The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-07
Je1licoe's Official
 Narrative of Battle


 London. July 7-"Be pleased to in- form the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that the German high sea feet was brought to action on the 31st of May, 1916, to the westward of Jut- land Bank, off the coast of Denmark" :"
 In these words Vice Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe, Commander in Chief of the Home Fleets, opens his report to the Admiralty on the battle over which there has been so much dis cussion. Continuing, Admiral Jellicoe says:
 'The ships of the Grand Fleet, in pursuance of the general policy of periodical sweeps through the North Sea. had left their ,base on the prev ious day in accordance with instruc- tions issued by me. In the early after noon of Wednesday, s1st of May, the first and second battle cruiser squad rons. the first, second, and third light cruiser squadrons, and third light cruiser sQuadrons and dsstroyers from the first, ninth, tenth. and thirteenth flotfllas, supported by the fifth battle squadron, were. in accordance with my directions. scouting to the south ward of the battle fleet, which was accompanied by the third battle cruis- CT squadron, the first and second cruis- CT sqiadrons. the fourth light cruiser squadron, and ,the fourth, eleventh, and twelfth f1otiIlas.
 ''The junction of the battle fleet with the scouting force after the enemy had been sighted was delayed owing to the southerly course steered by our ad- yanced force during the first hour after commencing their action with >the enemy battle cruisers. This, of course. was unavoidable as had our battle cruisers not followed the enemy to the southward the main fleets would nev- CT have been in contact.
 Beatty in the Lead.
 'The battle cruiser fleet, gallantly led by Vice Admiral Beatty, and ad- mirably supported by the ships of the fifth battle squadron under Rear Ad- miral Evan-Thomas, fought the action under. at times, disadvantageous condi- tions, Especially in regard to light, in a manner that was in keeping with the best traditions of the service"
 Without maps and charts many of the details of the report cannot be made clear. It states that "the list of ships and commanding officers which took part in the action has been with held from publication for the present in accordance with the usual prac< tice," which also detracts from the in- terest of the document.
 Amiral Jellicoe estimates the Ger man losses at two battleships of the dreadnought type. one of the Deutsch- land type, which was seen to sink; the battle cruiser Lutzow. admitted by the Germans, one battle cruiser of the dreadnought type. one battle cruiser seen to be so severely damaged that it's return was extremely doubtful. five light cruisers, seen to sink-one of them possibly al battleship; six des- troyers, seen to sink; three destroyers so damaged that it was doubtful if they would be able to reach port, and a submarine sunk. Gin the foregoing Admiral Jellicoe enumerates 2 Ger man vessels as probably lost. The last British report placed the total at S.) In concluding, Admiral JellicoeNsays:
 'The conditions of low visibility un- der which the day action took place and the approach of darkness enhanc- ed the difficulty of giving an accurate report of the damage inflicted or the names of the ships sunk by our forces But after a most careful examination of the evidence of all the officers who testified to seeing enemy vessels actu- ally sink. and personal interviews with large number of these officers, I am of the opinion that the list shown in the enclosure gives the minimum numbers, though it is possible it is not accurate as regards the particular class of vessel especially those which were sunk during the night attack. In adition to the vessels sunk, it is un- questionable that many other ships were very seriously damaged by gum fire and torpedo attack.
 T deeply regret to report the loss of his majesty's ships Queen Mary, Indefatigable, Invincible, Defence, Black Prince. Warrior. Tipperary, Ardent Fortune, Shark, Sparrow Hawk, Nestor, Nomad and Turbulent Still more, do I regret the resultant heavy loss of life. The death of such gallant and distinguished officers as Arbuthnot, Hood, Captain Sowerby, Captain Prowse, Captain Gay, Captain Bonham, Captain Charles J. wintour and Captain Stanley, B. Ellis. and