BATTLE OF JUTLAND.

Hokitika Guardian, 19 January 1924, Page 4

BATTLE OF JUTLAND.

LORD JELLICOE'S JUSTIFICATION. VERDICT OF TilK HISTORIAN. I.OX DON, Nov. 23. (■rout interest is now being shown in thr> newly published volume of the Official History of the War—Naval (iperations. The thiee-quarters or thereabouts of

the narrative which are given to operations autocode-lit to the Rattle of Jutland are full of the most varied events. There are the later stages ol the campaign—naval and military—in the Dardanelles, from May and June in Idle, don'ii to the evacuation of Gallipoli. Contemporary doings are not neglected, whether in minor theatres or in Mesopotamia, the Baltic, the White Sea, tlie cruise of the Moewo, the end of the Konigsberg, in and ahont the Balkan Peninsula, and below the surface of the sea, where the doings of the Berman submarine-.

were already bringing about the con eluding, and for tbe Bermans the d>-

nstrous. developments of the war Then in the natural order come flu

preliminaries of the Rattle of Jutland, tlie clamour of the Berman militant authorities for naval help, and then the battle.

In reviewing past discussions on th. subject of the battle the “Morniii; Post'- states that Admiral Jellieoe wablanied because lie did nut destroy tin enemy while there was -till daylight and iißo because he did not force a night action. "Not until -Sir Juliar

Corbel I’s account appeared the other day," the "Rost'’ continues, "has it been made known that the ('oiiinian-dcr-in-Chief was not itiTormod by certain officers under his Command of the position of the enemy at nightfall, ft is nun made clear, further, that the Admiral's ladies were not at all wind they have been represented, but Mere so skilfully devised and so superbly

eftvried into execution under tbe most difficult conditions, lliai the enemy must either accept battle or retreat. Vice-Admiral Sclieor, the Berman (Vninianili-i-iii~( liief. chose to retreat: and rat her than again face the British Rattle Meet. lie broke through the British destroyer force, a desperate

expedient. EMPIRE SAVED AT J DTI, AND. “It is indeed certain that a Liberal Bovrninient cannot be trusted with either the Navy or the Army. British seamen fought at Jutland under tindisadvantages imposed upon them by Hu* Liberal Government. They achieved victory in spite of the inferiority of the Heel in dost rovers, of the de-

lieieney in cruisers, or defects in equipment, of unprotected liases. Had Admiral Jellieoe lost the Baltic of Jutlaud, the blame would have been very swiftly laid upon the ('onimander-in-Chief by the poilticiaus. Bill Jellieoe. Realty, the rest of the Admirals at sea, otlieers and men, saved England and saved the Empire at .Inland. They are completely vindicated ill Sir Julian ('orliel I's "H istory,” which will become a classic. The lighling itself, as narrated by Sir Julian Corbett, L beyond all words of praise. Thai il did not culminate in the annihilation of the enemy teas bad luck. It is uever-ibele-s true that the German powci was broken t,, pieces on the Mist ol May. seven years ago." NEVER A MORE CRITICAL MOMENT. Not having access to I In: volume a. yet, it is only possible i,, quote front the voluminous review,-, which have been tpjnirilmled by the naval cone - pondeiibs ol the various Louden tit*ili<■ -. Thus one: "It is a masterly reeuiiMruetioii of the battle, a thrilling and blood-stir-ring narrative that 'ea' lie, a < limns el descripl it e pm,vet m tic.- .venes of destroyer-fighting after dark. One out come ol the absence ot ■Li id tonne:-: - ion tv a s the mistaken impression Jo! licc-e received of the position o! the Bei malts. He J■ :■ ■• I qotlmU' to guide him hut the confusing wireless messages, which led him to believe that the German Rattle Fleet must he further advanced and more to the eastward than it actually was.’ We come non in the most critical moment of all —the development of the cruising Grand Elect into its battle line. Mambad been the critical situations which British admirals in the past had been called upon suddenly to resolve, but never bad there been one which demanded higher qualities of leadership, ripe .judgment, and quick decision than that which confronted Admiral Jellieoe in this supreme moment of the naval

FATE OF THE EMPIRE. Again : "We are told that when, at 5.30, the firing died away Admiral Jelicoe was twenty-three miles away to lie northwards, with his three DrendI'Higlit si|iiadrous in divisions in line iheacl disposed abeam. ‘Since Admiral IcHicoe was so much superior in battlehips his best chance.' we are remind-

ed, ‘of a decisive success was to get in a smashing blow with his main weapon, while Admiral S'clioer would naturally seek to avoid such a blow, or at least to weaken it by energetic use of his minor forces. It was fully expected that for this purpose he would use mines, submarines, and destroyers. What .Sir Julian Corbett docs, with the skill of a master pen, is to create the scene at this juncture, and present to us the thoughts which may well have been passing through the mind of the Oom-mauder-iu-Cliief of the (fraud Fleet as lie confronted not merely the ordeal to which his whole distinguished career had been leading hu! the ordeal which was to determine the fate of the whole

British Empire. AX Kit KOI? OF FIE VEX .WILES. "On the meagre information he had he was still expecting to meet the cnOiuv right ahead. anc! as soon as lie made out our battle cruisers heading across his bows and engaged with an unseen enemy lie flashed to Admiral Beatty the query: 'Where is tlic enemy's battle fleet' 1 Something was evidently wrong for Admiral Beatty had appeared much further to the west- I

ward than his position signals had indicated. Both flagships, in fact, were out of their reckoning. The Lion’s error was nearly seven miles west, and that of the Iron Duke over four miles east so that the cumulative error was about eleven miles. To Admiral Jellicoe it now seemed probable that- Instead of the enemy being found ahead they would appear a little on his starboard how. and in order to gain ground in that direction he at once altered to. south. A few minutes later a rapid calculation, however, convinced him that his new course would not do.

It brought the ‘guides’—tliiil is. the lending ships of divisions—into echelon or, in techinnl phrase, they were ‘disposed quarterly’ with the starboard j wing forward, a disposition very ttnfavourable for a deployment to the j eastward, since it could not bring the ? line at right angles to the bearing of • the enemy. This was tactically esscnbe brought up on the flagship’s beam, it could lie done tlie port guides must be brought up on the flagship’s beam. But it was now evident from various indications that the enemy was too near for this disposition to lie completed in time. A further effect of the efforts in reckoning was that he was likely to get contact twenty minutes sooner than expected, ft was therefore vital to get the fleet into the best position immediately attainable for instant deployment in either direction, and at

6.0, as tlio best ho could do, he nignnllod course S.E. to bring the guides ap-

proximately abreast again. ‘Everything depended at this moment upon the manner in which the C.onimander-in-Chief adapted his c-are-I ully-tliougllt-out ideas of how a fleet action should be fought to the unexpected circumstances which confronted him. Ife had given the decisive order, but his diificulties were not at an end. DEEPENING OBSCURITY. "Just then Admiral Beatty, who was beginning to pass across the starboard division of the battle fleet, only two miles ahead of the Marlborough, flashed back his reply to the Commandcr-in-Chief’.s query, but it only said: ‘Enemy's battle cruisers bearing S.E. This did no more Ilian deepen the ob-.-enrily. About ten minutes earlier Admiral Jellieoe had hoard front Commodore Good-enough that the enemy's battle fleet bad altered Course to north, ! and that their battle cruisers bore SAV. from it. On this information it was incomprehensible that the battlecruisers should have been sighted first and, at bis wits end to fathom tbe situation. tbe Comninnder-in-Chiei repented to Admiral Beatty, 'Where is the enemy’s battle fleetN At the moment the Lion bad no enemy in sight. There wa> no immediate answer, and precious minutes went by with no further light to determine the right dir-

ection lor deployment. • ■ "Tlie Cominandor-in-Cliief’.s perg plexity was not lightened by the fact s llit:t Admiral Realty, in giving the o hearing of the enemy battle-cruisers, , bad ommittod their course. In fact lie a had lost sight of them, and did not n know what' it was. The reason was r that Admiral Nipper, finding himself t in a corner too hot for him, line! turn- - ed away, and, with his flagship in - flames, was retiring with all speed on e Admiral Svheer. t ADMIRAL J EI.I.ICOE ACHIEVES c Ills PURPOSE. I " 'The British Rattle Klee!.’ we are e tol.l, •had almost completed it-, deplo.v----y incut, and although it was al-o hairier! 1 by patches of smoke and lui-l which >' appeared and dissolved at intervals, so tbai only a few of the cuelny could be n seen at a time, nearly all ships were : firing and getting bits, while they h themselves sull'ered not at all. Tim e head of the Gentian line was already e being smashed in. The Lulzow was completely disabled, and Admiral Hip per was about to board a destroyer in J order to shift his Hag. The Dcrrlfliuh ger, with her nia.-ts cut to shreds and h water pouring through a large hole in c her bows as site rose and fell at the v swell. V.as little belter off. The bead - of Lb-' German battle line was being V forced in the eastward, and one of the Konigs was seen blazing fore and ait.' Admiral Jellieoe had achieved his pur- - pose. In Sir Julian Corbett's opinion, Admiral Schei r had been 'completely v iillL-mailo.-uvi'ed.’ and 'be bad no choice - hut. \o get liis. neck oil! i-.l' tin' noose.’ This he pioiv. ileii lo do as best he t could, mid with the aid of destroyers I and siii.ike screens lie turned away." SCI lEE ICS DESPERATE ACT. 1 A third: "But now ionics the tragic - -lory of the night after the battle. The - enemy hail played for time, and lie - had so far gained Ins ohjeel lliaf, I though sorely hailereJ. he had avoided. decisive action until it was dark. - Jellieoe had manoeuvred the Grand Fleet into an admirable position between the enemy and his home. A night action between the haltle fleets was too great, a gamble (■■ lie sought, lie. therefore, prolonged his line by I ma-siiig bis destroyer l , "tilliis astern, I while I lie bat I lesbips. for their better protection and safer navigation, closed up into cruising li;rm:i tiou. Beat I\ had already interpreted his chiefs wishes and intentions, and had taken station ahead to prevent the etteiiu escaping to the southward. Then S, beer did an inconceivable thing. He charged right through our in.t*mhl nofii!:::, in the dark, it was a bold, if a dc. pernio act. and u-ered th-. sue--ci*s it achieved. NO ONE TOLD JELLICOE. - ' I The .-tun of out destroyers' gallant ■ Ife: i - to cheek him would (ill many pages. The heroism displayed again and again Unit night could avail nothing, however, against the overwhelming lire of the heavy ships whenever they were attacked. Truly, it. is a revelation of the powers of a battle fleet i against torpedo craft. And. no one ! told Jellieoe what was happening. The j one man w ho could have laid the enemy j by the heels the next morning was left in ignorance of hi- opponents' movements. "What can wo say of those who saw hut never reported Y What of the battleship Malaya, with all her facilities lot signalling, who at this time saw 'sonic of our destroyers attacking some big ships,' and in lhe Hash of the • explosion thought slio could identify 1 the leader of the ships that were being I attacked as a 'Dreadnought’ ol the 1 •Westfalen’ class, but who sent no 1 word Tlie ch'-troyei Petard saw her 1 in-vt astern out in half by a German ‘ battleship that night. She had no tor- 1 pedoes left to attack, hut she had j ' priceless information. She made no report. The lighi cruiser Champion- ' ship .sighted the enemy in the grey ' dawn while there was yet time to waylav him. She turned away and made

no report. THE NATION'S DEBT. 'Only Captain Stirling, in the Faulkner. with a line Hot ill n of destroyer?, dii! his utmost to send a wireless message, both before and alter an admirably executed attack, in which the battleship I’oinmern was sunk. But it never reaehed the Iron Duke! Not all the courage and .self-sacrifice displayed in the lighting, not all Beatty’s gallantry and Jollieoe’s masterly dispositions could make up for these lamentable failures, which lost us the full fruits of victory. Everything man could connive the Conimander-in-C'hief had done to achieve it. To him were due tho ivailinc.ss and high state of efficiency of the Grand Fleet the spirit which animated it from top to bottom, as well as the skilful and courageous evidence of battle. Hard circumstances snatched the full reward from him, but he had delivered a .smashing blow and compelled the enemy to flee Irom the North Sea into the refuge of his ports, thereby establishing firmly our mastery of the sens. Sir Julian Corbett has performed the crowning act of his life in presenting to the world the true facts about this great naval battle, and in showing how deep a debt the nation owes to the groat. Admiral who will go down to posterity as Jellieoo, the victor of Jutland."