BATTLE OF JUTLAND

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 191, 8 May 1920, Page 12

BATTLE OF JUTLAND

GERMAN GUNNERY OFFICER'S STORY JELLICOE'S STRATEGY APPROVED "Dio Zwei AYcissen Volker" is the title of ii small book published by Commander Georp von Hase, who participated as senior gunnery officer' on board the battle-cruiser Derfflingcr- in the battie of Jutland, statos tlie Berlin correspondent of the London "Morning Post." English translation "The Two U'luto Nations" is given ns the sub- ; J«le. and recalls an incident in the year 1913 when the ships of nearly all the navies were lying oft' tho Albanian coast. Hi captain of the German cruiser Breslau had invited the admirals and captains of all nationalities to dinncr mr board, and in the course of the incai the English admiral raised his Rlass, and, touching that of tho German tho toast of "The Two Wlnto Nations." Commander Haso's first meeting with the .British Navy was in June, 1913, when he was ospccially attached to Sir George " arrcnder, who'commanded the British warships on a week's visit to Kiel. He Rives a full account of his relations with the British. Admiral and other British naval officers, and speaks in terms of admiration of the courtesy and kindnass shown luin oil board the British warsnips _ during those momentous days. He mentions also, that after an official luncheon on board the King George V Commander Erich von Mullcr, tho German , Attache in London, "who had come to luel especially for the occasion, took him aside and said: "Be on your guard against the Engish. England is ready to strike. M o are on the verge of war and this naval visit is undertaken for espionage purposes," A Suspicious Attache. Lichnow7-v l b ? ttSl ' tha S his c,lief ' Pril » c6 d,l r, ii okorves . Colnn >»'"lcr Hase, out von Muller recognise the threatenimr danger even before the murder at Serai ii author mentions in particul«r that all the officere were Manned with the .'affability of Prince Henrv of Prussia, adding that the Prince EntlM, m tn S3 ff P ° ke ftD ything but refers fn fli Up - to the war " He reteis to tho suspicions of other Gerln» LTi f eommanders. Admiral von ln„enohl for example, declined Sir George Warrender's offer to show the Mi thnlr nilVa i H ffi f e . rs tho BriUsh ships citfi Hi .. a ' he could not reciprosTates tlnfT n ent £ on ™ander ilase siffnni C^W 601 ® 8 Winder's final Kiel ®r l ' eri !? an Nav y 011 leaving next encounter with 1' H S n ' a " cndcr ;rns in December, » \hen poitions of the l.wo Navies thl" Vn'r°i COnta ? t with each other off tormv g weilther wa * storm) that \ ice-Admiral Hipper ordered his light cruisers to return and tho i Way , b(, ' ck the 7 suddenlj' found lish liihT 9 - 0 t0 a 6f l" a<ll ' o i of English light cruisers probably under the E, d r c rr; 101 ? The leading English ship made a recogtl e Gei-X W1 f h i a s ® archli ßlit which the G?i.nans noted, and when later 011 Hie six German light cruisera found nmW H CS ° S ° to , eiEllt Dreadnoughts undeij the command of Yice-Admiral tt h % r ?P^ ntcd tho British itsSf fn l ? 1 En ? 1 1 lsh squadron allowed it L 'Jh <lel,ule(1 > believed that it was in the presence of its own light 'Gflrmon £ I n S th ® salvatio 'l of tllO W f !f S ' tommander Hase obV cf?U r r n & gU " 9 0f the Ki n" Gcol 'g° The Great Battle. Ac^nnnf 6^'ll^ 1 P™ a detailed account of the Battle of Jutland. Ho thaf a "/h n * German purpose was and toi 'P e do-boats should hunt, for the enemy nhd neutral merchant ships in the during the night of May 31-Junp 1. 1918 thn vLr1 W<lS 5" nsid . ere 'l certain that ? I nioW y hear of the 1 pl ? J< l ct a serious encounter was anticim L 1 in th , e Gennan Fleet'had 1 ftJnT' ko states, that the whole English Grand Elect was already Mint n,» H ee "'f f ?. r eMCt,y the s '™ e &,v„i A tho V 1 of the German bmwn SX" English. aPParCnt ' y W1 " Commander Hase's record of the oTf, W0 " W K "\ tlult the first phase t le T y lnt eresting from the puny standpoint, but the second phase was unsatisfactory, for "the adversary had acquired tremendous rcsnect for our guns, and kept out of range " He considers that Admiral Beatty executed ft brilliant manoeuvre, in the course of which his ships performed <1 superb technical achievement. 1 He carIP 5 ? n \,,,? famous movement, "crossing K'' ; . m Perfect fonn, Commander Hase states, and the result was that "ho compelled us to turn, and brought ns finally into a position where we were fl"T°V n i V , the ?"Klih line-of-batllo llu 1 cr '»soi's. SO that in tho wW I'hiSM of the fight we did not know what enemy ship we hnd to do with." It must be admitted, he says, tlmt after the great bnttlo was over'tho English torpedo-boats attacked again and a?am with admirable smartness, thouqrh fliey accomplished practical!v nothing Only at dawn did an English destroyer succeed in sinking the Pommern with a torjiedo fired from a great distance. Jellicoe's Action. Tlie writer continues: It would have been the greatest good for une for our Fatherland if tho battle had been fought off Horn' Beef, which is not far away from Heligoland, Judgliig from tlie experience of May 31, many English would in that ease have oec-r. utterly destroyed, and a vast expenditure of ■ ammunition would have been required to put the German battleships out of action. Had Admiral ■lellicoe sought a decision on June 1 off Horn Reef, the English Navy would un(lonbtedly have been compelled to cede its place as the strongest -Navy in tho world to America. I admit that the completo destruction of Admiral Jellicoe's Fleet on Juno 1 was out of tho question, but with mv accurate knowledge of our 6hip9 and of our nawl puns, ™d my good knowledge of tho English slups and their guns, tofi oi , cx P c ri e ncc gained in tho Skagerrack battle, I can maintain with certainty that a naval battle fought out to the end by the main English and German linc-of-battle squadrons would havo cost our adversary a very large number of first-class ships. ■. Admiral Jellicoe acted nerfectlv correctly 111 that he extricated himself in tho evening and led his squadron so cleverly somewhere during the iiinht that it was not found by our torpedo-boat flotillas, which systematically searched the neighbourhood of the sceno of battle, and Admiral Jtl 1 icon acted also strategically perfectly corrcctely in that 110 did not offer battle again 011 June 1. "The English Navy had hitherto • accomplished its task fully by its mere existence, and the pressure it exerted was not interrupted for a moment by the Skagerrack battle. Hnd Admiral •lellicoe not : accented the battle of Skagerrack on May 31, and had ho instead returned to Scapa Flow in order to keep liia fleet intact, wo should havo been able to accomplish our appointed task—namely, to wage war on merchant shipping in the Skagerrack and Cattegat, and we should thus havo been in command of the North Sea for a certain period. Our plans woro frustrated by the Skagerrack battle. 011 the other hand, however, Admiral Jellicoe, in failing to attack our fleet when it was making for German minefields and homo ports on- Juno 1, did not give up tho command of the seas for a single moment."