NOT SUPERIOR

Evening Star, Issue 21006, 21 January 1932, Page 15

NOT SUPERIOR

GERMAN GUNNERY A JUTLAND MYTH Although more than fifteen years have pased since 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 1 Daily Telegraph’). I am now in a position to throw new 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, fresh from Jutland, stated that the first German salvos landed near our ships. After tho war German officers who had been present at tho 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 tho third at an intermediate sotting. It was then observed which of the three shots fell nearest tho enemy, and tho airn was adjusted accordingly. “ Jr. tho British ship the shell that landed nearest created a lasting impression on the minds of the officers; those that fell wide wore probably not seen, an 1 certainly not remembered. Hence a general impression was at once created that tho German firing was unusually good. FAII GIIEATFB. “ German officers informed me that they were impressed with the extraordinary accuracy of tho initial British salvos. Both sides practically made the same statements regarding each other’s shooting, with this difference, however: t.. 0 German officers were not allowed to publish these statements, whereas greater freedom was accorded to the British officers. II When tho German fleet 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 tho action ; it can be derived only from actual observations of the damage inflicted. From information personally Obtained by me 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 licet returned to Wilhelmshaven it was not allowed to enter the harbour until tho external signs of punishment had been so far as possible, removed or covered up. As is veil known, no camera of any kind was allowed in a German ship. These

regulations definitely prevented information regarding the extensive damage to the German ships becoming public. “ Tho rapidity with which the British' slyps 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 tho relative amount of damage, and also of the effectiveness of British range-finding and shooting as compared with tho Gorman.”

Many British reports, including Admiral Jellicde’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. The German heavy ships received a total of 117 hits, as compared with the ninety they inflicted. The casualty lists tell the same story. In big ships, apart from those sunk outright, the heaviest losses were British.—Lion 1,433, Princess Royal 101), Malaya 96, Barham 63. German.—Derfflinger 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 bo struck at all was Colossus, which had two hits; but in this .phase the German battleships received in all’ thirty-one hits. Just before the main action opened our second Light Cruiser Squadron of four ships was under the 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 German shooting at Jutland was definitely better than that of the Grand Fleet, several foreign Governments are still buying their naval fire-control equipment from German firms, apparently believing that since this gear proved its efficiency in 1916, German design and workmanship must still be supreme in 1931. This is a fallacy. ,Evcn if wo concede Germany’s superiority in 1916 despite the lack of evidence—it does not follow that she has kept the lead ever since. The truth is that owing to tho 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 prin ciplcs which" British designers havo already discarded as obsolete.