BRITISH NAVAL POWER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17006, 13 November 1918, Page 10

BRITISH NAVAL POWER.

PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENTS.

THE JUTLAND BATTLE.

STATEMENT OF GERMAN LOSSE!S. The nava! forces of the Empire were throughout the war in complete command of the North Sea and the five oceans, and British commerce suffered no interruption, despite the attentions of German raiders and the activities of submarines. The first naval engagement of serious consequence occurred in the early morning of August 28, 1914, when strong forces of British destroyed, supported by light cruisers and battle-cruisers, the entire squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, intercepted and attacked the German destroyers and cruisers guarding the approach to the German coast in the Heligoland Bight- The British destroyers, without Joss to themselves, sank two German destroyers and damaged others. The German cruiser Mainz and another of the Koln class were sunk, another disappeared on fire aud in a sinking condition. Tho only British boats damaged were the flotilla cruiser Amethyst and the destroyer Laertes. On September 22 three British 12,000ton cruisers, sister ships of a somewhat old type, the Aboukir, Hogue, and Creasy, were attacked in rapid succession by a submarine in the open sea, and all sank with heavy casualties. On October 17 four British destroyers— Lance, Lennox, Legion, and Loyal—supported by the new cruiser Undaunted, caught and destroyed four German destroyers off the Dutch coastActions Of! South America. On Sunday, November 1, 1914, a naval battle took place off the coast of Chili, between the battleship Good Hope, Ihe armoured cruiser Monmouth, and The light cruiser Glasgow and a German squadron consisting of the armoured cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and a light cruiser. The Germans hid the advantage in guns and speed, and succeeded in sinking the Good Hope, the flagship of RearAdmiral Sir Christopher Cradock, and the Monmouth. Full complements perished with the ships. Sir Christopher Cradock was avenged on December 8. A British squadron containing two battle cruisers under Sir F. C. D. Sturdee, which had been secretly despatched from the North Sea, met Admiral von Spee off the Falk'ande. The Scharnhorst, Gneiteuan, Nurnberg, and Leipsic were sunk. Only the Dresden escaped, and she was brought to account somo weeks later. The Karlsruhe, whoso whereabout* were for some time a mystery, was lost through accidental causes. German Raiding Cruisers. Of the German raiding cruisers the most successful was the. Emden, which first appeared in the Bay of Bengal between September 10 and 14, 1914, and there captured sis British eteamers, of which 6to were sunk. On November 8 the raider was caught by the Australian cruiser Sydney at Keeling, Cocos Island, forced to fight, and destroyed. The value of the 17 vessels she had captured was utuaated at £2,200,000. A aeries of raids undertaken by the German Navy against unprotected portion of the English coast ended disastrously. On the first occasion the Germans lost their cruiser Yorck, which struck a mine, on the second they succeeded in subjecting Yorkshire towns to a short bombardment; but on 'the third occasion they met the battle-crnuer squadron under Admiral Beatty, and before the Germans could escape to the protection of their mine-' fields the Blacker was sunk and two of the German battle-cruisers were seriously damaged. The Battle of Jutland. The Jutland battle, the greatest naval i engagement of the war was fought on , May 31, 1916. It commenced off the j southwest coast of Norway, and then moved southward down the Danish coast. The whole of the German High Sea Fleet j was engaged, while on the British side the brnnt of. the engagement fell on the I battle-cruiser fleet, eome cruisers, and light erasers, supported by four fast battleships. When the Grand Fleet appeared from the west the German fleet dispersed, j and, favoured by'» mist, escaped. Tho British lost the battle-cruisers Queen Mary, Indefatigable, and Invincible, and the armoured cruisers Defence and Black Prince, and the armoured cruiser Warrior was abandoned. Eight destroyers were alio sunk. Tho Germans bare revealed their losses piece-meal and imperfectly, but, after weighing all the evidence, Sir John Jellicoe has stated that the following 21 enemy vessels were put out of action . —Two battleships of the Dreadnought type. Ono battleship of the Deutschland type—this ship was seen to sink. The battle-cruiser Lutzow, admitted by the Germans. Another Dreadnought battleship and a battle-cruiser were severely damaged, and it is extremely doubtful if they could reach port. Five light •cruisers were seen to (ink. One of these was of large size, and might have been a battleship. Six destroyers ware seen to sink. Three destroyer* were severely damaged, and it is doubtful if they reached port. One submarine was sunk There were no major naval operations after Jutland. The British fleet maintained its siient guard upon the allied uses of the ocean highways while the Germar. fleet remained quietly : n its havens, not venturing abroad. Among the many encounters between destroyers and light cruisers, the fight between the Broke and the Swift and six German destroyers has become on epic of * heroism. The chief event of 1918 was the attempt to restrict the operations of submarines by laying a minefield from the north of Scotland to Norway and by bottling up Zeebruggo and Ostend. Two raids ware 7 made on the Belgian ports, one on Ostend and Zeebrugge, on April 23, and another against Ostend- on May 10. Tho result of these attacks "was virtually to render the Sort useless to the enemy until they were nallv captured during the advance in Flanders. War on Merchant Shipping. In consequence of inability to do any further injury to the British Navy or British shipping by surface craft, the "German Admiralty instituted on February JB, 1915, a submarine "blockade" of Britain. The reply of ihe British Government was to increase tile stringency of the blockade of Germany. The attacks of German nib marines upon British shipping continued spasmodically, and involved many crimes against humanity, which shocked the world, but on February 1, 1917, Germany announced her intention of sinking at sight all vessels in a so-called war none extending round the whole of ihe British Isles, right across the North Sea to territorial waters, and far into the Atlantic. This made America's entry into the war inevitable. Attempts at compromise having failed the German Ambassador was given his passports on February 3. This did not involve an actual state of war, but when American ships were sunk the arming of American liners was authorised, and in April Mr. Wilson announced a state of war. America threw herself into the fray with ardour vast loan* were- made to the Allies, regulars wore sent to France conscription was adopted, shipbuilding waa speeded up, and when the crisis of the western campaign came in the spring of 1918, America was able to send forward j monthly Urge and increasing drafts,