10.00 a.m. Leading ships together, rest in succession, to 336° (N. by W.). 11.08 a.m. Leading ships together, rest in succession, to 302° (N.W.). At 11.05 a.m. the Second Cruiser Squadron was ordered to form single line abreast to port, ships 2 miles apart, and to take station 6 miles ahead of IRON DUKE. At Noon IRON DUKE's position was Lat. 56° 20′ N., Long. 5° 26' E. The Battle Fleet, having swept out the area South of the scene of the action, proceeded to Scapa Flow, arriving there on the fore- 10 noon of 2nd June with the Fourth Light Cruiser Squadron, Eleventh and Twelfth Flotillas in company. The Battle Cruiser Fleet and VALIANT proceeded to Rosyth, arriving on the morning of 2nd June. At 9.45 p.m. the Commander-in-Chief sent the following telegram to the 2nd June. Admiralty : Battle Fleet at four hours' notice and ready for action. PROCEEDINGS OF THE BATTLE CRUISER FLEET At 6.15 p.m. DEFENCE and WARRIOR crossed the bows of LION from 31st May. port to starboard, which necessitated her hauling to port to clear them. Diagram X. At 6.27 p.m. the First and Second Battle Cruiser Squadrons altered course to At 6.32 p.m. INVINCIBLE was seen from INDOMITABLE to be hit in the after part, and immediately afterwards to be hit again by either a salvo or a single shot, near "Q" turret; she immediately blew up and sank in Lat. 57° 31' N., Long. 6° 73′ E. The report from the Captain of INDOMITABLE states: Wreckage, &c. was thrown about 400 feet in the air. She appears to have broken in half immediately, for, when the smoke cleared away and we had got to the position, the bows were standing upright about seventy feet out of the water and 50 yards away the stern was 20 standing out of the water to a similar height, while in the circle round was wreckage and some few survivors. The visibility, which I have said before was sometimes up to 14,000 yards, was now generally much less than that. The position of affairs, when I took charge of the Third Battle Cruiser Squadron, on the lamentable death of Rear-Admiral Hood, appeared to me to be as follows:-We were steering 153°. The enemy's battle cruisers were disappearing out of sight, but were still firing on the INDOMITABLE and INFLEXIBLE. The First and Second Battle Cruiser Squadrons were coming up astern of INDOMITABLE; INFLEXIBLE being about 3 cables ahead of the latter. When INVINCIBLE 30 blew up, INFLEXIBLE turned sharply to port, and I did the same, and eased the speed as I wanted to continue the action in the same direction as previously, and wished, if INFLEXIBLE turned 8 or more points to port, to turn possibly under her stern, or at all events, to get the Third Battle Cruiser Squadron to resume their original course, and then to alter it further to starboard in order to continue the action. However, INFLEXIBLE quickly turned to starboard and continued to turn towards the enemy. By being compelled to ease my speed I had dropped astern of INFLEXIBLE. I made no signal to her as she was turning as I desired. At 6.36 p.m. the enemy developed a heavy smoke screen and fire was opened from TIGER with 6-in. guns against destroyers which were believed to be preparing to attack our Battle Fleet. The attack was not pressed home. At about this time three torpedoes were seen to pass close astern of TIGER, course being altered to avoid one of them; one torpedo was also seen to pass under the midship section of PRINCESS ROYAL. LION continued to engage the enemy at intervals when not screened by mist or smoke. 40 At 6.50 p.m. the Battle Cruiser Fleet, having been led by INFLEXIBLE since the loss of INVINCIBLE, were steering 145° (S.S.E.). At 6.53 p.m. speed was reduced to 18 knots to keep station on the The Third Battle Cruiser Squadron, having been ordered to The visibility at this time was very indifferent, not more than 4 miles, and the enemy ships were temporarily lost sight of. It is interesting to note that after 6.00 p.m., although the visibility became reduced, it was undoubtedly more favourable to us than to the enemy. At intervals their ships showed up clearly, enabling us to punish them very severely, 20 and establish a definite superiority over them. The damage received by our ships during this period, excepting the destruction of the INVINCIBLE, was slight. From the reports of other ships and my own observation, it was clear that the enemy suffered severely, Battle Cruisers and Battleships alike. The head of their line was crumpled up, leaving Battleships as targets for the majority of the Battle Cruisers. At 7.08 p.m. the Battle Cruisers altered course to 168° (South), and subsequently hauled round gradually to the South Westward to regain touch with the enemy. At 7.14 p.m. enemy ships were again sighted by the Battle Cruisers; speed 30 was increased to 22 knots immediately and to 25 knots at 7.22 p.m. The enemy ships sighted were believed to be two battle cruisers and two battleships, apparently of the KÖNIG class. It is It is more probable that four battle cruisers were sighted. The visibility having considerably improved, fire was re-opened by LION, TIGER, and NEW ZEALAND; range, 15,000 yards. The leading enemy ship was seen to be on fire after having been hit by LION, and the third ship, which was being engaged by TIGER, was seen to drop astern. The action could not be continued for more than a few minutes as 40 the enemy's destroyers at the head of the line put up a very efficient smoke screen, under cover of which the enemy Fleet turned away, and were temporarily lost sight of. At 7.40 p.m. the Battle Cruiser Fleet reduced to 18 knots, and course was altered at 7.50 p.m. to 246° (W. by S.), and at 7.59 p.m. to 223° (S.W. by W.). At 7.45 p.m. the Vice-Admiral Commanding Battle Cruiser Fleet informed the Commander-in-Chief by signal through MINOTAUR and KING x 28569 E GEORGE V that the leading enemy battleship bore N.W. by W., Urgent. Submit van of battleships follow battle cruisers and we can then cut off whole of enemy's battle fleet. At 8.00 p.m. the Vice-Admiral Commanding the Battle Cruiser Fleet ordered Diagram the First and Third Light-Cruiser Squadrons to sweep to the Westward to locate the head of the enemy's line before dark. XIV. At 8.17 p.m. the Battle Cruisers were also turned to the Westward in support. At this time the Battle Cruisers were out 10 of sight of the Battle Fleet. FALMOUTH had very quickly got into touch with the enemy again, and at 8.15 p.m. sighted five cruisers, probably the Fourth Scouting Group, bearing W. by N. Fire was opened at a range of 9,600 yards, closing to 6,000 yards; the enemy replied, but their fire was erratic, and at 8.32 p.m. they turned away 8 points. The Battle Cruisers sighted what appeared to be two battle cruisers and some battleships almost directly after the turn, and at 8.23 p.m. fire was opened on the enemy. LION opened on the leading ship with rapid salvoes, and the shooting appeared to be very effective. By 8.27 p.m. the enemy, which was thought to be either LUTZOW or KÖNIG class, appeared to be on fire, and shortly after turned away, emitting high flames. PRINCESS ROYAL opened fire on what appeared to be a three-funnelled battleship, which had three bands round the after funnel, and hitting was soon established. TIGER also reports that she was engaged with what appeared to be a threefunnelled battleship and that hitting was quickly established. NEW ZEALAND and INDOMITABLE both engaged the third ship of the line at a range of 13,000 yards. This ship was thought to be SEYDLITZ. The enemy quickly replied and straddled INDOMITABLE frequently, but did not hit her. By 8.31 p.m. the enemy ship appeared to be severely damaged and heeling over; her fire lessened, and she turned out of the line. By 8.40 p.m. the enemy had again disappeared in the mist and smoke, and were not again seen. The enemy ships engaged at this time are believed to have been the surviving ships of the First and Second Scouting Groups, and the ships of the Second Squadron. Torpedoes were fired in this phase of the action, PRINCESS ROYAL firing one about 8.30 p.m., and about the same time INFLEXIBLE saw one pass across her bows. At 8.40 p.m. all our battle cruisers felt a heavy shock, as if struck by a mine or torpedo or, possibly, sunken wreckage. There is no satisfactory explanation, and although it was hoped that it indicated the blowing up of one of the German ships which had just been so severely damaged, yet the evidence collected later goes to show that there was no German ship 20 30 40 lost at this time. The only evidence of any explosion at this time being the reported torpedoing of an enemy battleship by CALLIOPE at 8.38 p.m. It also appears evident that the shock was not caused by the striking of sunken wreckage, as no marks were found on the bottoms of the different ships, and also they all appeared to feel the shock at the same time. The shock appears to have been felt more severely at the rear end of the line, and it is interesting to note that NEW ZEALAND reports a burst of air in the water about 50 yards on the starboard beam, whilst INFLEXIBLE 10 reports a large swirl of oil about 100 yards on the starboard beam. Some of the ships of the First Light Cruiser Squadron, who were on the port bow of the Battle Cruisers, also felt a shock about this time, and report that what appeared to be a submarine was seen to come to the surface. At 8.40 p.m. the Vice-Admiral Commanding Battle Cruiser Fleet informed the Commander-in-Chief that the enemy Battle Cruisers and preDreadnought battleships bore 313° (N. 34° W.), distant 10 to 11 miles from LION. At 8.55 p.m. MINOTAUR, who was then about North 5 miles from LION, reported, in reply to a signal, that our Battle Fleet was not in sight. The position, course, and speed of the Battle Cruiser Fleet was reported at intervals to the Commander-in-Chief, and at 9.04 p.m. the Commander-in-Chief informed all Senior Officers of Squadrons that the course of the Battle Fleet was South. At 9.30 p.m. the Battle Cruisers altered course in succession to 167° (South). 20 At 9.41 p.m. the First Light Cruiser Squadron (less GALATEA) was stationed astern of the Third Light Cruiser Squadron, 246° (W. by S.), 30 4 miles from LION, and remained in this position during the night. At 2.43 a.m. course was altered to 348° (North) to conform to the movements of 1st June. the Battle Fleet and to close the Commander-in-Chief as ordered by.signal. At this time the Battle Fleet was not in sight and its relative position was uncertain. At 3.05 a.m. speed was increased to 20 knots. At 3.15 a.m. a Zeppelin (L.11) was sighted from FALMOUTH and shortly afterwards from the Battle Cruisers. At 3.50 a.m. the following message was sent from the Vice-Admiral Commanding Diagram Battle Cruiser Fleet to the Commander-in-Chief : XVIII. When last seen enemy was to the West, slowly. Zeppelin has passed astern of me. Submit I may sweep S.W. to locate enemy. steering S.W., and proceeding (Jambed here by Zeppelin-) (0350.) 40 |