Account of Eric Sydney Brand at the Battle of Jutland

pp. 10-13.

Account

On the evening of Tuesday 30th, May the familiar signal "Raise Steam" was received and, I suppose, about 10 pm. we slipped off quietly to sea. This was particularly easy in "Valiant" which was organised for just that and we slipped quietly into out three Defence watches, which whther closed up or not revolved in hrbour as well as at sea. 1916 was the firse [sic] year of "Summer Time" and the Fleet had been ordered to keep it in harbour but to revert to G.M.T. at sea. "Valiant" however wanted none of the disturbances of upsetting the 'Routine' clocks and only altered the clocks which were concerned outside the ship.

It is for this reason that the times which follow in my memory may often be an hour ahead of the times usually given in the official reports. On 31st, May, I had the Morning watch 0400 - 0800 in the starboard Anti-Submarine Control shelter, facing out on the starboard bow just abaft the Conning Tower. It was a beautiful morning, flat calm sea and some light mist and the watch passed entirely uneventfully.

My Action Station in "Valiant" was 'Rate Officer' in the 15" Gun Control Tower, a cylindrical armoured Tower set more or less in the center of the Conning Tower which surrounded it. On top of the Gun Control Tower was mounted the 'Armoured Director' which duplicated the Director Tower set in the Foretop. The Rate of Change of Range, was an important item in the Gunnery Control set up and it was up to me to try to estimate it at any time. My 'instrument' was what was known as a 'Dumaresq', after its inventor. After I had made an estimate of the 'inclination' of our target, i.e. the angle which the target's course made with my line of sight, and estimated the target's speed, I set these on the Dumaresq and was rewarded by being told the 'Rate' and the Deflection (left or Right) to be set on the gun sights.

But, in the modern "Valiant" there was an elaborate and valuable check provided upon the 20-year old Sub-Lieutenant's judgement. Down below armour in the Transmitting Station, presided over by the Instructor-Commander, Whetherhead, was a much larger Dumaresq and the 'rate' it was showing was connected to a pencil which drew a line on the plotting paper on which the ranges of the target were being plotted as they came in.