JUTLAND BATTLE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3859, 28 February 1928, Page 29

JUTLAND BATTLE.

SOME NEW REVELATIONS. BRITISH DECEIVED BY CHANGED CODE. ZEPPELINS IN THE WAR. (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON. January 10. A former wireless officer who oeionged to tho German station at Neumunster throws new light on a hitherto obscure, though very important, feature of the Battle of Jutland He explains that it was not until the first stage of rhe conflict was _in progress that the British Command realised that the main German bxttle fleet, as well as the' battle cruiser squadron, formed part of the opposing forces. Captain Kraschutzki, the officer in question. whose statements gain additional value in that they are intended is a criticism of the German Admiralty’s r.i irlect during the first two years and a-iialf of tho war to change the signalling codes, declares that immediately before the departure of the fleet on the adventure that led to the Battle of Jutland the "all sunal of the flagship was changed. Up to this moment, the signal had consisted of the letters D.K. The change was a very simple, but. as it proved, a bery effective one. All that was done was to substitute for D.K. the letters U.W., which, up to then had been the call signal of Wilhelmshaven, and to give D K. that station.

“ Consequently,” says the captain. “ the English station, which not only intercepted messages, but was able to locate tho point from which the messages emanated definitely located D.K.—that is to say. the German flagship—in Wilhelmshaven. “ During the first stage of the battle the English command believed it had only to deal with German cruisers When therefore. the Southampton reported having sighted the whole German fleet, this appeared incredible to the British coinm and.”

Captain Kraschutzki declares that right up to 1916 the call signals to the German ships remained the same as those that had been in use before the war. “These were certainly known to thi English, who, in the meantime, had established wireless stations which were able to detect the position of every vessel tiom which a signal was sent.

“ Therefore whenever a ship in the \'orth Sea or a submarine off the English i-wast sent out a signal the English knew not only the name of the senaer. and the contents of its signal, but also its exact location.” He adds that it. was not unul the exchange already mentioned between the call signals of Wilhelmshaven and the German flagshin that any change was made. GERMAN ZEPPELIN OPERATIONS. An article by Captain E. A. Lehmann and Howard Mingos in the new number of The World To-day deals with the German Zeppelin operations in the first halt of 1916. and claims that the Zeppelins saved the German fleet at Jutland.” The basis of that claim is “ a secret British report dated September 20. 1917.” But in September, 1917. the full facts of Jutland, as they have recently been revealed in the fifth volume of the German Official Naval History of North Sea Operations, had not been disclosed. Fog and mist prevented the Zeppelins fv m carrying out extensive reconnaissance on the eve ot Jutland., On the morning of May 31. 1916. a few hours before the battle opened, five Zeppelins (L 9. Ll 4, Ll 6, L2l, and L 23) went up. but saw nothing of the British. Three of them were near the scene of the battle but heard and saw nothing. THE MORNING AFTER. On the morning after the battle, when the British fleet was steaming north, away from the German coast. Lil sighted 12 British dreadnoughts, and was violently shelled by them with their big guns The fire was ineffective, and there was no damage. Some shrapnel bursts were uncomfortably close. The airship was jolted incessantly by the concussion on all sides. Her framework was being badly shaken. Tier captain consequently decided to increase the distance from the warships, and lost the British in the mist L 24 also sighted British destroyers that morning, and was fired at by them: she afterwards made out 12 British battleships. presumably the vessels seen by Lil. ANTI-AIRCRAFT FORCES. In the High Sea Fleet’s sortie of August, 1916, the British Grand Fleet was sighted by Ll 3, and it seemed as though a great naval battle was imminent, when L]3 lost sight of her quarry. A line of thunderstorms compelled the Zeppelin to make a detour, and when she managed to regain her course the British could not be found. No doubt they had become alarmed by the presence of the Zeppelin. There were also those who hold that the German fleet had become alarmed at the ne zs of the propinquity of the powerful Grand Fleet. The “ remarkable heroism ’’ of the British anti-aircrait forces in these early days of Zeppelin fighting is mentioned; and interesting accounts are given of various raids. At that date the British Zeppelin fighters had no effective weapon owing to the fatuou policy of “ darkness and composure ” which the Government adopted. Not till September, 1916, were incendiary bullets supplied to British airmen, and with these bullets the huge unwieldy airships were very speedily overcome and sent down in flames.

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