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The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Monday 24 July 1916, page 8

National Library of Australia http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1041262

THE BATTLE OF JUTLANDBEATTY AND THE BATTLE

CRUISERS.

'STORIES OF THE FIGHTING' MEN.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)June 14.There dwells a wife by the Northernante,And u wealth}* wife is slits ;She bleeds a breed o' rovin1 nwn,And casts.thom over sea.

And some uro drowned in deep water,And some in sighjt o' shore,rAnd word goes back'to the weary wife,And ever she sends more.

Five thousand sons of the en-wife lookship on the eve of th- Glorious Firstol' June, 1916. Thoy went, never . tocomo back. Already 5,001) of their bro-thers have stepped into their places thatBritain may ivniuin mistress of the sens.I wint to tell you the story of theirend, hut first let us be sure that thedeath of the 5,000 was. not in vain. OnFriday night, almost u fortnight ago, the-il rsl reports of a great fight in Iho NorthSen wero finsliod through fruicin. AVeread of thu sulking of the Queen Mary,.l.udefiitigiible, and Invincible, of theDefence, the Black Prince, alni the AVnrrior. For u moment the news wasstunning. But only for ti moment.Hour by hour und clay by tiny we havebeen learning what this sacrifice of braveships mid bravo soiuiiun won for the Em-pire. Now, with full hearts we cansay as (hey would wish us to say, thatit was worth while. A liumlu.-d ormore Gorninn shins slipped out of theKiel Canal and Wilhclmshaveii at dawnon Wednesday, May 31. Uy midnight(hoy were slinking buck to (hoir lair, bat-tered mid beolit. Yes, the sacrifice ofBritish lives wns greiit, but it wns worthwhile. A fortnight ago the bnltleships,bnUle-eruisei's, light i-ruisens, and de-stroyers sailed upon the mission whichhad such glorious results. Thro? or fourdays later thoy swept back into a north-ern port, with, fings flviiig mid dockscrowded with gollnnt victors. The fun-nels of souie were peppered with sluiipnel. Auotluor showed a groat dont amid-ships, whero mi enemy mojectilt hadnlmost reached bor vitals. Tn-dny al-most all these battlo sores have beenmended, nnd only Jionourablo sears re-main. The -hips are onco more uponHie high sons, and 7-oudy for the comingof another clay. 1 f this is not victory,what is?

vT>N HIPPER'S MISSION.It is still too early to write a history ofthe battle of Jutland, hut from a scoreof sailors' yarn--* it is possible to con-struct a fairly complete story. Gorinnnnaval sources tell us that tor severalweeks before tho groat light a Britishsquadron' lind been lvportetl cruising re-peatedly of ' the Danish const. VonSeheer, the new Gerniun

Danish const. VonSeheer, the new Gerniun commander ofthe High Fleet, determined to hilve nslap ut it. For a month gun-practicewa general, and vnsl stores of ammuni-tion and coal were taken on board. Atduu-n on AVodncsday, May 31, five Ger-man cruisers and a' party of destroyerswere sent northwards from Wilholnishnven to hire the Britishers withinrange of a bigger foroe by swift battlecruisers and baltlships, which wara tocomplete the elestruction of the saucylittle British squadron. The fivr seemto have boon the Derfflinger, the Lulzoiv,the Moltkc, the Siilaniis, mid the Seydlitz, under Von Hipper. . Serarul of thevessels were named after '{unions cavalryleaders of the AA?ar of Libsralion. ThusLutzow wus the captain who organiseda body of irregular horse ugainst Nupo-|leon, whoa; name is enshrined in'Eorner's 'ballad, Lutzotv's Wild Chmse,which wns set to music by Veber. Krnerhimself soivcd ir. tht; corps, and died ina skirmish near Schwerin. Dashing nldngin n fashion worthy of their forbears, theGurman bnttle-cruisers found their.jmin y about ICO miles west of (he Danishcoast,'just north of the Horns Reef. Whatis moro, the Englishmen wore just asanxious to fight as the Germons. Realty,tho British admiral, nllowoil the Grriniiii cruisers' to pass north, and thenstruck in between thom and their ij*i.-seAVhat tvoro the' apparent odds? WithAdmiral Beatty wore the fpur Lionsthe Princess Royal, the (Juecn Mary; theTiger anti the Lion; only a fotv milesaway, forming part of Beatty' squadron,wero the Indefatigable and tho New ZeaInnd. Beatty, nt any rate, -aw no rea-son to fear n scrap. By nil the rules ofwar it wa? the function of tho spearheadof the British Grand Floet to strike-thefirst blow, to cut off the onemy from hisbn.so, or drive him into tho arms of thobattleships, n hundred miles or so away.Beatty had tilt beek of Aron Hipper, butho did not hesitate. Von Hipper was, nodoubt, equally right in his manouvre.Indeed, we may picture him chucklingat the piospoct of leading Beatty into nwell-baited trup. But the operationsended all in favour of Bontty, for thetrap which A'tin Hipper laid for him wasas nothiii'.' compared with (lint whichBeatty luid for tho Gormans. From aquarter lo four until a quarter to fivethe engagement wns between tile battlecruisers only. By this time ATon Hipperlind been (Iiivrn buck on lo the High SensFleet, and the British fast squadion, re-inforced by tour Queen Elizabeths,fought n holding action for the next hourand a quarter, drawing tlio Gorman HighS?ns fleol towards the forces that weroapproaching under Admiral Jellicoe.Beatty knew tho risks he ian. Battlecruisers going thirty knots nre built forspeed, not to undergo n prolonged fightwith heavily armoured, heavily gunnedshins. Uncounted tho cos nnd determinedto hold the enemy. He was in charge ofthe first nnd second.' British cruisersquadron, and lu did what wus expectedof him. As Kipling wrote of cruisers: -This is our virtue, to li nek nnd bol ray,Preparing great battles a sen's widthuwny.If any reader retorts that poetry provesanything or nothing, lot one of Bently'sown .smlnr-lnds speak. Asked his opinionof his admiral alter the great bottle, hithought ii moment, and thon said withfeeling, We'd go to hell with Beatty.

THE LIGHT CRUISERS BEGIN.

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THE LIGHT CRUISERS BEGIN.But we mo running* a little loo quicklyfor events. Very many things happenedbefoio Heatly henid the welcome plun-reof Jellicoe' piopellors. For tho begin-ning of our yarn w o must go back to 3.45in the afternoon of the 31st of May.The son as smooth as a mill pond, theday was warm, nnd ft slight haze hung

over the water. Bealty's squadron werea hundred miles or so from the Danishcoast when the Hist tumours that theGermans wen abroad reached the Eng-lish seamen. As is usual, the openingphase ol the battle concerned the lightcruisers. The British dit sion was ledby tile Galatea, which hoisted the sig-nal, Enemy in sight, aud Set a speedof thiity-lwo knots directly she saw thefoo. Two enemy destroyers were board-ing the steamer Fjoid, but they stoppedthat directly the Galatea and Phaetonhove in sight. Tho British light crui-sers opone I fin at 2.23. A few minuteshitor throe henvy Gorman cmisers putin in appeal une-.'. ,Thc Galatea andPhaeton turned to port, and started tomoot Admiral Bonify. Not too quickly,however. There was no hurry. Theydid not want to loso the enemy. So theoruiseis decreased their speed to twentyfive knots, mid allowed Hie Germans todrop their heavy .shells n little closer.The Inconstant mid Cordelia, two otherBritish light cruisers, now came tearingup. and repented the signal, Enemy insight.By this time it was getting on for half

past 3, and Beat*, y 's battle-cruisers weroin sight. The aciion wns to be foughtout in grim earnest. No scrap this,but a real battle. . iFIRST BLOOD.At the beginning of the fight Beatty'ssquadron tvas in lins in the followingorder:-The Lion (flagBhip), PrincessRoyal, Queen Mary, Tiger,.New Zealand,and Indefatigable. The squadron wasrunning about eighteen knots. A gun-

ner on the Tiger tells that, as his shipniate.s turned to return the German fire,an ep'sode took place whioh he had neverseoji on shipboatd bofore. The men nilshook limu's with each other, reoagms

.; the small chance thai stood betweenthom and death. There tv-ns justifica-tion for the instructivo action. A fewminutes lctex came a message from- thetoico tube. Queen Minv'down. Thentiro another mtMsgae tait bucked npHu Tiger's crew, One Gt-rmiin shipBunk; three matong for port in sinkingcondition; two afire. , The Tiger isamong soviiU vessels which chiiiu that

they -mit tho Derfflingor to Uro. bottom.Ino DetHing-er put a sirall into thew-ardrooro of the Tiger during the Dog-ger Biimk fight, -so let us hope tho claimis correct. II' so, the Tiget lepaid herdebt with Interest. At any rate, thoperfilmgoi' vanished onirly in the prooo-edliifiB, and is now doublJrfls re-posing inthe muddy silt of the North Sea.Tlio tidings which came to tho gunnoit*of the Tiger retgarding tho Queen. Marywere unfortunately loo true. She waatlio first big ship in eithir fleet lo go,Fot ii while the biiltlo-cruisor ni'inntamed a perfect, steady fvro on heir, opposife numbctr in the German line. Amoment alor she was over whelm ed.. Astorm sc-omed to break ovor lior, on hw.

storm sc-omed to break ovor lior, on hw.light inside her. She broke up midsamk in a wild confusion of red ghttcamd smoke jw thick that it looked tolidnnd a terrible thttndvi-elap of an .explo-sion that sounded loud above the steadvirwr of the guiw. A great shell hadexploded th vessel's magazine. Shebuckled up and sank like a rod-hot stone.Phis was bud, but worse was to comTen minutos lateo* the Indefatigable win*batteied to pieces by th-o concentratedfire of tho German battle-cruiser.?. Shewns soon to hr*el over until the bilge keeishowed. While in this position 'anothersalvo of sholls struck h'r and blow thebottom out of tins ship. In anotherminuto or so she wau under the wave**.It would se-m that after Hemltv sight-ed the first ship of A'on ll*ippt.r'i, s-iund1-on, a destiroy-oi* screen appeared beyondthe German bntlle-oruihor.-*, a.nd thewhole German High Sons fleet was seenon Hu. north-easitern horizon in threedivisions. To avoid being cul off fromJellicoe, the British battle-cruisers turn-ed right round sixteen points, --o ns lobring lhonisch-c-8 pa ra I Iel to Hie G-01tna.11bntllo-cruisiirs. Thon Beatty put onfull speed and took up ,-i position' infiont of the German line. It wnsjust at tho turning point Hint the Queen\.Alnry nnd the lndclat.ignb.l-. wei-e sunk,piobahlr owing to the Qciminis conc-entrnting tiwi r firo tit that point.) in anyeise, the Bl tish manouvre was a n-ecet,Kiiy one, and wn executed with muistorly skill. It tnriuci the battle-cruiserfight into n riiiinin-i contest lioi-lhwoirclotowards Jellit-oe's fleet on approximatelyparallel lines. Neve theil, for momoinvnt the British -ero grui ti}, outn u ni tared, and only the gallantry ci thoremaining ships and the example of (he.Adniiir.U prevented a dii-iister. ,TiieLion, at the h'.ad ol the li HI fleet.iiMiiU'iiviod with marvellous ok ill nndspeed Once the Lion lind to i al I oui.olio of her turrets being jammed and.setoral of her g-uu-s oui, of commission,but the Tig-ei- took up tho fighting.Boafcty i-emuined on tho topmast bridgeill through diroc-bLng opointion-. Hisshipiuiites say that ho was as eag.r, asactive, and as delighted ns a schoolboyin n violerions* football mutch.HARD POUNDING, GliNTLEMEN.By this time it wns apparent, thatabout a hundred Go,man warships, weitout. including ni least twenty babblecruiscus and battleships. Th.? predoininanco in Rim-poweii' was c-mphadsod by the fact that tho Germti.iiK hadthe ath ai bago of the light, in so far usUley adopted favourite trick of hu*n,Fin^the coast, ami at His sam' time assuringa safe re>t.*e*af. Thon the atmc-splnicconditions look a chance which still fur-ther bellied the Germans. A lain drizzlereduced visibility, au

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light, but v.he range was too great . topnablo h'm to Uko advantage of it evenwith 1rs .l-.n. guns. Forty minutoslater, w.Stn the two squadrons had clos-ed in, 1*1 e sim h.ul sot, and the visibilitycondition? v>*.->re changed, out ships ta-int- silhouett- rqinst n'torglow,v findfading light made en-oniy dilicnlt lo sHH.However, the circumstance-*' for'' iWttylind more p;-o*niso than those' ivhlenbrought Cvndock io his ond. Alroidyhelp had conic. The (list indications ofthe coming ti-ouMe had reach tlionenire.st bafyephil.s ni 3.45, when notionstations wini* t-alindee oft by the bugles.Evcryonn dftshcri lo his pest, for actionis only hounrtrd alf'when an emergencymisos. Tho buillediip* were tho R.itham, lb Aral uni. Varsjiite, and Malaya,of tim Ou son Elizabeth class) ' Theycarried fiff een-i ich gums, and were well.-stern of th'3 battle-Miiisois when thefight opsned. flji'f an hour later tho'battleships it pro ijlso going hard. To beexact, the lratflo-cru-isors opened fia-o/at4.30 oin., the battleships sailed intoaction at 4.57. A nvidslnpman who waain one of the fore-tumls of one of IhcsoQuncn Eliznbofclvi, sayis: -

'Wo -itaited filing nt the enemy 1 ghtcruisers, the rango being 17,400. 1>shouldsay hore Hint the weather was misty andthe sun was behind us, so thal we 'show-ed up' Il the Germans, while thoy,' on theother hand, weio piitly aided bj tholot/visibility. But our admiral h.indMtho ships so skilfully mid was so su ccess -ful in his slr.'itigy (hat wo m-nuged tomanouvre in such a way Unit wo got theGermans rather moro agair.id the umthan ourselves. But the mistiness, whichal first was mt nitogetlior tiiitavoniaijleto us, seeing that wo found ourtlvo3 upagainst enormous rd.'l, prtmd subse-quently a most unfortunate disadvantage,in thnt it enabled (he enemy to escapewhen our grand fleet ame up. At liveminutes past 5 we shiLed our fire lo clioenemy battlo-ciuisers md sank o.**e ntthem. AA'o thought it wa tne Do-Win-ger, AA'o also appeared t* hit