NOT SUPERIOR

Hokitika Guardian, 23 January 1932, Page 6

NOT SUPERIOR

GERMAN GUNNERY,

A JUTLAND MYTH

Although more than 15 years have pasesd since Jutland was fought, tlie actual damage suffered by tlie German fleet in that battle is still more or less a secret (writes Hector Bywater in the Doily Telegraph.) I am now in a position to throw urw light on the gunnery at Jutland, my information 1 being derived from me best possible source. All damage and casualties in tlie 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 land’ed near our ships. After the war German officers who had been present at the battle told me that they had used a ‘ladder’ system of initial firing; that is to say, one gun was fired under the estimated range and defections, one over, and the third at an intermediate setting. It was then observed which of the three shots fell nearest tlie 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 not remembered. Hence a general impression was at once created that the German firing was unusually good. FAB GREATER. “German officers informed me that they were impressed with the extraordinary accuracy of the initial British salvos. Both sides practically maae the same .statements regarding eaeli 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 fleet came in to surrender, a British officer was astonished to hear the German officers \ accompanying him in the steam pin- j nace make the same remarks on the ! excellence of the British firing which ! he had been in the habit of making ' about tlie German shooting. “The truth cannot be obtained sote- I

ly from personal impressions recorded just after the action; it can be derived only from actual observation of the damage inflicted. From information personally obtained by me in Germany, there can be no doubt that the » itj, german ships at Jutland was far greater than any of ■ our officers realised. “When the German fleet returned to Wilhelmshaven it was not allowed to enter harbour until the external signs of punishment had been so far a>s possible removed or covered up. ns is well 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. “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 Britisn range-finding and shooting as compared with the German.’* Manji British reports, including Admiral Jellicoe’s own despatch, which ■stressed the excellence of the German shooting, were freely published, but German official and private reports wlidch contained equally high praise of the British gunnery were suppressed for many years, and only recently have some of them c-ome to 1 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 90 they inflicted. The casualty lists tell the same story. In big ships, apart from those sunk outright, the heaviest losses were:

British: Lion 143, Princess Royal 100, Malaya 96, Barham 63. German: DcrfFlinger 183, Lutzow 165, Scydlitz 1.53, Konig 72.

Other comparative figures are even more significant. During the main battle fleet action the only British ship to he 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 the concentrated fire of a whole German battle squadron, but did not receive a single bit. There facts should finally explode tho myth of super-efficient German gunnery.

No oombat In history hns ever been so cleverly exploited for political and commercial purposes ns the Mattie of Jutland. To this day several German industries, notably file optical gbt.ss trade, owe their prosperity mainly to misleading reports on this action. Thanks largely to German propaganda, tmcoinsoiously abetted by British naval officers, that the German shooting at Jutland was definitely better than that of the Grand Fleet, several foreign Government arcs still

buying their naval fire-control equipment from German firms, apparently believing that since this gear proves! its efficiency in 1916, German design, and workmanship must still lie supreme in 1931. This is a fallacy. Fven if we concede Germany’s superiority in 1916 despite the lack of evidence—it does not follow that she lm« kept the. lead ever since. The truth is flint owing to the insignificant status of their post-war navy Gentian manufacturers have completely lost loueh with advanced progress jn lire cunt ml method-;. They are, in fact, still working on principles which British designers have already discarded as obsolete.