Jutland Redux- A shattering summer solstice
- Thread starter johnboy
- Start date
"No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy." - Horatio Nelson
And yet Jackie Fisher described Arbuthnot's actions as "a glorious but not a justifiable death"
There is an exception to every rule.
And yet Jackie Fisher described Arbuthnot's actions as "a glorious but not a justifiable death"
There is an exception to every rule.
First engagements
1519 22 June 1916, Skaggerak, North Sea, 250 nautical miles from Rosyth
It had been a routine investigation of the old tugboat, converted to a steam trawler and operated under the Danish flag. 3rd Light Cruisers Squadron under Rear Admiral Napier had only noticed the three low slung destroyers when they had moved within 6,000 yards of the huffing old tug. Rapidly he had ordered full steam rung up.
Aboard HMS Gloucester, he settled into his position on the bridge.
"Sparks, this is important enough to break silence. Tell the flagship we have made a sighting of enemy forces."
"Sir."
The greyhound unleashed on his own flagship, the engines throbbed to the sound of gongs as the cruiser heeled heavily to port. There was a boom and then a shudder. Their quarry commenced zig zagging and dodged to avoid their shells. The German destroyer's speed was good, but then so was theirs.
The lookout shouted "Torpedoes, starboard quarter! The long steel projectile passed harmlessly by. There were flashes, heard distant rolling noise, a salvo from her much smaller opponent. Small waterspout rose from the sea, short. The Germans were game, or mad. Gloucester had fired twelve salvos as her and her sisters closed the range on the three smaller German ships. Finally a different flash of red from the German. The destroyer's mast and part of her bridge were wreathed in smoke. Within three more minutes four more shells had penetrated her vitals, the ill fated ship a mass of flame.
Then the lookout shouted down again. "Four larger enemy ships, cruisers.....to starboard, fast movers!"
The battle was about to be joined in earnest.
It had been a routine investigation of the old tugboat, converted to a steam trawler and operated under the Danish flag. 3rd Light Cruisers Squadron under Rear Admiral Napier had only noticed the three low slung destroyers when they had moved within 6,000 yards of the huffing old tug. Rapidly he had ordered full steam rung up.
Aboard HMS Gloucester, he settled into his position on the bridge.
"Sparks, this is important enough to break silence. Tell the flagship we have made a sighting of enemy forces."
"Sir."
The greyhound unleashed on his own flagship, the engines throbbed to the sound of gongs as the cruiser heeled heavily to port. There was a boom and then a shudder. Their quarry commenced zig zagging and dodged to avoid their shells. The German destroyer's speed was good, but then so was theirs.
The lookout shouted "Torpedoes, starboard quarter! The long steel projectile passed harmlessly by. There were flashes, heard distant rolling noise, a salvo from her much smaller opponent. Small waterspout rose from the sea, short. The Germans were game, or mad. Gloucester had fired twelve salvos as her and her sisters closed the range on the three smaller German ships. Finally a different flash of red from the German. The destroyer's mast and part of her bridge were wreathed in smoke. Within three more minutes four more shells had penetrated her vitals, the ill fated ship a mass of flame.
Then the lookout shouted down again. "Four larger enemy ships, cruisers.....to starboard, fast movers!"
The battle was about to be joined in earnest.
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