'THE GREAT WAR', 'THE WAR TO END WAR', 'WORLD WAR 1'
'What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
- Only the monstrous anger of the guns.'
from 'Anthem for Doomed Youth'
by Wilfred Owen
31st MAY - 1st JUNE 1916
THE NAVAL SEA BATTLE
OF JUTLAND
Transcript from: 'More Sea Fights of the Great War'
by W.L. Wyllie, C. Owen & W.D. Kirkpatrick
pub. 1919
CHAPTER VII Briefly, with all its records of pluck and dash, this terrible chapter draws to an end. The tale has been one of determination and grit, of unexampled disaster and wholesale death. The broad facts stand out clearly. Six of our British cruisers and four battleships of our most powerful type engaged five German battle-cruisers at long range for two hours. The weight of metal was all on our side. The battle-cruisers carried 13.5- and 12-inch guns and the Fifth Battle Squadron 15-inch guns. The Germans were armed with 11- and 12-inch guns only. They were hammered for an hour on the run south, and during that time they sank two of our splendid battle-cruisers. The five Germans were still afloat and full of iight when the German Battle Fleet appeared in support. On the run north the combat still raged. Five battle-cruisers were leading the German line and taking all the hard knocks, though the flagship Lützow was so much damaged that the Admiral was obliged to transfer his flag, while Seydlitz was in little better state. Then two more of our ships, armoured cruisers of older pattern, rushed to attack. One was sunk at once with all hands and the other so mauled that she had to be abandoned. When three more British battle cruisers made an attack from the north, the foe turned to the east and sank one of them. No doubt the German Battle Fleet helped considerably during the latter part of the fighting, but when the rival Battle Fleets at last got into distant touch with each other three at least of the five German battle-cruisers which began the action with so much spirit were still in fighting trim, though severely knocked about. Their shooting was wild. We have at present no means of knowing what was the state of moral on board. It was suggested at the time of the armistice that the hammering the Germans received off Jutland was enough to prevent the seamen ever wishing to fight again. It is safer, however, not to assume too much. |
What we do know is that the German range-finding was excellent at the start; that the German armour was stout enough to burst our shells outside and not inside the ships, and that ·the speed of the battle-cruisers was higher than had been expected. Our ships, though faster and more heavily armed, were not sufficiently protected by horizontal armour; besides this, when a turret was hit the flames spread down the ammunition hoists to the magazines.
The picture shows the battle-cruiser line at the position called afterwards by our sailors " Windy Corner." The German van was making a gradual turn towards the east. In the forefront of the battle is Tiger, blazing away at the High Sea Fleet with all her guns. Ahead of her is Princess Royal, and beyond again Lion. Defence and Warrior are crossing ahead of the battle-cruisers, and the destroyer Onslow is seen on the extreme right starting off to make her gallant attack on the little light cruiser which was called by the men of our navy "The mad dog" Her German name was supposed to be Wiesbaden, though there seems to be some doubt on this matter. Some suppose there were two light cruisers fired on by many ships. Be that as it may, Onslow sighted a light cruiser on the starboard bow of Lion in a favourable position for a torpedo attack. The British destroyer, without counting the odds, steamed right at the German and engaged with gunfire, at first at 4,000 and later at 2,000 yards. Onslow was badly damaged, but she got near enough to attack with torpedoes; then the destroyer was hit by a big shell. Lieut.-Commander Turvey, D.S.O., fired all his remaining torpedoes, one at the light cruiser and the rest at the advancing German battleships. By this time the brave little ship's engines were out of action, so another destroyer, Defender, Lieut.-Commander Palmer, which had been reduced to ten knots by a shot in the engine-room, took Onslow in tow under a heavy fire and brought her out of action. Afterwards, in spite of bad weather, she went on towing until a tug from England took charge. Lieut.-Commander Palmer got a D.S.O. for this act of calm courage carried on though the towing wire parted three times during the bad weather. In spite of this and the reduced speed, Palmer continued to struggle homeward with the lame duck astern. |
A few incidents in the first phase of the battle may be of interest. The descendants of Lord Barham had presented an excellent portrait of the old Admiral to his namesake the battleship with the proviso that the picture should not be stored ashore but be carried into action; it was duly wounded by splinters. Barham's model stood between decks, and a shell bursting below sent fragments flying in all directions. It is a wonderful coincidence that the model Barham was scarred as though to scale in exactly the same places as the ship was damaged. On board Warspite a heavy shell burst just outside the door of the church, blowing down the door. Everything inside was wrecked, chairs broken, splinters everywhere. In spite of all the ruin the crucifix was quite unhurt and still stood upon the broken altar, though the vases on each side were knocked over and smashed to pieces. Every incident in the battle is of supreme interest to a nation of sea-going people who for centuries have made the great surrounding oceans of their different homes the chief element on which they build their power. Malaya received much damage at "Windy Corner." A heavy shell struck the armoured deck in the battery, bursting inward and wrecking everything. Flames rushed down the ammunition hoists but were providentially extinguished before reaching the magazine. In the battery itself, however, many charges of cordite were ready beside the 6-inch guns, and a dreadful flame spread along from gun to gun, burning the men as they waited for the torpedo attack. Over sixty men were killed outright and many terribly burned. A boy near one of the after guns, when he saw the flames rushing down the battery, promptly rolled himself in one of the mats on which the shells are dumped, and thus escaped unhurt. |
Another heavy shell struck a glancing blow on the roof of one of the turrets, but though the side armour was forced outward, leaving a gap, none of the men inside received more than a shaking. Valiant was lucky enough to go through the battle without casualties. The doctors and the chaplain waited below for hours, but there was nothing doing. After the action a search was made for shell-holes or splinter marks, but none could be found. Only when the ship went into dry dock was a dent discovered which might have been caused by a shell striking under water.One of the battle-cruisers - New Zealand - was also untouched though right in the thick of all the fighting. Before the war, when the ship visited New Zealand some Maoris foretold that there would be a great war and New Zealand would take part in all the big fights but she would come through safely. The prophecy seems to have been fulfilled. Certain charms were presented to the ship, and though she fired four hundred and twenty rounds from her 12-inch guns she emerged sound and uninjured from the action. As is well known, she was a present from the patriotic New Zealanders to the British Navy. |
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