The sun., 1918-12-27

being twelve hours nearer lTeligoland
and the possible scene Of action.
Every timo the feet went out the
strategy was to try to cut Fritz of.
and his little outings were always up
along the Norwegian coast. Toward
tho last he came out less and less
frequently, which meant fewer and
| fewer rush orders 70 the fleet. 1
think there were just about four in
the last four months. and by that
time we were getting well substan-
tiated rumors Of the trouble he was
having with his crews.
THE nearest We came to catching
him out after the Americans got over
was one night in October. and then
we nearly had him. You'll hear some
more scuttle butt rumors that we were
J within thirty miles of his line. l
! don't suppose II was ms good as that.
| Tho miss was big disappointment
/ of course, but the thrill, as you call
II, was all right while 1t lasted.
"A Chlnaman's chance is good bet
ting to the chance Fritz would have
had! Counting the British battle
cruisers in. our five ships-we had
six, by the way, after the armlstice.
when the Nevada left Admiral
Rodgers's division TO join us--our five
ships were just about one-nlnth OF
tho Grand Fleet strength. The feet
had the legs OF Fritz; you can figure
out how It outgunned him. its gunnery
was certainly UP to his II not a
blamed sight better. And then he
was outgamed, even before he had
muntlnies to trouble him. The Brit
ish naval critics have been fighting
over Jutland and the other fleet
actions among themselves ever since
the actions came of, but the one thing
they all agree on Is that Fritz made
good gun practice at the start and
then got wild like a hawk under a
very little punishment.
THE Grand Fleet had $50 destroy
ers. 30 light cruisers and airplane
mother ships, each carrying "a planes
Of the observing and scout types.
Those have no pontoons. and as they
can't land on the water they had
to do It on shore and be brought
back. The battle cruisers carried two
planes each. The Texas was our
first ship to have them.
THE first net across the Firth was
outside OF May Island. the second
abeam of the island, the third in
side II. The gates were in the middle
OF the nets, and wide enough to let
the feet through easily in single coll
umn. Along the nets. at intervals
trawlers were permanently anchored.
and there was trawler to work each
af hn alt AZ
disturbance had shaken tho nets
they'd have been on 1t like birds. But
Fritz never tried It. Suicide tina,
would have been. The C-boats may
have laid for us Just outside-if that
was a C-boat the New York hit tina;
time. that was what she WAS doinG
of Scapa Flow. They never made
money by It il they did. And so far
as we know they never took an air.
plane or Zeppelin shy al the Grand
Fleet during the war.
Firth Formation Praised.
The formation in the Firth was q
settled thing. You know, there's q
wonderful 100 foot bridge across II
amply high enough for the biggest
warship 20 have clearance under the
spans. It's fully as long as Brooklyn
! Bridge, but less bulky, n railroad
bridge only.
We'll. as we lay the outermost
ships were what the British coll the
flying squadron. composed Of tn,
three new battle cruisers Furious
Glorious and Courageous and the air.
plane ships. Those cruisers must bt
| . ~, 81
Hush-Hush' and so on They were
all built during the war. on III,
strength OF the wars new lessons, nnt
they're the finest and fastest OF theii
typo afioat. They are the ships thai
brought Ballour over. They were al.
ways kept very dark.
Next inside were two squadrons O.
older battle cruisers. and then tn,
Fifth r. s.. the newest British super
dreadnoughts, tho Bahrum, Valiant
Warspite-she got pounded at JutlanC
hut gave back better than she got
and the Malaga, Those are the latcs
word aiioat in superdreadnoughts. too
They do twenty five knots. I'h,
Queen Elizabeth. Beatty's flagship, /!
much like them and was anchored
derstand, was absolutely a part OF tn,
grand feet and under Beatty's com
mand, was across the Firth and jus
outside the bridge The rest wer'
above It. No, at present our navy
has nothing TO match those Rritis'
dreadnoughts of the Fifth Il.
They're in class by themselves.
You say you'd heard at home her'
that the Germans had mounted II
inch guns on their battleships? Tn,
British tried II and then changed back
There's nothing in it--not under those
range conditions. But here's Il funny
thing: the British officers who wen
through Jutland told us that the way
tho German ships stayed afoat wa!
amazing TO them. Said they seemed
unsuitable, The battle cruiser NoI
der Tam was engaged At fairly clos,
range while the light was good onC
the British say they know of fly,
square hits from the heavy gun!
where her vital parts were or shoul,
have been. But she wasn't knocked
out. No, we don't know that any spe
Cial nonsinkablc construction wal
found when the Germans surrendered
Navy Learned Many Things.
1T WAS great year. Our nav!
learned things and we learned things
individually. The British. having
been in the war so much longer, o
course had lot to teach US. We al
got on first rate with all their officers