NOT SUPERIOR

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 9, 12 January 1932, Page 3

NOT SUPERIOR

GERMAN GUNNEEY

A JUTLAND MYTH

Although more than fifteen years have passed siuee Jutland was fought, the actual damage suffered by the German fleet in that battle is still more or less a secret, writes Hector Bywater in the "Daily Telegraph." I am now in a position to throw now light on the gunnery at Jutland, my information being derived from the best possible source. All damage and casualties in the Grand Fleet were published without reserve soon after the action. The Germans, on the other hand, did their utmost to conceal their own losses, and whenever this was not possible they minimised them. For the following entirely new- disclosures I am indebted to one of the greatest living authorities on naval gunnery:— ' "Many British officers, frosh from Jutland, stated, that the first Gctman salvos landed near our ships. After the war German officers who had been present at the battle told me that they had used the 'ladder' system of initial firing; that is to say, one gun was fired under the estimated range and deflection, one over, and the third at an intermediate setting. It was then observed which of the three shots fell nearest the enemy, and the aim was adjusted accordingly. "In the British ship the shell that landed nearest created a lasting impression on the minds of the officers; those that fell wide were probably not seen, and certainly jiot remembered. Hence a general impression was at once created that the German firing was unusually good. FAS, GREATER. "German officers informed me that they were impressed with the extraordinary accuracy of the initial British salvos. Both sides practically made the same statements regarding each other's shooting, with, this difference, however: the German officers were not allowed to publish these statements, whereas greater freedom was accorded to the British officers. "When the German ileet came in to surrender, a British officer was astonished to hear the German officers accompanying him in a steam pinnace make the same remarks on the excellence of the British firing which he had been in the habit of making about the German shooting. "The truth cannot be obtained solely from personal impressions recorded just after the action; it can be derived only from actual observation of the damage inflicted. JTrom information personally obtained by mo in Germany, there can. be- no doubt that the destruction in the German ships at Jutland was far greater than any of our officers realised. "When the German fleet returned to Wilholmshaven it was not allowed to enter the harbour until the external signs of punishment had been so far as possible removed or covered up. As is well known, no camera of any kind was allowed in a German ship. These regulations definitely prevented information regarding tho extensive damage to the German ships becoming public. "The rapidity with which the British ships were repaired and returned to service, as compared with the long time required for the restoration of the German vessels, is a clear indication of the relative amount of damage, and also of the effectiveness, of British range-find-ing and shooting as compared with the German." Many British reports, including Admiral Jellieoe's own. despatch, which stressed the excellence of the German shooting, were freely published, but German official and private reports which contained equally high praise of the British gunnery were suppressed for many years, and only recently have some of them, come to light. That is how the legend of superior German shooting at Jutland grew up, and why it has endured for so long. HITS SCORED. Actually our guns scored many more! hits than the German .weapons. Tho German heavy ships received a total of 117 hits, as compared with the 00 they inflicted. Tho casualty lists tell the same story. In big ships, apart from those sunk outright, the heaviest losses were: British: Lion 1443, Princess Royal 100, Malaya 96, Barham 63. German: Derfflmger, 183, Lutzow 165, Seydlitz 153, Konig 72. Other comparative figures are even more significant. During the main battle fleet action the only British ship to be struck at all was Colossus, which had two hits; but in this phase the German battleships received in all 31 hits. Just before the main action opened our second Light Cruiser Squadron of four ships was under tho concentrated fire of a whole German battle squadron, but did not receive a single hit. These facts should finally explode the myth of super-efficient German gunnery. No combat in history has ever been so cleverly exploited for political and commercial purposes as the Battle of Jutland. To this day several German industries, notably the optical glass; trade, owe their prosperity mainly to misleading reports on this action. Thanks largely to German propaganda, unconsciously abetted by British naval officers, that the Germanshoot'mg at Jutland was definitely better than that of the Grand Fleet, several foreign Governments are still buying their navel fire-control equipment from German firms, apparently believing that since this gear proved its efficiency i-i 1916, German design nnd workmanship ; must still be supreme in 1931. This is a fallacy. Even if wo concede Germany's superiority in 191(5— despite the lack of evidence—it does not follow that she has kept the lead ever since. The truth is that owing to the insignificant status of their postwar navy German manufacturers have almost completely lost touch with advanced progress in fire-control methods. They are, in fact, still working on principles which British designers have already discarded ns obsolete.