Der Deutsche correspondent. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1841-1918, 1916-07-07

Reynolds Newspaper at hand the
question of the possibility of shutting
off England's food supplies, which
would place the English in the po-
sition of inhabitants in a besieged
town, is discussed. The writer Of
IL referring to the recent naval fight
between the German and English
fleets says: "Take the recent naval
battle, for instance. We were first
led to believe that it was a defeat.
AS usual we groused and growled
about It," Reference here is made
to the first reports Of the Skagerrak
fight which appeared in the English
press on June 2. They were based
on dispatches from the scene Of ac-
tion and furnished an inkling of the
truth The British Admiralty went
to work forthwith to convert into a
glorious victory what virtually was
an English defeat.
After the lapse of months time
we have now the German Admiral
ty's official report of the greatest Of
sea fights. It is q plain, unvarnished
story Of what happened. From 1t we
learn that the German high sea
fleet, consisting Of three battle ships
squadrons, five battle cruisers and
large number of cruisers with sew
eral destroyer fotillas 'were cruis-
ing in the Skagerrak on May 81 for
the purpose, as on earlier occasions.
Of offering battle to the British
feet" Suddenly there appeared on
the ofIlng a group of eight British
cruisers of the newest type, accom-
panied by fifteen or twenty destroy
ers. Immediately the German squad
ron bore down upon them. Whilst
the Germans were following the re-
treating British ships, Vice Admiral
Beattys squadron of six cruisers put
in an APPEARANCE Without loss Of
time it developed a battle line. The
German commander formed his line
and approached for q running fight.
After q quarter Of an hour of fight
ing a shell sent a British cruiser of
the Indefatigable type to the bot
tom.
At half past six the British line
was strengthened by the arrival of
five OF England's most powerful
battleships Of the Queen Elizabeth
type The German Admiralty's re-
port says this reinforcement came
from the west and joined the Brit
ish cruiser line powerfully reinforc-
ing with their 15-inch guns the five
British battle cruisers" TO equalize
this superiority the German Admiral
ordered his destroyers to attack the
enemy. British destroyers and small
cruisers interposed There then be-
gan fight between destroyers and
torpedoes. While this engagement
was in progress the Queen May, third
in the line, was struck by a shell
and was sent to the bottom Soon
after the main German fleet was seen
to the southward steaming north.
To quote from the German Admiral
ty's report
"The hostile fast squadrons there
upon turned northward, closing the
first part Of the fight, which lasted
about an hour
The British retired at high speed
before the German fleet, which fol-
lowed closely The German battle
cruisers continued the artillery COM
bat with increasing intensity, par
ticularly with the division Of the
vessels of the Queen Elizabeth type,
and in which the leading German
battleship division participated in
termittenly The hostile ships
showed a desire to run in a fiat curve
ahead of the point Of our line and
to cross it,"
The fighting and manoeuvering
continued till about eight o'clock in
the evening when the commander of
the German fleet determined to at
tack the British main fleet, which
outnumbered his own two to one.
The report from which we are quot
ing gives details Of the ensuing fight,
which show that it was a give and
take affair in which German bravery
and German seamanship accomp-
lished marvels. The wind up OF the
first great battle fought between the
German and British navies is thus
described:
Nor, when the fleet commander
again brought the German squad
rons upon the southerly and south
westerly course, where the enemy
was last seen, could our opponents
be found. Only once more, shortly
before half-past ten o'clock, did the
battle flare up. For a short time in
the late twilight German battle
cruisers sighted four enemy capital
ships to seaward and opened fire inn
mediately. As the two German bat
tleship squadrons attacked the en-
emy turned and vanished in the
darkness. Older German light cruis-
ers of the fourth reconnaissance
group also we're engaged with the
older enemy armored cruisers in
short fight. This ended the day
battle"
Reading this account one can un-
derstand why those first alarming
dispatches Of British defeat
reached London. So far as can be
made out at the present the Skager-
rak fight did not reflect credit upon
the British Navy 1t was only super
iority in the number of its ships that
saved the British feet from a great
disaster AS it was the loss to Eng
land, in sailors killed or drowned
and in ships destroyed, was much
greater than what Germany suffered
in the first real test OF the ability
Of German warships to cope with
those Of the Mistress Of the Seas"
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