Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-07-07


ance with my directions, scouting to
the southwark of the battle fleet. which
was accompanied by the third battle
cruiser squadron. the first and second
cruiser squadrons, the fourth light
cruiser squadron, and the fourth, elev
enth and twelfth f1otillas.
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-
| vanced force during the first hour after
commencing their action with the enc
my battle cruisers. This, of course, was
unavoidable, as had our battle cruisers
not followed the enemy to the south
| ward the main fleets would never have
been in contact.
In Keeping With Best Traditions.
THE battle cruiser fleet, gallantly led
by Vice Admiral Beatty, and admirably
supported by the ships of the fifth bat
J tie squadron under Rear Admiral Evan
Thomas, fought the action under, at
| times. Instantaneous conditions,
| especially in regard to light. IN a man
| ner 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. 1t states that the list of ships
and commanding officers which took
| part in the action has been withheld
from publication for the present, in ac-
| cordance with the usual practice"
| which also detracts from the interest
| of the document.
| Admiral Jellicoe estimates the Ger
| man losses al two battleships of the
| dreadnaught type, one of the Deutsch-
| land type, which was seen to sink;
F., the battle cruiser Lutzow, admitted by
| the Germans; one battle cruiser of the
| dreadnaught 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 d battleship; six de-
| so damaged that it was doubtful if
| they would be able to reach port, and
| a submarine, sunk. In concluding Ad-
miral Jellicoe says:
| THE conditions of low visibility
under which the day action took place
and the approach of darkness enhanced
| the difficulty of giving an accurate re-
port of the damage inflicted or the
| But after most careful examination
| of the evidence of all the officers, who
| testified to seeing enemy vessels actu-
ally sink, and personal interviews
| with a large number of these officers I
| am of the opinion that the list shown
| in the Enclosure gives the minimum
numb ers, though 1t Is possible IL Is
not accurate as regards the particular
I
| were sunk during the night attack. In
addition to the vessels sunk, IL is IN
questionable that many other SHIPS
were very seriously damaged by gun
fire and torpedo attack.
Reports British Losses.
81 deeply regret to report the loss of
his majesty's ships Queen Mary. indie
| fatigabIe, Invincible Defence, Black
Nrg Ar1a
| Fortune, Shark, Sparrow Hawk. Nestor.
Nomad and Turbulent. Still more do
| regret the resultant heavy loss of life.
| The death of such gallant and dis
| tineuished officers as Arbuthnot. Hood.
| Capt Sowerby, Capt. Prowse, Capt Cay,
| Capt Bonham. Capt Charles ]. Win
| tour and Capt. Stanley B. Ellis and
serious loss to the navy and to the
country. They led officers and men
who were equally gallant and whose
death is mourned by their comrades
| in the grand fleet. They fell doing
their duty nobly-a death which they
| would have been first to desire.
THE enemy fought with the gal
| lantry that was expected of him. We
those on board disabled German light
| cruiser which passed down the British
| line shortly after deployment under
| heavy fire, which was returned by the
|
Of the officers and the men was entire
| ly beyond praise.
| 'On all sides 1t is reported that tho
| glorious traditions of the past wore
heavy ships, cruisers. light cruisers or
destroyers; the same admirable spirit
| prevailed. The officers and men were
| cool and determined, with cheeriness
| anything. The heroism of tho wounded
| was the admiration of all. I cannot
adequately express the pride with which
| the spirit of the fleet filled me.
Men Taxed to Utmost.
| "It must never be forgotten that the
prelude to action is the work of the
engine room department. During an
action the officers and men Of that de-
partment perform their most important
duties without the incentive which a
knowledge Of the course of action gives
| to those on deck. The qualities of dis
cpline and endurance are taxed to the
utmost under these conditions. They
WERE as always. most fully maintained
| throughout the operations. Several
ships attained speeds that had never
before been reached. thus showing very
| clearly their high state of steaming
| efficiency. Failures in material were
conspicuous by their absence"
| OF the medical officers Admiral Jel-
| licoe says:
| Lacking In many cases all essentials
for performing critical operations. with
their STATS seriously depleted by cas-
ualties, they worked untiringly, with
the greatest success"
| The hardest fighting fell to tho battle
| cruiser fleet, says Admiral Jellicoe, the
units of which were less heavily ar
mored than their opponents, and he ex-
pressed high appreciation of the ham
| ding of all the vessels, and commends
Admirals Burney. Terrain. Sturdee.
an-Thomas. Duff and Leveson. and
continues:
Vice Admiral Beatty's Strategy.
vice Admiral Sir David Beatty once
again showed his fine qualities of gal
liant leadership. firm determination and
correct strategic fighting. He appre-
ciated situations at once on sighting
the first enemys lighter forces, then
his battle cruisers. finally his battle
ships. l can fully sympathize with his
feelings when the evening mist and
fading light robbed the feet of that
complete victory for which he had
Unanswered, for which the vessels in
company with him had striven SO hard.
The services rendered by him, not only
!, on this. but on two previous occasions,
have been of the very greatest value" y
Vice Admiral Beatty's report to Ad-
| miral Jellicoe particularly mentions the
l nf he tina n a