The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1916-06-08
GREAT SEA BATTLEFOUGHI
FOUGHT BETWEEN BRITISH AND
GERMAN VESSELS.
Both Sides Claim Big Victory.-Ap-
parently Draw.-About 80 Bat
tleships Disabled or Sunk.

LOnQOQ, June 0.-lHo latest re-
ports from the British admiralty,
from neutral vessels which witnessed
parts of the great naval battle in the
North sea and from survivors, cause
the British public to believe that the
engagement was not so near a de-
feat as it first appeared, and in no
wise a disaster. The British losses,
with all the craft engaged accounted
for, were three battlecruisers, three
cruisers and eight destroyers.
The German losses are believed to
have been about the same number Of
ships, although a much smaller ag-
gregate of tonnage.
British naval experts maintain that
Great Britain continues to hold the
supremacy of the sea by safe mar
gin and that her enormous navy
could better afford the losses it suf-
fered than could the smaller German
establishment. The first reports of
the heavy loss of life, unhappily,
have not been revised. Great Bri-
tain mourns for more than 1000 of
her best seamen and the whole ma
tion is oppressed with sadness,
which is reflected in the faces of all
the people of London.
There were some 5000 men on
the ships which sank, and only few
hundred have been saved. The hor-
rors of modern naval warfare, far
exceeding those when wooden ships
fought and continued to float even
when they ceased to be fighting units,
were realized to their utmost. From
five of the largest ships which went
under with a complement of more
than 1000 men only seven Junior
officers and a few seamen were res
cued.
Rear Admiral the Hon Horace
Lambert Hood, second in command
to Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty,
and Capt. Sowerby, Capt. Cay and
Capt. Prowse were lost with many
others. There were no surrenders
and the ships which went down car
ried with them virtually their whole
crews. Only the Warrior, which was
towed part of the way from the
scene of battle to a British port, was
an exception.
Of some thousand men on the
Queen Mary, only a corporal's guard
is accounted for. The same is true
of the Invincible, while there are no
survivors reported from the Inde-
fatigible, the Defense or the Black
Prince.
It is impossible to visualize any
coherent story of the great battle,
which lasted many hours, with the
different units at times fighting scat
tered engagements. The British and
German reports contradict each other
fatty on the main fact. The British
assert that the German fleet retired
when the British battleships appear
ed, while the German official state
ment maintains that the German
forces were in battle with the entire
British fleet.
The British assert that they had
only two divisions engaged and that
all the units of these were not able
to participate in the fighting and,
furthermore, that Admiral Sir John
Jellicoe, commander of the grand
fleet, swept it thoroughly in search
of enemy ships and survivors.
Vice Admiral Beatty, commanding
the battlecruiser squadron, presuma-
bly, on his old flagship, the Lion, was
again in the thick of the action.
Every arm of the most powerful ma
val warfare was employed-battle-
ships, cruisers, torpedo boats, de-
stroyers, submarines and even Zep-
pelins. Whether most of the destruc-
ton was accomplished by gun ire or
torpedoes is not yet known. British
officers say that the battle was fought
bv the methods known and practiced
bv all navies. There were no sur
prises and no new devices of weapons
or strategy. How far the Zeppellns
contributed to the German success is
a matter of dispute. Only one air.
ship came within sight, according to
the British accounts, and she was
soon badly damaged and withdrew.
But the Germans lay stress on the
assistance rendered by their air SER
vice and neutrals report the presence
of six Zeppelins in the North sea.
The popular belief among the British
public is that scouting Zeppelins
kept the German fleet Informed by
wireless of the approach of their enc