The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-01-28
GRAPHIC STORY OF B|G SEA FIGHT TOLD
 BY PARTIC|P ANTS
Deadly Hail of Lead Poured Into Fleeing Germans. English Ships Hit,
 But Not Sunk

Scotsman, which is published in Edin- burg, prints the following account of the recent naval battle in the North sea as gathered from men engaged in it, They describe it as one of the greatest strug- gles in naval history. The men assumed the German fleets objective was New castle. The chase was a long one before the guns began their work For 40 miles the two fleets raced along over the short est route for Heligoland before guns did any real damage. Then the Lion over hauled the Bluecher. and, in passing, gave her u broadsde; causing frightful dam age. The Lion did not wait. however, but continued in pursuit Of the fleeing Derfflinger. Seidlitz and Moltle.
 The Tiger, which came next. also poured broadside into the Bluecher. as did the Princess Royal, both of which were speeding on to join in the chase of the others. It already was evident, according to the newspapers informants. that the Bluecher, abandoned by her swifter con sorts, was doomed ship.
 The chase had continued for two hours. The light German cruisers pluokily did their best to cover the fleeing battle cruis- CTS until the task was hopeless, when they followed the example of the big cruisers and devoted their entire powers to getting away
 Ships Overhauled
 The bigger ships were being steadily overhauled and pounded by the British cruisers. The Lion, which had overhauled n D1 eb {,, q, I,., man line, saw that the fight was likely to be prolonged right up to the mine fields The Tiger, Princess Royal and In- domitable were now within range of the large vessels and the men in the inter- views are credited with expressing the belief that they wrought terrible havoc on the German battle cruisers. The fire of the Derfflinger and Seydlitz, it is as serted, grew weaker and weaker as the running fight proceeded
 Within half an hours run of the mined area" said one of the men, the Derfflin- ger was on fire. Masses of flames were sweeping her forward deck, her decks were strewn with wreclage of the shat tered upper works and when she reached the shelter of the mines she had no an swer to give to the hail of projectiles which followed her home.
 She must have suffered serious loss of life.
 "The third vessel in tf. inc was be- lieved to be the Seydlt2. but bly, was the Moltke. It suffered even wore. II came under the Lions fire and besides received something from thes fire of the ba Dtn domitable. She was in a terrible plight One after another her big guns were smashed and put out of action, and there was great execution among her crew. She was a silent ship steamng desper- ately for shelter with the whole of her after deck ablaze.
 Meantime the Lion was, devoting her attention to the struggle between the light cruisers, using her speed and gun power with great effect. She worked in an endeavor to head off the German light cruisers and drive them down upon the British vessels, which were in hot pur- suit. Having regard for the large number of ships engaged. the Lion did great dam- age among them butr they escaped. Some were seriously damaged. In numer- ous cases guns had been swept from their mountings and huls were battered. Many will be unfit for action for a long time to come.
 Made Gallant Fight
 "The Bluecher made gallant fight, but as ship after ship turned their guns upon her with deadly effect her doom was sealed from the first. Her upper works were smashed out of all recognition and virtually every gun was put out of action. Shells had been poured from all quarters, spreading death among her crew.
 Just at the close of the action the A at inc R1laPhPr which took effect. Her crew leaped over board as she suddenly heeled over She sank steadily with a light keel until her decks were awash and then with sud- den roar turned over and sank with her flag still flying As her keel swung up- permost scores of swimmers made for 1t, but that support soon was denied them, as the vessel went to the bottom
 "The British vessels now turned their attention to rescue work and large num- bers of men were picked up. More might have been saved but for new factor.
 From the direction of Heligoland came q huge Zeppelin and number of aero planes, which began dropping bombs upon the destroyers engaged in the work of rescue and which therefore had to aban- don their task.
 'Thereupon the air craft followed the disabled ships homeward.
 "A slight temporary Arrangement m the running gear on one of the British war ships may have led the observers in the air craft to the conclusion that serious damage had been inflicted and given the Germans a basis for their claim that British battleship had been destroyed
 Marks of Conflict
 "The vessels have come out of the night bearing undoubted marks of the conflict, but in no case has the damage been other than slight.
 Tt seems certain that the great losses sustained by the Bluecher were due to the terrible effects of the British gunfre. All the men thrown into the sea were pro- vided with efficient floating equipment and but for the intervention Of the ar craft all would have been saved.
 According to other accounts from members of the crew the British squadron first sighted the Germans 30 miles off the British coast. The light was good and the sea fairly smooth. When the Lion fired the first shot the fleets were about 15 miles apart. Accounts vary concern- ing the air craft attack. Some say one or several aeroplanes took part While others say an airship also took part in the action.
 ''Vice Admiral Beattys cruiser squad ron had a great reception on it's return. says the correspondent Of the Daily Mail. wiring from a port. the name of which is not given ''Thf squadron IS battle
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