Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/504

LEFT WORLD WAR 434 WORLD WAR had only four), but it was re-enforced by the dreadnought division of Admiral Thomas. The Von Hipper column of five battle cruisers was thus pitted against four battle cruisers and four dread- noughts, but stood up well before the augmented British fire. Beatty meantime continued to move ahead southward, aim- ing not only to cut the Germans from their base but to "cap" their column and concentrate his fire on Von Hipper's leading ships. A column of German dreadnoughts under Admiral Von Scheer however, approached from the S. E. at full speed to join Von Hipper. Their appearance told Beatty that he was out- matched. He could not now drive Von Hipper into Jellicoe's arms; but perhaps Von Hipper and Von Scheer could be led there. Beatty quickly changed his plan with this object and himself steamed northward. The two German columns, now joined, took up a parallel course, and the running fight was resumed, both forces heading toward the point from which Jellicoe was approaching. To- ward six o'clock Beatty again tried to "cap" his antagonist by turning his head to the eastward. Von Hipper countered this movement by himself turning in the same direction; hence the parallel fight continued on the curve made to the E., which duly straightened to a northward line again. Then the "Liitzow," Von Hip- per's flagship, dropped out badly dam- aged, and the admiral, under fire board- ed the "Moltke", via a destroyer. Mean- time Admiral Jellicoe, some seventy miles to the northward, was rushing the main British fleet to effect a juncture with Beatty. He had three squadrons of powerful fighting ships, twenty-five in all, including his flagship, the "Iron Duke," and the "Invincible," "Inflex- ible," and "Indomitable". The latter trio, commanded by Admiral Hood, was sent ahead to re-enforce Beatty at a faster speed than that of the main force. They joined Beatty just as the latter turned eastward, and swung in ahead of Beatty's column, which now consisted of ceven battle cruisers and four dread- noughts. The "Invincible", Hood's flag- ship, became the target of the German guns and disappeared in flame and smoke, the admiral going down with her. Jellicoe's ships now appeared in sight to the northward, and Beatty opened his column to let them through, Jellicoe swept down the lane, steering S. toward the head of the German line, Beatty fol- lowing suit on a parallel course a little ahead by virtue of his greater speed. Soon the head of the German column was under the concentrated fire of practically the entire British fleet. It was at this stage that the German vessels appeared to have sustained their principal losses. The British had finally "capped" them and were astride the course to the Ger- man base. Night, however, came, and with it a mist that thickened to a fog. The German columns, balked from turning S., switched from E. to W., meantime send- ing all their destroyers against the British warships. Jellicoe's destroyers met them, when ensued a fight between destroyers in the fog which diverted at- tacks between the main fleets. In the dark, covered by their destroyers, the Germans succeeded in turning S. to safety from their westward course, wholly escaping the British fleet. In the treacherous darkness, and in the midst of a stretch of waters probably strewn with mines, Jellicoe hesitated to pursue the retreating enemy, and thus lost them. With the dawn the German fleet had vanished. The British losses were: three battle cruisers ("Queen Mary," "Invincible," "Indefatigable"), three armored cruisers ("Defense," "Black Prince," "Warrior"), and eight destroyers, the lost tonnage ag- gregating 117,150. The Germans thus re- ported their losses: (they were believed to be much greater) one battle cruiser ("Liitzow"), one battleship ("Pom- mem"), four light cruisers and five de- stroyers, or 60,720 tons. The total per- sonnel lost was: British 6,105; German (acknowledged) 2,414. The losses were regarded as less favorable to the Ger- mans than appeared on the surface. As effective units the three lost British armored cruisers were of no military value and were caught in the battle by mischance. They aggregated more than 40,000 tons, and reduced the effective ton- nage lost by the British by that much. The "Liitzow" offset the "Queen Mary". The "Pommern," which was believed to be a new and powerful dreadnought, not an old pre-dreadnought as the Germans claimed, offset the loss of the "Invincible" and "Indefatigable". As far as effective ships were concerned, accepting the Ger- man statement regarding the "Pommern" as being an old vessel, the British only lost one more than the Germans, and that was largely offset by the loss of the four light cruisers the Germans ac- knowledged. Only on the destroyers did the advantage lie with the Germans. The belief that the German losses were much more than was admitted was strength- ened by the fact that the Kaiser's fleet never again ventured out to fight the British. A great controversy arose over Admiral Jellicoe's tactics in permitting the Germans to escape in the darkness after, as he himself reported, his fleet