New-York tribune., 1921-02-06
BY Otis Peabody Swift
Frca, TIE Trioune's European Bureou
LONDON.

LONDON.
1NHE official dispatches concern
ing the Battle of Jutland, COW
eging the period from May so
to June /. 1916, have just been
issued by the British Admiralty in
the form of Blue Book. They are
in two volumes, the first being 600
pages of documents, the second
charts and trackings Of the battle,
and were compiled with the object of
throwing light on the unsettled ques-
tions of this much disputed sea bat
tie.
The salient facts brought out by
the papers are:
Still Room for Dispute
l. That while Jutland was British
victory in fact-the German High
Sea Fleet being crippled and forced
to retreat to its base-the question
of whether it was a tactical victory
still remains open to controversy.
The papers show that, due to low
visibility and the confusion of battle,
there was not the highest possible
cooperation of the battleship and
cruiser forces, and that battle con-
tact of the highest possible efficacy
was not achieved and maintained.
2. Beyond this fact, however, the
British Secret Service, the Admiral
ty and the Grand Fleet worked with
complete coordination, and Jutland
was fought along previously deter
mined lines. Jellicoe's much criti-
cized action in turning away from
the enemy" resulted in saving his
own ships and also in placing him
self between his enemy and their
base, thus obtaining position of
greatest strategic value. Only the
loss of contact, due to visibility, pre-
vented the annihilation of the Ger
man fleet.
Value of New Arms
8. The main lesson of Jutland is
that it shows the vital Importance of
new naval weapons, the destroyer,
submarine, seaplane and the mine
field. Much of Jellicoe's criticized
caution was due to his fear of being
led into a mine field or decoyed into
submarine nests. The value of the
destroyers, both as screen and for
accommodating, is emphasized, and
seaplane reconnoiters provided valu-
able strategic data.
The facts of the Battle of Jutland
are now history, but it may be we'll
briefly to review them in considera-
ton of new material contained in the
Blue Book papers.
On May 80, 1916, the British Ad-
miralty received news" (assumedly
from the British Secret Service in
Germany which pointed to early
activity on the part Of the German
fleet. Action was taken at once and
Admiralty telegram No. 434 of that
date, sent to the commander in chief
of the Grand Fleet, contained the fol-
lowing instructions:
"You should concentrate to east
ward Of Long Forties ready for
eventualities
Grand Fleet Ready
The Grand Fleet and battle cruiser
feet were made ready for sea, the
Belgian coast patrol and Harwich
destroyers were recalled, and at 10
p. m. the last vessels of the Grand
Fleet were under way to sea. A ten
tative ocean rendezvous was set for
2 p. m., May 81, at latitude 57:45
north, longitude AIS east.
Delayed by fog, Jellicoe was a
little late in arriving at this posi-
tion the next day. At that time the
entire Grand Fleet was sweeping
south, on zigzag and in formation.
Admiral Beatty, with the battle
cruisers, was in the van. At 2:2O
the Galatea, of the battle cruiser
force, sent the general broadcast
message:
Enemy in sight!"
They had picked up the German
battle fleet, under Admiral Scheer.
The Grand Fleet had been standing
on a southerly course. Jellicoe was
to the north, behind the battle
cruisers. The weather was unset
tied, foggy, and visibility was poor.
Contacts were hard to establish.
The Germans had been oroceedino