The Press Saturday, October 27, 1917. Attack on Admiral Jellicoe.

Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16043, 27 October 1917, Page 8

The Press Saturday, October 27, 1917. Attack on Admiral Jellicoe.

Thd ''DiiilyMaiV' wHich inadd itsolf vbiy nriptipilhtt "with, a: large section- of the publio by its attkek on Lord Kitchener, Basncrw turned its attention ' toAdiflitfal Jfeiiioob, ana advocates his removd! from the •Admiralty. It alleges that Sir Jolin Jollicoe -teas fesponsible for ihd inconclusive result of the Battie of Jhtfand, for the failure t*> did Russia ill tie Baltic, and for the loss of a convoy in the North Sea<. Our readers are aware that we baVo no sympathy with: newspaper, attacks on distinguished military and naval offi- •• cotsj leaiilg btJtv difficult it is, in the nbsdiice tif the fullest official information, to avoid doiiig injustice in such cases! Nevertheless, we feel bound to say that in this instance the "Daily " Mail'' ifl. giving expression to misgivings which hate booh curJrent for sdino time in usually well-informed circled in England. Although tlie Jutlahd fight resulted, in a British yic- ' tory, it was not eiich a conclusive victory as we had always hoped for when l the Britisti and GrPttnail Fleets came to gripSj and it'was perilously near to luring a disaster. Sir David Beatty took itethetidotts risks, afad nothing but the most brilliant handling of his ships and the fflftgnificcht valour and fighting ability of the officers and men under his command saved the day for the British arms. "When two of Beatty's battld crtiisdrs had been destroyed, and the German battle fleet under von Scheer had joined von Hipper, ifc looked ns if the Britmh, with only eight . capital ships as against at. least nineteen, bad been delivered into the Germans' hands. Wo know the masterly atfiiUifier in " Which Beatty coasted his pursuers towards Jellicoo, whom ho laiew td be coming up, and how tho (jtermans were driven back into their . hdles —those that could get away—and pinco then have never ventured to &tand np .British ships in force. ' But -what many of tis could not under- " ' btand was how it was that Jellicoe allowed quite so long a distance to mpgxatfijipn from Beatty. It may be

that ifc was a choice between taking a risk, or never getting the Germans to face the music, hut if so ho failed to secure the objcct in view, namely, the trapping and utter destruction of the German Fleet. The Government, in bringing him to tho Admiralty, certainly gave him promotion, but their action was open to the interpretation that they did not regard him as being the best possible commander of the Grand Fleet. One can hardly conceive of Nelson being taken away from activo servico on the high seas as a reward even for such a victory a 6 the battle of tho Nile.

As to the loss of tho convoy, the Govern merit has promised a naval enquiry, and the Admiralty intend to hold a court-martial in addition, so that tho facts ought to he thoroughly investigated, and if anyone is to blame we should know it in due courso. It is contended that the escort was insufficient, and this certainly proved to bo tho case when two powerful cruisers managed to eludo the blockade and fell on our destroyers. Tho lattor were no doubt provided on the assumption that they wore only needed as a guard against submarines. With over 2600 sailings and about the sarao number ot arrivals per woek, it is obvious that ft must "be difficult to provide what tho critics would regard as a sufficient convoy for merchant vessels, and at tho samo time efficiently carry out the main work of tho Navy, that of maintaining tho mastery of the sea and keeping tho German fleet securely bottled up. Wo showed rocently the difficulty of maintaining tho blockade so closely as to prevent fast cruisers from ever slipping through on a dark night, and the figures givon by Admiral Jellicoo, in his speech at Sheffield, certainly prove that the blockade is far more effective than any previously recorded in naval history. As to the alleged failure to aid Russia in the Baltic, it is quit© impossible to express an opinion,- because we know so little of the real facts of the case. Wo suspect that a good deal of the agitation against Sir John Jellicoe proceeds from what we may call the "digging-out" school, who declare that he is far too cautious: Obviously, however, there is a grave danger in going too far in tho other direction. Now, more than ever, England's fleet is her '' all in all," and while its operations ought always to be directed with oourago arid determination, it would be a sad day if its control ever fell into the hands that proved too rockless regarding their responsibility. Wo havo no hesitation in saying that it would be a very serious matter if, as is feared in some quarters, Mr Winston Churchill were allowed to force any of his harebrained schemes into execution.