The Washington herald., 1915-01-27
LION Led in
HOT PURSUIT
Sea Battle Ragged
as the Germans
Fled.
THRILLING TALE IS TOLD
BIuecher's Fate Sealed from First.
Each British Ship Battered Her
as 1t Dashed By.

(By Special COTespondent Of Inc nAshlhs'On
Herald and London Daily Telegaphl
Edinburgh, Scotland, Jan. 26.-The full
story of the naval battle in the North
Sea on Sunday, which 1 am enabled to
send you will be published by the Scots
man tomorrow. 1t shows that the en-
gagement was one Of the greatest strug-
giles in naval history.
The heavy vessels engaged were fairly
well matched as to speed and power.
and when it is realized. in addition, that
the light cruiser squadrons and the de-
stroyer fiotillas Of the opposing forces
wefe practically equal in number, the
presence of all the elements necessary to
hard fight will be recognized.
The story Of the battle is thrilling in
every respect.
From all classes Of the ships engaged the
Sec -sman has been able to obtain ac-
counts of the action which testify to the
keenness with which the British fleet
hailed and dealt with the enemy. Many
stirring Incidents Of the battle have been
related. and the work of the Lion In the
course of the engagement is spoken of
in the fleet in terms OF admiration.
ZeppeIIns sheIIed Rescuers.
With bitterness and vigorously. express
eu concentration Ine men OF lue HVtI
have described how. while engaged in the
humane duty of picking up the survivors
OF the sunken Bluecher. they were sub
jected to a Zeppelin attack, which stop
ped some Of the work OF rescue.
From the point at which the raiding
squadron was encountered on Sunday
morning. it appears practically certain
that their objective was Newcastle, pri-
marily. and that the Hartlepools also
l. A.,
ton of the attack delivered in mid
December
The active destroyer screen of the bat
tie squadron sighted the Germans early
Sunday morning. The strength and COM
position Of the raiding forces was quickly
ascertained. The destrOyeTs sped into
action and within a few minutes there
was a scene such as the North Sea has
never known. 1t was each to his kind,
destroyer to destroyer. light cruiser to
light cruiser. battle cruiser to battle
cruiser.
The men were in high glee as the YES
sells worked full speed and dashed to the
attack. The commander of one was
heard to remark:
Race ms Guns Roar.
"One would think this was a football
game, the boys are enjoying it so much"
The chase was a long one before the
guns began to roar For nearly forty
miles the racing vessels rushed along
before the guns could be said TO do any
real damage.
The Lion led the British line. Follow
ing her came the mighty Tiger. As the
third ship in line, the Prince Royal, was
close on the heels of the leaders, with
the Indomitable next, and then the New
Zealand.
It soon was obvious to the pursuing
ships that the admirars object was to
utilize to the full the splendid speed of
his squadron by devoting all his energies
to bringing to action the Sast ships of the
enemy.
Soon the Lion overhauled the Bluecher
and in passing gave her a broadside
which caused frightful damage on board.
But the Lions quarry was further ahead.
in the fleeing Derffiinger, Seydlitz, and
Moltke. units OF the squadron which
took part in the previous raid.
Following the flagship. the Tiger also
hit out at the Bluecher as she passed.
And as she sped in the wake Of the
| leading ships the Prince Royal also
let go at the Bleucher with terrific force.
The chase at this time had continued
over a period of about two hours. With
great pluck. the light cruisers of the
enemy did their best to cover the fee
ing battle cruisers. and when that be-
came hopeless. as the bigger ships
were being steadily overhauled and
pounded by the British battle cruisers.
the German light cruisers followed the
| example of the bigger ship and de-
voted all their powers to getting away.
Lion OverhauIs Cruiser.
Then the Lion. which had overhauled
and battered the second cruiser in the
German line, saw that the fight would
be prolonged right to the mine fields.
The Tiger and Princess Royal were
able by this time TO get within range.
and with their guns battered the two
nearmost German cruisers.
Great execution had been done
among her crew, and she was a silent
ship, steaming desperately for shelter
with her after-dack ablaze when she
reached the shelter of the mined area
Meantime. the Lion had turned her
attention to the struggle between the
light cruisers and was using her speed
and gunpower with great effect. She
worked to head on the German light
cruisers and drive them down upon
the British light vessels which were
| in hot pursuit This was difficult
| task in view of the large number of
vessels engaged.
But the race was to end here. The
Germans reached their own waters
and the admiral, rather than imperil
his vessels, called of the pursuit.
The fate of the Bluecher was sealed
| from the first, but she made a gallant
fight. Ship after ship had turned its