone to nieces-