THE BRITISH FLEET

Otago Witness, Issue 3277, 3 January 1917, Page 25

THE BRITISH FLEET

WHEN THE TEST CAME. iTIE BATTLE OF JUTLAND. (From C. E. W. Bean, Australian War Correspondent.) Copyright Reserved by tho Crown. LONDON, October 29. She was a ship which tho Germans publicly and officially stated that they sank. We had seen the German telegram ourselves. Tho great German wireless station somewhere far across- the other side of No Man's Land, which drowns all tho little stations round about it with its powerful waves, wirelessed that they had sunk this ship; and we in our far-away part of the line received that message. And now we wero on that ship. She was a modern British ship, full sister to tho Queen Elizabeth —the Warspite. Her ' steering gear —as tho Commander-in-Chief's report says—became jammed and ceased for some time —actually for about an hour and a-half, —and she circled round slowly two or three times, all tho while under the enemy's fire. She was hit. And the Germans reported that she sank! As a matter of fact, she steamed out of action to harbour at a speed of 24 knots. Here we stood on her, as effective and formidable a ship its ever entered the battle fleet. There was another ship to which tho Germans had a claim —the Marlborough. Perhaps they merely claimed to have torpedoed her. They did torpedo her_ right enough. But she kept her placo in the line, and steamect at high speed with it — torpecio notwithstanding,—and fought her guns and kept her place until half-past 2 on the following morning, when tho Com-mander-in-Chief ordered her out of the line. Tho Commander-in-Chief reported afterwards that, amongst all his ships, tho fire of the Marlborough was particularly rapid and effective. HIGH SEAS FLEET.

Those are the sort of things that give you confidence in the British Navy. British officers do not underrate the German fleet or its efficiency—l have never yet heard one of them speak contemptuously of it. An officer on tha New Zealand told mo how, shortly after the Jutland battle had begun, when the German battle-cruiser squadron had been leading our battle-cruiser squadron southwards .for some time, there appeared ships on the horizon, and the German High Seas Elect hove up, steaming towards them! The British cruisers turned northwards at once. They came under the fire of the leading battleships in the enemy's line as they turned, and I believe that they call that point in the action ''windy corner." There was a great deal of iron in the air. But our men could not but admire the spectacle of that great fleet as it came. "It was the first time wo had seen anything like it. except in our own fleet," said the officer from the New Zealand; "we had never seen any other fleet approaching us like that before. I must say they looked splendid—ship after ship, at perfect intervals, tearing Into it at full speed." THE THINGS THAT GIVE CONFIDENCE. They shot wed, tlie Germans. At the beginning ot the right their iong-rango tire was "■first class." ilou could see the four little black specks in the far distance coming from tiie direction of the enemy's ship, and you knew that those four species were a salvo of his great shells boring tnrough tiie air towards you. When they struck the water the fountain which they splashed up went as high as the top of our masts. When they hit you the whole ship resounded and trembled.

All that our people could seo of the enemy at this time, besides their shells, were- the flashes of their guns and the occasional dim outline of the ship. If we hit them we could see the explosion. We could seo no falling masts nor shattered funnels in that light, even if they were blown clean over the side.

The first sign that we had that we were hitting them, and that their ships wore feeling the fight, was when you noticed that lor some Teason the ship bring at you had almost ceased to fire. Where four little black specks bad formerly sprung from her, all neatly side by side and rapidly growing, there sprung now only two or one; and these went wide and wild. Clearly there must be some state of affairs inside that enemy hull over there which makes men lire erratically, and which has thrown half or more than half the guns out of action. That reason can be only the great British shells tearing out the vitals of the ship. Some time later the British battle-cruisers delivered the German High Seas Fleet over to the British cruisers which could see the Grand Fleet for some time, but it is doubtful whether the German ships could see the German fleet ahead of them at all until the British cruisers turned around their bows and disclosed the Grand Fleet to them. The first thing the Germans would know of the presence of the Grand Fleet was when the last battle-cruiser cleared from in front of them and they found the long line of new ships strung out ahead of them all along the horizon. It • must have boon a grim surprise. The German fleet turned at once. The British cruisers had left the three leading ships in the German line fiercely burning. There is another incident which gives confidence. The British battle-

cruisers had a certain job to do which might cost them some ships. They met the German battle-cruiser squadron about afternoontea time. As a matter of fact many of tho officers were just sitting down to tea when tho message for action came. Many such_ messages had come before in their experience, and there was no reason why this should lie any better founded. Within a few minutes they were in the fight._ The fleets approaching at high sliced join action in no time these days. Within the conrso of that action our battle-eruisor fleet saw two of its finest ships sunk. What did the admiral do but change course towards the enemy and not away from him? Ho had his job to do, and a triflo like that made not tho

least difference in his doing it. Loss or n< loss, ho led the enemy straight ns a die. to our battle fleet and his job was done. THE SOUVEXIH HUNTERS. The same officer in the New Zealand I old mo that, as soon as there was time to leave his post for a few minutes, ho h'irried ait to soe what damage had boon done by ;•. pI:<• 11 which he knew had struck the ship. It was a big shell, and struck her by the after gun turret. As the guns were still in action, he tried to make his way below decks. But it was black as night down there; and, although he knew the ship well enough, having been m her for something near four\ycars on end, ha found all sorts of unexpected obstacles ia his path. You would think yon knew a ship after four years in her interior; but this night tho passages were a mystery. You found a wounded dresser lying flat across your way, shaken down by the vibration of the guns, or doors open at unaccountable angles. So he decided to risk tho passage along the deck. He picked his way along it, keeping clear of the aro of tho ship's guns as far as he remembered them, and came to the rail looking down over tho poop. Below him were half a dozen men moving meaninglessly about tho after deck. For a second he racked hi 9 brain to think of any business which they could be about, and then it came to him. They wero hunting .'for souvenirs. He spoke to them sternly. Their place waa at the action stations.. They would have to parade next day and explain their conduct —unless, and he thought for a while, — unless they took the biggest fragment ihey could find and put, it in his cabin. Lata that night, ho had forgotten all about the incident. The long, wild day's work waa over, and he went down for the first time below. As be opened his cabin door and stepped into it in the dark he struck his foot against something very heavy and very big. He struck a light—and thero on the middle of the carpet was a ragged fragment of a big shell. " No, tho Germans got one into my cabin, and I never knew it," was his first thought. And then light broke on him. It was his- souvenir.