Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-06-11
British Dreadnaught's Survi-
val of Battle With Ger
mans Held Miraculous.
TARGET OF HOT FIRE
AFTER BEING DISABLED
Remarkable Story of Great Naval
Battle Is Given by Teuton
Admiralty Official.

LONDON. June 1o.-In proof of the
the dreadnaught Warspite arrived
safely in port after the North sea
battle. the commander of the warship
himself received an Associated Press
correspondent today and described his
vessels miraculous escape" from the
concentrated German fire.
"I am stin commander of the great
est battleship in the world, and my
men are as fine as Nelson's blue
Jackets" said this officer, Capt. E. M.
Phillpotts. The captain granted the
interview on his return from Buck
insham palace, where he told King
George the story of his part in the
great naval battle.
Escape Miraculous.
Capt. Phillpotts was very modest and
mininized his own part in the battle.
But he was full of praise for his men
and what he termed the amazing
powers of resistance of his ship.
'I am not surprised that there have
been reports that the Warsp1te was
sunk" he said, "as from our position
between our feet and the German bat
tleships our escape from such a late
was simply miraculous Several times
smoke and spray. Even some or our
own officers on other ships beneved the
gallant battleship had sunk. AS we
left the fighting line we disappeared
nTbe division of battieships of which
the warspite was one was with the
battle cruisers. We were practlcaily
engaged as soon as they were. but the
Warspite did not fire until Few MIN
,,tes after the others had been in ac-
tion asI was not satisfied with the
range at nrst
Up Against Whole Fleet.
I'VE soon knew we were up against
The whole German battle feet, but it
was our business to engage them as
f,,,v as nossible until Admiral Jellicoe
could come up.
You ask me what results. sa"
that our fire had it on the Germans.
but it is quite impossible to give a
definite reply. as the captain OF one
Of a row of battleships about 500 yards
snart. steaming in battle line, must
Eeen an eve on the ship to make neces-
sary swerves The flag captain mas
some chance to see with some degree
Of accuracy what damage has been
dome to the enemy. but the others are
too busy keeping their places IN ilne
and doing the damage to keep glass
to the eye to see what ne Is suHerns;
.sHoweyer I saw that we registered
hit after hit, enough to convince me
that the Germans got hiding whlcn
will keep them in port for many
months to come. After two hours OF
action, in much of which our division
Of battleships engaged the whole Ger
man battle fleet in an effort to protect
our battle cruisers until Admiral Jeili-
coe came up. the Warspite's steering
Nd he
among the enemy. 1t must have an
moved the German gun pointers ex-
ceedingly to attempt to gauge our er-
ratio movements. for soon we were
battleships and well between them
and our own battle line. I know OF
six German battleships which concen-
trated their fire on the Warspite. ana
could not see.
Protected the Warrior.
"Under a worse pounding than the
Lion received in the Doggerbank night
We remained in action without q sim
gle vital injury. our chief difaculty
being from the mishap to the steering
gear. During our difficulties We re-
ceived considerable credit for protect
ing the cruiser Warrior, which was
practically helpless but 1 must admit
that sheer good fortune rather than
intention was responsible for this. for
the Warspite came across her bow
while drifting and almost helpless.
LAS I said before the fact that we
got out was an absolute miracle. Once
repairs were quickly made. we wanted
to return. but found we were not pop
ular. Sufficient battleships were pres
ent to fill the line. and the possibility
Of our running amuck among our own
friends was not welcomed. We steamed
home.
Will Be in Action Soon.
ALREADY the holes have been stopped
and painted over. ] am now on my
way back to make arrangements with
the dock authorities for overhauling
which. II my ship were needed at once
could be accomplished in a very short
time. But even II have to await my
turn. the Warspite will be sailing the
seas many months before the German
feet comes out again
My men were splendid Their be-
havior was all ! expected, but their
baptism of fire has given them a feel
ing Of confidence which will be a valu-
able asset to them when we go into
action again
AS for the general result of the ac-
that tho Germans were defeated and
driven into their own ports with losses
they can Ill afford, while the sinking
of three British battle cruisers was a
mere incident. outside OF the dep1orable
loss Of gallant lives. We can afford
valuable lessons learned in the action"
Germans Still Insist