The Washington herald., 1916-08-27
SHIPS GERMANS ''DESTROYED"
. OFF JUTLAND FIT FOR BATTLE

new ship. There were no evidences at
first glance that she had ever been in
action. 1t was unbelievable, for l knew
from irst-hand narratives what a ter
rife grueling she took when her steering
gear broke down and she drifted about
helplessly under the fire of all the lead
ing German Dreadnoughts. Her captain
had told the American correspondents in
London that for five minutes he could see
no other ships through the walls of
water thrown up by German shells about
her. Invisible to friends and enemies
alike, not only the German observers, but
even many English captains believed the
Warspite sunk until she reappeared.
1 borrowed the telescope carried by the
commander of the destroyer and trained
1t on the sides of the rejuvenated ship.
! Then l could see where new plates had
been affixed. The stern, especially,
must have been severely smashed, and
there were other evidences of repair. All
this was done in less than five weeks
after Jutland. The claim is made by the
officers who have these repairs in charge
that a ship no matter how badly dam
aged, can be made as good as new If she
can be kept afloat until she gets into
drydock
Germans Mistake Natural.
BY a curious irony. as I was inspecting
the Warspite I could see tive other great
ships, battle cruisers these, which appear
in a semi-officidl German list of the
worlds navies shown me on a cruiser as
sunk in battle" They were the Tiger
and the Princess Royal. of Vice Admiral
Beatty's fast division The destroyer
moved on, and we soon saw these ships
at short range. The German claim that
the Princess Royal was sunk of Jutland
is put forward in a rather half-hearted
way which indicates that they themselves
are rather doubtful about it, and the JUS
tification for having sunk the Princess
Royal. on paper, seems weaker than in
the case of the Warspite. for the former
ship was scarcely damaged at all. AS for
the Tiger, the new plates she bears are
souvenirs not OF Jutland. where she es-
capped lightly, but of the battle of the
Dogger bank in which the Bleucher was
sunk, and upon that occasion, according
to Germany, the Tiger also went to the
bottom OF the sea. This claim was orig
inally made in good faith. British officers
think. They explain that German sea-
planes came out from HeligOland and
bombed the destroyers engaged in res
cuing drowning Germans from the
Bleucher as that ship sank surrounded by
British ships, the aviators evidently be-
lieving they were witnessing the sinking
of a British cruiser. and no doubt re-
ported to that effect. But the Germans
still persist in their claim after meeting
the Tiger of Jutland. where she did her
best to convince them of their mistake.
Repairs Conceal Damage.
1t would be possible to go on detailing
the slight damage done to many other
ships l saw which are now ready for bat
tie, but the naming of many ships is dis
couraged on the theory that Germans
may be in ignorance of precisely what
squadrons are kept at the base at the
present time. Some of the spick and span
fast cruisers and fiotilla leaders, which
look today in trim for a royal review,
came into port after the battle in need
of repair. perhaps the most remarkable
instance is that Of a cruiser which came
home minus her bridge and two tunnels,
and with a great shell hole at her
waterline. l saw her at the very head of
the fleet, eager for her revenge, and could
not tell where the shell had been or
which tunnels were newly added until
enlightened by an officer. Many were
the tales of daring work by these lighter
craft told in the reports of the battle
furnished by two admirals, and many
more are told in the navy and will one
day receive recognition.
safety First" watchwOrd.
| All the ships now in the lines of battle
are without marks OF fire. but on shore
1 saw a great pile of rusting steel plates
removed from damaged warriors which
had entered the docks for repairs and
got back into line later. Some plates
I had been twisted, torn and bent under
the impact Of shells, most bore no visible
! signs of damage, but had been taken off
because they had been, or might have
been, weakened or strained by damage
| suffered by their neighbOrs. When il
doubt, the rule is to remove the plate.
An engineer officer pointed out what
| had happened on certain vessels, making
clear the story told by what seemed tC
a Iandsman merely a junk pile with the
| enthusiasm OF a professor lecturing tc
! his class. Shell fire. he said, 'doesnt Z
hurt a modern battleship permanently
| provided she be well and truly built
unless it sinks her. That is a fact thai
could not be known until this war. be
| cause the latest type of ships had never
| been knocked about before by the lates
| kind Of shells. But our Jutland expert
ence, 1 think, proves the point, and We
| think it is a great tribute to our British
shipbuilders. There was always a schoo
Of naval opinion that held that a shiI
would be so shaken and strained by the
| impact of heavy shells that even after re-
pairs had been effected the ship would
not be good for much. That school will
have to reef its sails in view of the re.
peated ordeals to which our battle
! cruisers have been subjected"
| AS has been said. l was shown over one
of Jellicoe's newest super
and told to describe nothing of what
SIMMER RESORTS