Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1915-08-13


is estimated that fully fifty ships
were using the torpedo freely; yet,
so far as is known, not single hit
was scored through several hours of
engagement. The high speed and
quick maneuvering power of the
ships attacked, and the difficulty of
estimating the speed of the enemy
vessels, seem to have contributed to
render torpedo fire so extremely un-
certain at the distant ranges, as to
make it almost negligible.
Thus far, the most important ma
val fight of the war was that be-
tween the British and German bat
tle-cruisers, which occurred in the
North Sea, when the British inter-
cepted the Germans on their second
attempted raid of the seacost towns
of England. 1t was a running fight,
in which three German 29-knot bat
tle-cruisers and the 26-knot armor-
ed cruisers Bluecher" were en-
gagged by three 29-knot British bat
tle-cruisers and two battle-cruisers
of 26 knots. Each side was assisted
by some light cruisers and several
f1otillas of destroyers. The Blue
cher" was abandoned by her con-
sorts and fell victim to the gun
fire of the 26-knot battle-cruisers.
The "Seydlitz," "Doerfinger," and
'Moltke" were pursued by the
Lion" Princess Royal and
Tiger" in a running fight, during
which the British flagship was put
out of action by shell in the engine
room, and the German battle-cruis-
ers were heavily punished by gun
fires breaking out on two of the
ships. They escaped by leading the
pursuing British ships into a group
of submarines, when they turned
and abandoned the pursuit.
A striking feature of this en-
gagement was the great range at
which the British landed, namely
1900 yards, or ten miles. Spot
ting from the fire-control platform
was impossible at this range, but
the work was done by the British
destroyers, which steamed abreast
of the Germans and reported the
fall of the shots, by wireless, to
their own ships. How heavily the
Germans were punished is not
known, but in the intervening
months since that fight they have
attempted no more raids against the
English coast.
In the Pacific Ocean and South
Atlantic two notable engagements
served to emphasize the fearfully
destructive character of modern
naval warfare. The first of these
occurred off the coast of Chile, be-
tween a squadron under Won Spec,
composed of the armored cruisers
"Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" and
the light cruisers "Nurnberg, "Leip-
zig" and Bremen" and a squad
ron under Admiral Craddock, con-
sisting of the armored cruisers
Good Hope" and Monmouth
andthe light cruiser Glasgow"
The German armored cruisers were
the crack gunnery ships in the Ger
man fleet, and both were manned
by long-service men. The fight re-
suited in crushing defeat for the
British, the Good Hope" and
Monmouth" being early set on
fire by the accurate salvos of the
German armored cruisers, which
are reported to have opened at
range of $4,000 yards. The Good
Hope" and Monmouth" were sunk;
but the Glasgow" escaped to do
good service a few weeks later in
the battle off the Falkland Islands.
The British Admiralty, resolving
to take no chances with these for
midable German ships, dispatched
the battle-cruisers "Invincible" and
: "Infexible" and the armored and
light cruisers, Glasgow" Kent, F"
: "Carnarvon," Cornwall, an d
Bristol" to round up and sink Won
Specs fleet. The British were coal
ing up at Port Stanley, Falkland Is
lands, when the German fleet, con-
sisting of the "Scharnhost" and
"Gneisenau," and the light cruisers
, Dresden" "Leipsig" and 'Nurn-
berg" were sighted. 1t was a run
ming fight. The "Inhexible," In
vincible" and armored cruiser Car