BEATTY'S BATTLES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 161, 2 April 1919, Page 8

BEATTY'S BATTLES

ADMIRALS' LINK WITH THE FORTH

Llf-HT ON THE EAST COAST SEA FIGHTS

Admiral Sir David Beatty, attended by Admiral Madden, Vice-Admiral de Brock, Vice-Admiral Napier, Vice-Admiral Nicholson, Vice-Admiral <le Bobek, ViceAdmiral Oliver, Vice-Admiral Pakenham, Bear-Admiral Everett, Bear-Admiral Phillimore, and Commddoro Hubert Braiik, Commodore of the Fleet, and many other senior officers of the Eoyal Navy who have made history in the war, received recently the Freedom of the City of Edinburgh.

In returning thanks for the honour, Admiral Beatty said:— It is a source of great gratification to the Fleet that the first public recognition of its services should be made in the city most intimately associated with it during the war. For the past four years Scotlaud has been otir home and the Scottish hai hours'our resting-places. The Firth of Forth has become the principal basfe of the Grand Fleet. The magnificent dockyard which has been established has proved a, powerful' factor in our naval strength; from being in the first place the home of the cruiser force, the anchor, ago has been developed until, by the eim of the war, it was harbouring the whole of the mightiest fleet that hns ever been collected together, including as it c.'id men of the great English-speaking iace from the other side of the Atlantic, whom we have learnt to know so well and respect so much. It was from tho Firth of Forth that the cruisers set forth on their continuous sweeps and patrol?, keeping watch and ward over tho exits from the Heligoland Bight, covering the submarine Sentinels, those vigilant sentinels who cerricd out the same services as the storm-tossed frigates of Cornwallis off Brest. Imprisoning the Enemy. Li the northern base, hidden in the mists, which must be experienced to be understood, were the great battle squadrons which formed the supports for the cruiser ventures. Many a story could hi, told of those sweeps in all weathers,' winter and summer, which maintained the blockade and exercised the command of the seas. Disappointments were frequent, bill, as those who know the North Sea and its moods can testify, to cruise at higli speed without lights, and without the ordinary aids to navigation* demand high qualities of seamanship in officers and men. In most cases they had to derive what satisfaction they' could from tho knowledge that none of the King's enemies were abroad. It was to the Firth of Forth that the battle cruisers and light cruisers returned after action in the Heligoland Bight on August 28, 19U, with three German .cruisers and a destroyer to their credit. It was from the Firth of Forth that the battlo cruisers and'light cruiser squadron set for on January 23, 1915, to make junction with the force from Harwich in one of its sweeps and encountered the enemy battle cruiser ai.d light cruiser force which resulted in the Dogger Bank action, the destruction of tho Blncher, and the punishment of other enemy ships. It was to tho Firth of Forth that wo returned with our wounds to be healed and our dead to be buried. It was from the Firth of Forth that the battle-cruiser fleet sailed with the sth Battle Squadron on May 30,1916, to fight that great battle on the 31st which had such an effect upon the enemy that he never again ventured to come to grips with the might of Britain on the seas. It | was lo the Firth of Forth that a German cruiser came, with a German admiral to receive instructions for the surrender of (he German Fleet. Finally, it .was from the Firth of Forth that the Grand Fleet sailed in the early hours of a November morning and returned bringing with it tho High Sea Fleet. The end of the German fleet was cs inglorious as its methods of warfare. >

Tireless Service. • Scotsmen have played a noble part in every branch of the Naval Service. The tireless work of tho hundreds of small craft—trawlers, drifters, winders, manned by Scottish fishermm-which kept our channels free from wines, and protected our coasts from the submarine, furnishes a special chapter in our naval history. Many of you may hardly have realised the siz'o of the fleet which you have harboured from time to time. With the United States ships, which we wore so proud to number among us, there were some 380 'ships of all classes in the Grand Fleet, with complements totalling upwards of 100,000 men. It is a high privilege . to represent them to-day, and I thank you for the honour you have done them. It was easy to succeed with such able and gallant officers as my distinguished brother admirals to support ine. I find it hard to express my admiration for the men of the "Fleet; their fortitude, loyalty, and cheerful devotion to duty have been beyond praise. They have earned the gratitude of the country, and the country must not f crget that the labourer is worthy of iiis hire. Nelson said that he and his captains wero a band of brothers. I can go further than that, and say that tha vhole of the Grand Fleet, from the commander-in-chief to the last-joined boy, has been a band of brothers.