NORTH SEA VICTORY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 234, 12 March 1915, Page 6

NORTH SEA VICTORY.

WHEUE ADMIRAL BEATTYT SCOItKI). . THE MAX BEHIND THE CO. It is clear that the shooiiny; of the British shins in the North Sea battle '"a* marvellously jjcMal. even allowing that the sea was smooth anil the atmosp' ere apparently remarkably clear. To r Ulster hits when you are pursuhu' ;ui en.-my at orer ."it niil.-s an liOTir at il distance of nine or ion miles ie. no mean thine;, even under tin- most favcr-

ablo circumstances. The f .mill x problems inv.itvnl in the use of battle puns v/ere iiilmiralily stated in ;-.n article in 11 recent issu • of (.'a-'-iVs l-hurinrcrinp' Monthly. Their vKnliw use depends upon manr factors. There is. first; theaetua' eili.-iency of tilt' pun itself—not. its size, strikinp cnerpv at different ranges, etc., but its .„.,,„.:„... i <■.,,, ..,„„... ;s ; v : s , i,„ ~..];, i 11)1011 to follow dcii ihli:'.-, villi lvr. ;■!!- i'.ble exactitude, ill the sale. 1 |iat!i ? Th's accuracy is. a (|i;os(ii,.i of ripht )iriiiiii)!r of <losiu.il anii manufacture, both of the pun itself, of tin- projectile used in if. ami of tlie pn eoiiaet. Absolute ace\'raey of repetition i-; impossible partly because no pro] ollaiit i-- invariable, partly because the medium ihnamh which the projectile travel-;-namely, the air - is not invariable eillier. In (lie shoot inp of a bip pun, therefore, com: ensation I::\to be made fnan day '.■> ilav'i'or ehanpes of ti lupcraf are. densitv of aliiiosplicv. ete. .

(oven a "'in :i ; accurate as sci.rco an.] manufacture ("in >::as:o it. it mu- ! t ncx f !;.■ so mount! il and controlled that ib-se \v!ii) h.r.e to lav end train it can inai-i----tain a stead*- Hue of siph! uin-n the farpet in normal conditions. jiikl wh"ii w::ither conditions are such that continuous siphl caiu'ov be Vept. can keep it steaily for snl'iei: ntlv lo'ip' interva'; - . (a enable (he pun be fired when the sight is. mi ti'.e ripht alignment. The point in.!; of a »n;i ; s i lins a mattev earth- of eiiyinciriier am] iiiiiinifaeturiiu.' ski!!.'which produces (he semotm-st and mo; t responsi'-c kind of moimtir:;. mid partlv of pun-l.iyo'e- skill, the proverbial .■iee:;'ii'iiislii!:i nt if the ''maa behind the

Supposing, tlie'vfer., ttiaf we have a perfect .min. prrfrefl', /uonntod ami perfectly aimed, we might hope that wo h-'d got nJI that was necessary for war (!!!■ ciency. hut this would ho to' ignore a third, ini'l bv far tin- most important, .-1.-mont in the probb >a. This, of course is 'indintr and keepimi flu l . range when ship anil target ((hat is. tin; enemy's vo-sol or vessels) are moving This stiimlates a scientifically accurate sight, knowledge of the range, and, as the only usci'iil hitliiis is continuous hittinjr, constant knowledge of the rate at which the range is changing.

i cm A SHOT. [ Tn the action on Sunday the British I ;o>iea used lL'in and lS.."in guns, of types ' - -ire-wound which fiermnn 'Yxocrt"-' he e assured tin- world are badly lies' !ed. badly made and unreliable. 7!i" liin sriiTi. such as the Now Zealand and Indomitable mount, ,-oighs about, ti<> tons, will penetrate i-in armor at thirteen miles, strikes a blow sufficient to, raise by as much as one foot no less Ih.ii' s,'UlOfl tons—eniiivali'n-j to the weigh i of two battle cruisers—discharges a shov 5 weighing K. 1011.5. and cosls at least .tID-.i | inch time it is fired. ) The 13.."> in prun of the Lion, Tiger and il'rincess ttoyal Is an even more deadly weapon, not only because it uses a bigger i shell—-Mfllllb —and cm do more damage. J but becau-o it has a (latter trajectoryI that is. it takes ?. shorter cut to the j target.

HOW IT IS DONE. Some time :uro Admiral Sir Percy Scott ; ne a description of modern gunfiie 1 liicli will couwy same idea of what 1 iol; place when, tearing' through the < ntcr, the British incn-of-'war were pounding at what, looked to our men were mere dots on the horizon. Sir Percy Scott was referring to the 12i;i

"Tito home for this projectile is the cik my. Tlio art of gunnery is to "ret it to tliat homo; to arrive there we point the gun at the ne merit of firm;.' at a certain point. That spot is not the spot that you want to hit; the Rim must be pointed high, so as to counteract the cflVct of gravity. The wear of the gun, the temperature of the air, the density of (he air. the strength and direction of the wind, must all be taken into consideration when settling where yoi; are to point the gun."

The Admiral (lien illustrated th course which tlie shell takes:

"In firing at, a ranpo of fifteen miles, which is possible, the shot would po at mi altitude of 22..->ooft. You will realise what a variety of atmosphere it would pass through, and how impossible it is for anyone on eartli to divine what will ! t the direction and force of tlie wind-' it will meet witli in its ascent and descent. When a mass of iron, the size of my body, has to pass over five miles through the air, you can imagine what a difference wind beliind it, or in front of il. or ripht or left of it, will make in its final destination.

A HIT OF A SPLASH. "When firing at a ranpe of five miles the shot takes twelve seconds to ;ret to its destination; during that time tlie MiTp it is boinp sent to, if sioaminp at the. rate of twenty knots will have changed, her position 120 yards. AVe must point our gun in a direction which allows for this. Then there is tlie forward movement of our own ship, which will be imparted to the projectile, and must be allowed for; and there are other corrections to lie, applied. "It is said (hat the splash of a I-'in shell rises higher Than a battleship's mast; and contains about 200(1 tons Of water, and would drown a small chip. The. UOOlb shell of a ]...."> pun would make an even .Greater splash. Indeed, experience in this w,<r has revealed a curious phenomenon; the (ire caused by one successful shot will sometimes b" extinguished by the huge volume of water thrown over (lie ship by a subsequent shot which falls a little'short." j

CAMi: 'I'D Til 10 LAST. Tlinv i s „„ ~,„! (~ ~„. st(]l . iis itlU fdiic, I-.,;,,,_. fj l( , |j Lr | l( . j M ifs v . u .j ( ,,, s phase;. Most „f >!„..„ c.rtiliiilv do not '•!'>' ii! Id Isiit siilVored in tin- lellini;- from Jiifk <>!' ima'dilation on (lie part of the '•■'"'iltoiv. ()„ ~„,. M.lil.t. IH.'.V. VI i". ill! seem :hi,| that, v.-as that 1!,,. .■!■>•«• M' |]„. i!i.f,,(,.,| !;!„,),„,• „.,,,.,, ..„.„„., to the l;i,(." If. Ml ,',, ,1„, .a,l<T.\iV-tlm-a to admini-doi- the coup ,),.' ~,..,<.,, to the fearfully battered Coriiinii I'niise,-. T!i» liluclirr v.-as in ,|iiv straits \vli,-u her r.wili iiim-injr i-h.mhv dashed'np ~,.,( | lii-rii two torpedoes i., ,•;,,,;,! Tin' (i'Tiimi ship ha,! no wav on her. a"d slm offered it IMlposMl,!,. tO luiss. T!| ( . second torpedo lilt JUT fail- !!im,|s||;,,.:. ;,,;,] (,„■<. „,„.(, ~ tearful rent in i,it that, as on,- seaman said, ••'sin- simple v.-cnt diuvii lil:,- a j> ran that had (i 11,.,! with wafer." Tlic lust scene on tli,. Iflueher was vuif viih-ml a tench „f (he !,,.,■<■■!•. Tlio <>-- »'an ,:,i]„ ! -s. if js said, were lino,! n1,..,.,, <'"• 5;,],.. T ],„ v k ,.,. v . ()1 ., t t|]( , KhU> '•'■ Mid "nrli.lV -!„ !:.,;,„.,-. ~,„) ~,,.;„„ , |)r fl;;-u- caps (l.ov j,,;,,.,] i„ !t ,|,„ riN ,„■ ■;ir». .-" as sl„. !„,«,„ to disHpp,,,- ~„ •■-'<>> *■'"' v.-av,..'. A rn - „f -.i,,,,,,,.-- ''■•■ lit up Ironi il„. ■],.,■- of the .».votlni-.i :">.<l "> « -w seconds the sea. wa, dotted ra„-,.|y v-,||. „„.,, ...v.-;;,!,,,;,).- f,„. ,|„.; r im "- :" |J "I (li'-i! v.'.r,. ..quipped witli '"" '■";■""! 'if-hel' .a' inflat-d rnldier. a'ld 11.,,: ;-l|pp,„-l,„l !],,.,„ j„ t|l „ v: . ]l . r] , until Hi.' Hritisli Tmats were able to pi.-'.

thom up. Among them were men who had been wounded. In most cases the injuries wire such sis would he caused by shell splinters. The faces of all vrcru blackened with smoke, and in sosiu in-fti'iH'e-J the nerve of the men Imd almost completely broken down in face of the severe ordeal through which they had passed. Their joy of esrapin:; destruction ft-iiiki expression in varioir. navs. The oliieers. of whom e'ght were tilk'e:i aboard the Arcthusa, offering their rintr;. wa'tlie-, and money to the J>r:i ish

• ailors. The latter wished no .rowan! for performing a. humane duty, but the of;>e:v pressed ihe gifts ~:i them, savin-.;.

•■Von h;ue eavrd our lives; take the. as ]i!(ii. le, mentors." (I:ie of them •;peal.::::- ■ e.al Kng!i,h. made to his res-

eg. re, the significant remark,. "It's he a ierrihe- time, and I'm jolly- -lad it' all over."

It, is said that some of the Arellm--a m.-:i had sworn most terrible oaths go; |o attempt to rescue any more Hermans bivnu*:' Admiral von Spec's men mad'.' no attempt to save any of the Hood "■ipe's "V .V'.""".'." ,; .h's cv.'vs. Put anSundav, for a'l worked like Trojan-; {'> shi' all tin y could, and having done so. treated the rescued men —well, much as v.e have always expected liritish tars <<> tri'iit ig.elides in such a plight. It is said that- some. Herman oflicers seemnl paiticularlv plrascd that it was ihe A:vthusa which had saved them, "it .is :i ■-.hip,'' (hey said, "which has a great name in (h-rm:;iiy."

Thnt the result of the fight had made a, profound impression on the Hermans is Qvi-h ;;t from the frank admission which ore of them made, '-'."on linglish have too mariv ships for us." he said, with a shake of the brad. "We cannot do nnvfhimr agchist vou at sea. (hi land, yes: but at sea, no. W... r.re tec ;:ood fir

','.< -evera! of (he accounts of Ihe rigid - imr mention is made of Henna!', airships engaged in tile work of rescue, bin, (here is as yet r.o cdnfirirnvthin of this from official s<urces, and until some re--po:i-sihh' mo-am !:!.'-,l:i's n definite accusal hm -llh-hillv. it is onlv fair to give the enemy '"'.be benefit of (he douM." I!" has enough proven crimes against humanity to answer for as it is. without being fmiml guilty of a icirfeeiila;-}.,- d,-i -■- lavdlv act on iiiMieiehmt evidom-e. T'" Areihusc men mention the appearance of

a Zeppelin overhead during tlio work j;f rescue, lmt thev npanrentlv saw no ho:nbs dropped in their vicinity.

' MADE IX fJEBMANY. The f.-orinan versions of tlic Xorth Sea i fiilil differ vorv materiallv from tlio I British: in point of fact. Berlin declare tliat victory rested witli the Kaiser's ships, and Vienna lias been crowing over 'lie "brilliant" naval achievement of Admiral Hipper. We claim to have sunk one armed cruiser, tlic Blucher, and to have set two other cruisers afire, and we have beside the report of a prisoner that i', light Herman cruiser was sunk. The (.'criuans. upon the other hand, a ;- sort that thev sank n British battleship and left th» Tjion anil Hie Tiger burning, besides sinking c'i'tV- two or three British ile-.trovers. The world will l|-ve little ilinieiilty in choosing between the two reports. Tn the first place, "both reports agree that the (loniums retreated and the Britisli pursued, and both reporrs agree that tin- Blucher was' sunk in the I'curso of the chase. The Herman renort contradicts itself; it savs that T>ar-Ad-miral Hipper commanded a squadron of

''small scouting cruisers," and yet it mentions in the same report the arhiod crnisi r Blucher and the battle-cruiser Moltke. Then the Herman report says (hat their ships made in the direction of home "in order to find support nearer the coast, or to have favorable sun and wind conditions": lmt if they really we-e onlv small scouting cruisers thev could have had no thought but to escape from a squadron which contains the Lion, the 'Tiger, the Tmlomifabie and a. batthsMo. The Herman, if thev desired the world lo believe their tale,' should have either admitted the character of their squadron or the character of their retreat. As thev admit neither the one nor the other, lmt ask the world to believe that their small scouting cruisers engaged our heaviest battle-cruisers and severely punished them in a retreat, only dictated by tactical considerations like sun and wind—well, probably the world will not hesitate as to which version to accept.

Moreover, when tlie Bluclicr fell behind, tlie other f'crman ships made no attempt to eoine to her rescue and proI feet her flight, lmt left lier to her doom, ! and kindly permitted the defeated British to pick up* what they eonld of her hapless crew. Also, be it noted, when the Lion was disabled and the Indomitable took her in tow, that is to say, when two out of our five heavy shins were put at a serious disadvantage, tlv Herman Admiral made no attempt, to take advantage of this glorious opportunity to "'make the Britishers sick." And. by the way. it is also worth mention perhaps that our Admiralty givs the world the text, of Admiral Bcatty's oOieial despatch, whereas the Berlin tale of Admiral 'Tipper's ''glorious achievement*' is told by someone else. The text of his official despatch has not been made known to the public either in (!i rinany or outside that country.

THE "VIVID NARRATIVE." Pending the issue of Sir David lieattv's full report of the North Sea action, we have to content curselves with the fragmentary accounts of nun engaged in the fight. Rome of those already published, hoar witness tn tlie fact that the men on the ships really *;i the thick of the fight, went attending strictly to business, and had little time or opportunity to take much notice of what was going on outside what one sailor termed "our own (particular little hell.'' When shown a much-quoted [■narrative" of flu fight, which appeared in a certain highly respectable newspaper, he said, ■■He" (meaning the writer of the narrative) "knows more about what every hallv shin did than 1 do of what ours did: he must have been in a blooming aeroplane fitted with -Ml horse-power magnifying glasses to have seen half or a .piarter of that!" And when shown certain letters alleged to have Irs :i written by men rai board his own boat. he remarked, "Well, there were close upon a thousand on our little tiu-eau. and tne-e 'Johnnies' may have •■•••n things that I didn't. But if thee s;nv what they say they did—well, the eagle's eye is a fool to theirs. Why. •::<• weren't within iive or six miles of' the big Cii-man boats, except the Bluclier. at any time, and, so far as I'm aware the Admiralty don't provide high-pow-r glasses for (lie likes or' us. We know onr lot. did well beeniisi: the Oh] ''*'„ (meaning the C'om'uf.Ttder) was pleased, cud we know we sunk (lie ISluehrr 'ami got home heftily on •some of the other-;' but il's only a few of the chaps on any of (he .ships who can say what fallv happened- and (this with'emphasis) they don't wrile to the papers, c.r .-pin yams in pubs."

Such remarks, enmiiiii friiiti the lips of urn- very eauiiuos in ac.-ptin'/ ns !>nsp,.l flic yarns, that are in cireulaiioii cone tm-U'-S V;r daiMaco done !,, (Ii- f;,.r m -,-i r'hvf. Hut. accordim; to th,. Scotsman. Hie primers Imii.li-,1 at a certain unknown Fi.r'Ji nort hr:,r--without l;ai!.--in;!---witness to (lie terrible and ilemllv .•haraef.T «.l' tin. liritisli mnnu.'rv. it ':as been found, says th,. Scottish nev/s----)iapcr. (hat practically cverv hu-ji- vessel anil some of the smaller vessel;-, of the raidiji;: sipuidron an. represented jc Ihc men rescued from (lie sea, and ' it

"The havoc wrought upon-the. fic-nium ships can he realised from Hie fact thai. liorrifieil by the carna-e on hoard their \essels caused by the British gnus, ami

choosing, like the Bluchcr'a men, tof tnut. to their floating equipment and the British sense of humanity, score* of men leaped overboard and were picked up. They realised that in leaping from their battered ships they were taking a- chance of drowning, Imt they preferred that chance to what would happen if they remained on their ships, which were being swept by sheil lire from the British thin, and were ablaze and unfit toi'.ard'.ln; end to do more than trust to the •.inline* taking them out of action. '■Tin; experience of those men backed by the desperate expedient of leaping ove.-board during action, con/inn thoj sfatemenls that the hir.:;o and a J number of similar vi-wr]s of the enemy summed ihitiiiiT which will keep them! oil' tie sea for a lorn? lime. 'lt is que;-] tillable, indeed, if some of them will ever eiea-ar again. The h--s of life on board was so "Teat, and line semes ilm'in;.f action of so to7-rifving a nature, th.'.f. the men regarded ' their ships as doomed.' 1