Difference between revisions of "Austro-Hungarian Naval Attaché Report on the Battle of Jutland"

Revision as of 15:42, 29 February 2024

The following is a report of the naval proceedings of 31 May - 1 June, 1916, and also of the damage sustained by the German Fleet.

During my 3-days' visit to Wilhelmshaven, followed by a cursory examination of the "MARKGRAF" and "KURFURST" at Hamburg, I endeavoured to gain merely a general idea of the results of gunfire and concentrated my attention on the course of the action itself. Admiral Scheer, whom I only saw for a short time as he left for Kiel to attend the funeral of his borther[sic]-in-law, Lieut.-Commander Mohr, who was killed in the action, very kindly arranged that his Chief of Staff, Captain Trotha, should give me an account of the whole proceedings, illustrated by plans, and that I should be furnished with all information. I have tried to fill in the gaps by conversations with officers whom I know; this has resulted in some contradictory statements, and several points remain obscure, the accounts from the various ships not having all come in.

Many episodes will therefore be explained later and may appear in a different light, but, as regards the broad outlines which are of chief importance, the picture of this interesting engagement is fairly clear. The accompanying plan of the action was made in haste for the Kaiser and will therefore need much correction.

The spirit pervading the Fleet can only be described as one of enthusiasm; they are intoxicated with victory. The heavy load weighing on them all, the dear that this war might end without an encounter of the Fleets, have vanished. They have learnt what fighting really means, they know themselves to be superior to the enemy as regards tactics, and that they were following the right lines and have nothing to unlearn; they know that their gunfire was more effective than that of the enemy, and that they can rely implicitly on their flotillas which have always been looked upon in the German Navy as one of the chief factors in an action. Finally they know that their largest ships can stand heavy fire and serious damage, that they leave nothing to be desired as regards construction and cannot be sunk easily. In short, they feel that the British, in spite of all their boasting, cannot overcome the German Fleet and have a considerable respect for it.

This conviction imbues the whole Fleet, down to the last man, with confidence in their strength and a calm assurance regarding future encounters. At the same time they are free from over-confidence and from under-estimation of the enemy. On the contrary, the British fire-control and the enormous piercing power of their heavy shell at great distances have roused their admiration, so that a careless conception of the situation is not to be feared, the less so, as well-balanced minds such as those of Admiral Scheer and his Staff are unlikely to be led away by former successes to undertake rash enterprises in the future.

They do not deny that they were extraordinarily fortunate, and that if the action had been prosecuted with energy on the British side, and if the "Nelson touch" had been in evidence, things might have gone very badly for Germany, especially as the British still had an intact Battle Squadron of 12 units at their disposal which had not yet taken part in the action. But they console themselves with the knowledge that no naval action was ever won without some stroke of luck.

The Kaiser's visit, the day before my arrival, and his address to the Fleet gave great satisfaction, and subsequently many important personages arrive to inspect the ships, such as Prince Henry and the Grand Dukes of Mecklenburg and Oldenburg, and numbers of decorations were distributed. Vice-Admiral Scheer was promoted to Admiral, and he and Vice-Admiral Hipper received the Pour le Merite.

I also visited Rear-Admiral Behncke, who was wounded and in hospital; his wounds are slight, a few small splinters in his head, elbow and knee, and he will probably soon be well again.

COURSE OF THE ACTION.

The Commander-in-Chief intended to advance with the whole Fleet to the waters of the Skagerrak, in order to make his presence felt unpleasantly by disturbing the shipping, hoping thereby to lure on the British forces and in this manner to be in a position to attack a part of the British Fleet with superior or at least with equal forces. He reckoned that any movements of the British Fleet would be reported to him in good time by the submarines which had been stationed off the English coast for some time past, and he hoped that the airships would prove a better means of reconnoitring than any possessed by the enemy.

Unfavourable weather prevented him for a considerable period from undertaking any operations, and, as the submarines were to return home on 1 June and be relieved by a new group, the 31 May was the last date for carrying out the planned advance.

The cruisers left the Jade at 3 a.m., the Main Fleet at 4 a.m., steering an easterly course, and then, after passing Heligoland, a N.N.W'ly course. No reports were received from submarines. These were stationed chiefly off the Orkneys and the Firth of Forth, and the large group of Flanders boats were off the Thames and at the entrance to the Channel.

While proceeding northwards, a few W/T messages were received, but they were corrupt, appeared to refer only to small formations and gave no clue to the movements of the Grand Fleet. The airships were unable to start in the morning, on account of the wind, and, as it blew hard throughout the day in the Heligoland Bight, they could not start until the early hours of 1 June. In this respect things did not go well, but Admiral Scheer decided nevertheless to continue on his course to the Skagerrak.

This the account given by Captain von Trotha, who affirms that nothing was known of the presence of the British Fleet in the waters of the Skagerrak, and that there seemed no probability of encountering this Fleet before 1 June.

There are some points here which I am unable to understand. The submarines are said to have been stationed off the English coast for some time past, and were to return home on 1 June to be relieved probably by a weaker group. For, If the same number of boats were to to keep watch off the English coast, why should 31 May have been the last day for the German Fleet to sail. The day of departure was, therefore, too late in any case, for, if no encounter was to be expected before 1 June, the boats stationed off the coast could not possibly encounter the damaged British ships, as was intended, for probably no damaged ships would be there before 2 June.

The battleship "KONIG ALBERT" had to carry out repairs to her condensers and did not proceed with the Fleet. Von Trotha told me that there was no alternative and that a ship must carry out small overhauls regularly in a dockyard according to programme. But could it not be arranged, when one is taking the initiative, to choose one's moment for an advance and to have all the ships together for this short time? And why should just that moment be chosen when one of the most powerful ships of the "Kaiser" class is in the dockyard, instead, for instance, of one of the "Nassau" class with 11-in. guns.

In addition, the "BAYERN" was to have joined up a few days later. After having waited so long, why should not the plan have been postponed for 2 or 3 weeks, instead of dispensing with the only ship carrying 15-in. guns.

In the same manner they dispensed with air reconnaissance, from which they had expected so much.

These considerations make me doubt whether the account given me is quite correct, and whether, on the contrary, they knew of certain movements of the British Fleet and considered the moment extremely favourable for an attack. Perhaps they only knew of Beatty's battle squadron, and thinking the Main Fleet was far away, hoped to entrap this squadron. In Berlin, they have much to say, even in military circles, about the British Fleet's intention to push through into the Baltic, and of Kitchener's mission having some connection with this. I consider this senseless, for it cannot be presemed [sic] that the British Fleet would leave their shores unprotected and do the Germans the favour of operating in the Baltic, which would certainly be a most advantageous area for the German Fleet. In any case, there appear to be discrepancies which will probably be explained at some later date.

Scouting groups, battle cruisers and light cruisers, together with flotillas, preceded the Main Fleet by 50 - 60 miles. At 4 p.m. the light cruisers encountered some British battle cruisers. These at once opened fire on the light cruisers, at an estimated distance of 26,247 yds.; the range could be taken accurately. Though they did not obtain a hit, the salvoes fell so well that the German cruisers thought it advisable to turn away and fall back on their battle cruisers.

As the British approached, these battle cruisers turned on to a southerly course, in order to lure the enemy on to the German Main Fleet. A running action, on a southerly course, ensued. The British were to starboard and to the west of the Germans, who had therefore the following advantage: in the North Sea, in summer, the western horizon is quite light and visibility towards the west is good, while towards the east, and in a still greater degree off the Jutland Coast, it is misty and visibility is bad and no silhouettes stand out against the eastern horizon. This phenomenon also played great part in the subsequent course of the action. The sun was still high and was not troublesome, and the British ships offered admirable targets. The sea was calm, the wind N.W. 1-2, altering subsequently through W. to S.W.

The following British ships were recognised:- 3 "Lion" class, 1 "Tiger" and 2 "Indefatigable" class; they were soon reinforced by 5 "Queen Elizabeth" class following astern.

It is asserted that, judging from shell splinters, the ship of the "Tiger" class carried 15-in. guns, and that she was therefore the mysterious vessel which replaced the "TIGER" sunk on 24.1.15; as the last-named "TIGER" carried only 13.5-in.guns, this was taken as a further proof of her loss. The silhouette of the new "TIGER", however, is said to have resembled that of the old "TIGER" exactly.

Box 27