A North Sea Diary, 1914-1918 / Commander
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A NORTH SEA DIARY 1914-1918 This book was originally published under the title of " A NAVAL LIEUTENANT " A NORTH SEA DIARY 1914-1918 COMMANDER STEPHEN KING-HALL NEWNES : LONDON Made and Printed in Great Britain by Hazell, Watson <& Viney Ltd. London and Aylesbury INTRODUCTION IN placing on record some of my impressions of the Naval War, together with some accounts of such action as I happened to witness, I have been actuated by several desires and guided by one rule. I have desired that some small record should exist of the part played by H.M.S. Southampton in the great war. This little ship can claim an honour denied to nearly every other ship in the Grand Fleet. Namely, that on all the four principal occasions when consider- able German forces were encountered in the North Sea, her guns were in action. Those days were the 28th August, 1914, the i6th December, 1914, the 24th Janu- ary, 1915, and the i6th May, 1916. As far as I know, no other ship, with the exception of H.M.S. Birmingham, can claim a share in this record, as, though the same squadrons, e.g. the battle-cruiser squadrons, were present on all dates, yet ships that were in action on one day were away refitting on another day. So much for H.M.S. Southampton. My second reason for writing this book was that it seemed to me that a personal record of the North Sea war as applied to the Grand Fleet was desirable. Much of our knowledge of the details of the great naval wars of the Napoleonic days has come from letters, diaries, and personal accounts published at the time in the Naval Chronicles, and the historian of the future will seek for similar sources of information. An impersonal and invaluable account of our doings has been written by the highest possible authority, Lord Jellicoe himself. Of the doings of the company officer on the western front, innumerable books have been written, and I should estimate that the Army could muster a platoon of able writers who have written of its 10 INTRODUCTION actions and life at the front. We in the sister service are astern of station in this matter, both in ability and in numbers, and no one realizes the shortcomings of this volume from a literary point of view better than its author and here I come to this ; but, my guiding rule, book is, to the best of my ability, a true account of the doings of one of His Majesty's two thousand naval lieutenants, and as such claims justification. It is from this point of view that I hope that it will interest all those who have had relatives and friends in the Fleet and particularly the light cruiser squadrons of the Grand Fleet. What we were doing in the Southampton, other naval officers were doing in the Nottingham, Birmingham, Lowestoft, Dublin, Liverpool, Falmouth, Chatham, Sydney, Melbourne, Galatea, Phaeton, etc., to mention a few of the cheery crowd of light cruisers with whom we flogged the North Sea from the South Dogger Light to the latitude of Iceland, and from the coast of Scotland to the coast of Norway. Some remarks on the battle of Jutland, that many- times-fought contest, will be found in the book. I have endeavoured to distinguish carefully between what I saw and what I have heard from others. One of the most mysterious things about the action is the well- known fact that the estimated positions of the Battle Fleet and the Battle-cruiser Fleet differed by 12 miles. The disarrangement this must have caused in the plans of Lord Jellicoe and his staff can only be compared to the case of a man who tries to cross a road in front of a car which he estimates would hit him in ten seconds if he was not across in time, and he then finds himself about to be hit in five. He has got to alter his plans and alter them quickly. Lord Jellicoe, whose book appeared after this book was completed, states that there could be no doubt as to the accuracy of positions as plotted in the Iron Duke, as she had come straight from Scapa Flow, whereas the Battle-cruiser Fleet had INTRODUCTION II been in action for two hours and frequently altering course. At the same time, whilst admitting the force of the above explanation, it has always seemed to me that 12 miles' divergence of opinion was so large that other causes may have contributed to the difference. The Battle-cruiser Fleet had steered an easterly course from Rosyth, and up till 3.30 p.m. there was no reason why our positions should not have been correct. Yet at 5.30 they were 12 miles in error on the Iron Duke. I have often wondered whether, on our easterly course throughout the night, we were being affected by a \- or J-knot southerly set which was not running farther to the north-east where the Battle Fleet was at sea. It is at all events curious that, as far as my knowledge goes, the navigators of the Battle-cruiser Fleet agreed roughly on their positions, and the navigators of the Battle Fleet agreed more or less col- lectively on their own. Perhaps one day a furious con- flict of Pilots at the Navigation School will delight the lay minds in the Fleet who have wondered on this matter. As regards the track chart of the general movements of H.M.S. Southampton, it has been necessary to omit all minor alterations of courses, and her movements for the first eighteen months only are shown, as further tracks would hopelessly overcrowd the chart. It will be noticed that a considerable number of tracks run off the chart to the northward. Continued to scale, some of these tracks would necessitate a prolongation of the chart to the Arctic Circle. In this introduction I am what is known in " getting the Submarine Service as windy," so I will conclude with the hope that the people of this country will always remember that, though peace is very good, security is still better, and that the Royal Navy is as sound an insurance policy for the Empire as any on the market. S. K.-H. CONTENTS PACK INTRODUCTION ..... 9 CHAPTER I. THE FIRST LIFE 17 II. SCAPA FLOW 31 III. THE BEGINNING 39 IV. THE HELIGOLAND BIGHT ACTION . 49 V. THE BATTLE OF SCAPA FLOW . 60 VI. SCARBOROUGH AND DOGGER BANK. 73 VII. THE ORDINARY ROUTINE OF WAR . 94 VIII. MORE ROUTINE OF WAR . '. 107 IX. HARBOUR LIFE ..... 121 X. THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND . 127 XI. NIGHT ACTION 147 XII. SOME REFLECTIONS ON JUTLAND . 162 XIII. CARRYING ON ..... l68 XIV. H.M.S. RAMILLIES .... 183 XV. H.M.S. VERNON 193 XVI. SUBMARINES ..... 199 XVII. H.M.S. MAIDSTONE SUBMARINE DEPOT SHIP ...... 2IO XVIII. THE END 225 XIX. THE U.-BOAT SURRENDER . 229 XX. THE HORRORS OF PEACE . 248 13 LIST OF PLANS FIGURE PACK I. APPROXIMATE TRACK OF H.M.S. SOUTHAMP- TON, NEGLECTING VARIOUS TWISTS AND ZIG-ZAGS ...... 50 II. SKETCH OF H.M.S. SOUTHAMPTON'S MOVE- MENTS ON DOGGER BANK, l6TH DECEMBER, 1914 ....... 78 III. GENERAL SITUATION FROM OPENING FIRE OF LION TO ARRIVAL OF GERMAN BATTLE FLEET, AND GENERAL TURN TO THE NORTH- WARD . 132 IV APPROXIMATE SITUATION WHILST MEETING BATTLE FLEET AND DURING DEPLOYMENT 138 V. APPROXIMATE GROUPING OF SHIPS DURING PERIOD BATTLE FLEETS WERE IN ACTION 143 VI. HUN FLEET CROSSES STERN OF BRITISH FLEET 148 A NORTH SEA DIARY 1914-1918 CHAPTER I THE FIRST LIFE LOOKING back across four years and one hundred days of war, the events that preceded this great clash seem to belong to another age. It seems to me as if I have had two lives already the first up to 1914, the second from 1914 to 1918 and now I feel that a third life is beginning. This curious sensation of having already lived two lives feel rather old such as I have makes me ; years lived seem to have been long ones. It is like the old dodge of making seven days' leave seem like ten by staying in three different places, only the ruse is spread over years. My first life is of little interest to anyone. I was first educated abroad, and in due course followed the family tradition Osborne from the col- by entering ; whence, lege at Dartmouth, the training cruiser, a year in the Neptune with Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman, eighteen months on the Cape of Good Hope Station, and another year in the Neptune, in which ship Admiral Sir George Callaghan was then flying his flag, followed in due course. A hectic ten days at the Navigation School, Ports- mouth, in which period I wrestled, together with eighty others, with an endless succession of examination papers, 2 17 l8 NORTH SEA DIARY, 1914-1918 and I emerged a confirmed sub-lieutenant in His Majesty's Navy. My most lasting recollection of these examinations was that the room was so cold that I wore a greatcoat, in the pockets of which garment I secreted ginger-beer bottles full of hot water, which I ostentatiously dis- played at regular intervals as a silent protest against the lack of radiators. Some hunting in Ireland, and I joined H.M.S. Southampton in February 1914. She was lying at Portsmouth, and flew the broad pennant of a Commodore with whose family my own has been in close association in the Service for many years.