The heaviest naval battle of the war was fought off the western coast of Denmark on Wednesday and during the following night. Both the British and German fleets engaged their main forces. The result was indecisive. Both sides have issued their official reports, and they agree in showing the clearly established British casualties as the more serious. The following table of losses may be taken as approximately correct, the British list being final and the German in part speculative:-
BRITISH LOSSES.
Ships sunk.............14
GERMAN LOSSES.
Ships sunk.............11
[The sinking of one of the Kaiser class battleships included in the above table is not established with certainty.]
It should be remarked that the Germans do not admit the destruction of one of their battle-cruisers nor that of their two Kaiser class Dreadnought battleships. They also say they sank the British super-Dreadnought Warspite, a sister-ship of the Queen Elizabeth, and omit the Invincible from their list. Beyond doubt they are wrong; possibly they innocently mistook one vessel for the other. The British Admiralty says many of the German ships which survived suffered severe damage; the Germans say the same about the British vessels.
A German rear admiral, a director of the Berlin Admiralty, when giving out the news, added: ╥Regarding our damage and our losses in men no conclusive statements have yet been received. Of course, a portion of our ships has been considerably damaged.╙ This notable reserve, which may be traced also in the official report, suggests that the enemy suffered so severely as to be a little uncertain about their victory.
If the Germans have, indeed, lost two Dreadnought battleships and one Dreadnought cruiser, then the ultimate advantage does not incline markedly in their favour. Possibly the pre-Dreadnought Pommern, which is included by the enemy in their admitted casualty list, represents one of the Dreadnoughts that the British commanders believe themselves to have destroyed. Any attempt to balance the account should make due allowance for the damaged ships. On the German side one battle-cruiser suffered severely, and one battle-cruiser and three battleships less gravely.
From the brief official reports several conclusions emerge. Sir David Beatty╒s ╥cat╙ squadron strengthened by four fast battleships, presumably the Queen Elizabeths, engaged first, and came near to being overwhelmed. On it fell almost all the British line. When Sir John Jellicoe's battleships arrived the tide turned. The enemy drew off, but suffered gravely in their retreat.
In the first British Admiralty statement the battle was presented as an undeniable German success; the corrected report from Sir John Jellicoe issued early this morning, puts a more favourable complexion on the affair.
GERMAN CASUALTIES HEAVY.
The Secretary of the Admiralty makes the following announcement:-
On the afternoon of Wednesday, 31st May, a naval engagement took place off the coast of Jutland. The British ships on which the brunt of the fighting fell were the battle cruiser fleet and some cruisers and light cruisers, supported by four fast battleships. Among these the losses were heavy.
The German battle fleet, aided by low visibility, avoided prolonged action with our main forces, and soon after these appeared on the scene the enemy returned to port, though not before receiving severe damage from our battleships.
The battle cruisers Queen Mary, Indefatigable, Invincible, and the cruisers Defence and Black Prince were sunk.
The Warrior was disabled, and after being towed for some time had to be abandoned by her crew.
It is also known that the destroyers Tipperary, Turbulent, Fortune, Sparrowhawk, and Ardent were lost and six others are not yet accounted for.
No British battleships or light cruisers were sunk.
The enemy╒s losses were serious.
At least one battle cruiser was destroyed and one severely damaged; one battleship is reported sunk by our destroyers.
During a night attack two light cruisers were disabled and probably sunk.
The exact number of enemy destroyers disposed of during the action cannot be ascertained with any certainty, but it must have been large.
Early this morning the Press Bureau issued the following:- The Secretary of the Admiralty makes the following announcement:-
Since the foregoing communique was issued a further report has been received from the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, stating that it is now ascertained that our total losses in destroyers amounted to eight boats in all.
The Commander-in-Chief also reports that it is now possible to form a closer estimate of the losses and damage sustained by the enemy fleet.
A Dreadnought battleship of the Kaiser class was blown up in an attack by a British destroyer, and another battleship of the Kaiser class is believed to have been sunk by gunfire. Of three German battle cruisers, two of which, it is believed, were the Derflinger and the Lutzow, one was blown up, another was heavily engaged by our battle fleet and was seen to be disabled and stopping, and the third was observed to be seriously damaged.
One German light cruiser and six German destroyers were sunk, and at least two more German light cruisers were seen to be disabled.
Further, repeated hits were observed on three other German battleships that were engaged.
