THE NAVAL BATTLE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 211, 22 September 1916, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE NAVAL BATTLE.

Aj\ evening contemporary remarks that one thing has been definitely accomplished by the despatch of Sir Johu Jellicoe —it has given the quietus tj the name of "Horn Reef." We should hardly like to bi so sure about such a matter, because names once used have a tendency to stick (says th« "Army and Navy Gazette*'). Moreover, if "Horn Reef" has received its quietus, and defintely at that, it i di...cult to discover what has taken ; ts place. Sir John Jellicoe does not adopt any one description beyond that contained in his opening sentence that the German High Sea Fleet was brought to action "to the westward of the Jutland Bank, off the coast if Denmark." In the appreciation by a competent authority" which was placed at the disposal of the Press, the action was referred to in one part as "tha Battle of Jutland." "The Times", which is followed by many other journals, has apparently adopted the title of "The Battle of Jutland Bank," which does not seem to be any more appropriate than the original name adopted' by our contemporary of "the Battle of Horn Ref," or that used by tha Germans, " the Battle of the Skag. ger Rak." In point of fact, a large part of the battle seems to have been contested in the neighbourhood of the Little Fisher Bank, but it is conceivable that the authorities saw objections to the adoption of this name in reference to the engagement. What the battle will be called in days to come it is useless to speculate now. The historian will probably recognise that, as we pointed out a few weeks back, there are reasons against calling .it the Battle of Jutland, because Jutland has in ♦ astern ns Wall as a western seaboard and is a large province, so that the descript'on is not very apt. If the Trafalgar precedent was followed, the action would be' called after a cape or other geographical point, but there is. of course, the difficulty that this fight covered such a wide area. It seems, in fact, to have Uegun almost as near to the Xaze, the southernmost point .r. Normay, as to the Jutland Bank. Probably, like many oth?r encounters, it will be given various names. The last great naval fight, it is to be remembered, although called in thin country the Battle of Tsushima, is known to the victors as the Battle of the Sea of Japan.