Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937, June 03, 1916, Image 6

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Morning Oregonian., June 03, 1916, Page 6, Image 6

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Newspaper Page Text6 TIIE MOItNING OREG0XIA3ST, SATOTIDAY, JUNE 2, 191G. BUTTLE RATED-AS ONE OF DESTROYERS American Naval Experts Say Most of Damage Was ;.i Done by Light Craft! BRITISH HELD AT BAY Oman Retreat Believed to Have Started When Big Ships ol Re- . Bcrves Approached Within Range, of Conflict. " i PRINCIPAL SHIPS LOST ON BOTH SIDES IN WORLD'S GREATEST SEA BATTLE AND MAP SHOWING SCENE OF CONFLICT. F-R-ETTOX-S LOSSES OF BRITISH AM GERMAN WARSHIPS. Previous to this battle. Great Britain had lost during the course of the war, 10 battleships, 11 cruisers and various smaller craft. Germany had lost 18 crul ers, 19 auxiliary cruisers, chiefly converted passenger liners, and numerous smaller vessels. Since the beginning of the war British cruisers and destroyers have patrolled during: day and night the approaches to the Ger man fleet's base In the bay formed by the mouths of the Elbe and the Weser, protected by the mighty fortifications of TV 11 helmshaven on the south, on the north by the supposedly impreg nable defenses of the Kiel Canal and guarded by the outlying is lands of Heligoland. Until the engagement that has Just oc curred, however, no German fleet has put forth in force to neces sitate the giving of the alarm to the British main fleet. NEW TORK. June J. (Special.) Five officers of American battleships in New York tonight gave it as their belief that the struggle found battle cruisers and armored cruisers with comparatively few - destroyers on the part of the English and de stroyers and battle cruisers on the part of the Germans, with the German destroyers bearing the brunt of bat tle. Drawn from the beliefs of naval officers, the following is an American naval officer's description of what took place in the North Sea on May SI: "Guarded by destroyers and rather Ineffective dirigible balloons and ac companied by armored . and scout cruisers, several English battle cruisers and dreadnoughts, a part of the British high-sea fleet, were leisurely cruising off the coast Of Den mark. Probably they were there on an expedition or in search of part of the German fleet. Possibly they were there to entice the Germans within reach of the main British fleet. Americans Expected Attack In Fog. ( "Whatever their reasons were, they --were discovered by Zeppelins flying so far above them as to be unseen. Possi bly this was two or three days before the battle took place. "The Germans had carefully planned long in advance Just what we American naval officers have long been expecting them to do, to attack in misty or foggy weather, and to attack with fast de stroyers. "The tactics of a destroyer In at tacking a large vessel is 'hit and run.' That is what these German vessels did. "They dashed forward simultaneously at a speed of 35 to 40 miles an hour, making practically no noise and send ing up practically no smoke to disclose their whereabouts. Behind them came the submarines and overhead the Zep pelins watched and kept in communi cation with the big ships bringing up the rear. British Destroyers Engaged. "Before these German destroyers got within striking distance of the Eng lish fleet, of course they were seen by the Engrlish destroyers. But that did little good, for while two Germans surrounded every British destroyer the other Germans went or. "At 2000 yards, perhaps, the Invin cible, and the other great British ves sels sighted them, but the German de stroyers already had sighted the huge hulk looming In the fog and had loosed their torpedoes and 4-inch shells. Re member, at 2000 yards a 4-inch shell can do tremendous damage to the waterline of a battle cruiser, for battle cruisers are not heavily armored. "As soon as the German destroyers had fired they turned and dived back into the concealing fog like scared hares, twisting and turnlntr to keen the heavy shells from the British 13.5s irom. getting a line on their flight. Reserves Speed up to Battle. "Again and again they darted in and out, eacn time inflicting: heavv r!ma? "When a torpedo hits a vessel, no mat ter what the class of the ship, that vessel is liKeiy to quit work. "The result was that probablv wltMn a few hours the big British battle cruisers were sunk or dlsahled. Tint while this fight was 'proceeding the main fleet of the British, summoned by wireless, was speeding that way with scores of destroyers Just as epeeay as tne uermans. "Numerous German destrovers nnV urally. were sunk in this fisrht in Br nntl it is possible that one or two of the British tattle cruisers, like wounded bulls harried by wolf packs, had wor ried through until the German battle cruisers were glimpsed. If that oe curred it Is more than probable that both big vessels suffered, for the Brit- lsn are Better gunners than the Ger mans. Germans Believed to Have Retreated. "The Germans must have begun re treating as soon as the British main fleet was seen by the Zeppelins and trie official accounts more than likely will show that practically all the dam age on both sides was done before that bis- column of monster fighting ships arrived. "There is another possibility and that Is that the Germans planted mines as tney retreated, although this is ex tremely improbable. One thing that is certain is that torpedoes caused most of the damage to the British, if our be- iiet be correct. How far the British pursued is impossible to tell, but It is more ti.an safe to say that the Ger mans SCU&rht the Bjtnrfinrv nt land as swiftly as possible, having ac complished their purpose." Dntch Resetting Survivors. LONDON. June 2. A Dutch trawler has arrived at the Hook of Holland with one dead and seven live Germans, who were saved from the naval battle, says a dispatch from The Hague. Another trawler has taken Into Ymui den three German officers and 12 sailors, and ono British sailor, who was , wounded. A dispatch from Rotterdam to the Reuter Telegram Company reported the tugboat Scheldeentering in the new waterway with dead and wounded from the naval battle. A steam trawler also was reported on the way to Ymuiden with 16 rescued Germans, Including three officers. f V x T II; v J. - ! I 1 lit . - .rJt -v. - ' i ' a all . ns j .,jLai.,-r4 - I Sv -4 --' r- ' ' ' - Y' 3i-J- -.'. . . t ' ; t 15- ' - ' . . .tj.x.'..: t - v'3-ri''."- - . . - - - JLLr ,ii - - fcri " ' SSs sr : : : """ - - . -v- 1A 'A' - , - - - . r' - - ' . I i i - - vt i. J . 5 J Ti" ,'v' - . AA "'T-'&A "tv j Vast t'.,- a".'-' . , . - .-5t - ' 9 -JP II t; ' A"A I" ' Ji r &C & Top (L,eft) German Battleship I'ommern. (Right) Brttlnh Battle CroUrr Invincible. (Center) British (.raiser L 0 3T? - Black Prince. Second Row ( Left) German Cruiser Frauenlob. (Rlsht) Cralaer Queen Mary. Third Row 1 S $P Down British Battleship Warsplte (Reported Sunk by Germans. Disputed by Hrltlsh). Bottom Brit lab Battle IS 2 .T Cruiser lndef atlsjable. Cross on Slap Marks Approximate Scene of Kus;a cement. N) . AS-'Ik T , ; dn' Le rhAut A U 14 BRITISH ARE SUNK Teutons Claim World's Great est Naval Victory. NUMBER OF DEAD IS HIGH Loss of Three Battle Cruiser and Other Lighter Vessels Atlniit . ted by Iiondon; Berlin Con cedes One Battleship. (Continued from Ftrt Page.) naval engagement, according to a dispatch from Copenhagen to the Daily Mail. One of the dirigibles, the L-24, was hit several times and badly damaged, the report says, but she was able to reach the Schleswlg coast. Several of her men were, wounded, and all of her supplies had to be thrown overboard. A dispatch from the same source declares it is generally stated in Ber lin that the activity of the German fleet was due to the energetic de mands of Emperor William to his brother, Admiral Prince Henry of Prussia, Commander-in-Chief .of the navy, and Admiral von Capelle, Min ister of the Navy, on the Emperor's visit last week to W llhelmshaven. Full details of the fight, in which Zeppelins are declared to have taken part, are being gathered by the Brit ish Admiralty and, pending their re ceipt, the censor Is withholding per mission to correspondents to send out stories from London. The Germans apparently won a de cided victory. . The engagement be gan at 4 P.' M. and lasted all night. Several other fighting vessels, some of them battleships and battle cruisers, on both sides, were badly damaged, ac cording to the reports given out, both by the British and German admiralties. The ships known to have been lost carried crews totaling about 6000 men. Comparatively few rescues Were re ported. Several Dutch and Danish small craft have reached various ports with survivors, dead and wounded. Other British vessels lost were the torpedo-boat destroyers Tipperary, For tune, Sparrowhawk and Turbulent. The London statement declares that no British battleship or light cruiser was sunk. The German fleet, according to the crew of a Danish steamer which wit nessed the battle. Included five mod ern dreadnoughts, eight cruisers, 20 torpedo boats and destroyers and two z.eppeiin war balloons. . The British fleet outnumbered ths Germans, according to the Berlin of ficial statement. The London report says, however. that the Germans withdrew to tuelr home port as soon as the main Brit ish fleet appeared on the scene. It adds that the fleet actually engaged consisted of battle cruisers and light cruisers supported by four battle ships and a flotilla of destroyers, tor pedo boats and submarines. Danish and Dutch reports tell or evera.1 damaged German vessels lying lust off shore at various points. Never before have two naval forces of such magnitude as the British and German high-sea fleets engaged la combat. But apparently the battle was not fought out to a point to determine mastery of the seas, for. the losses, serious as they are reported to have been, will not impair the strength of either fleet to a vital extent. Bcepe Is Near Dunkirk. The scene of the battle was In the eastern waters of the North Sea. It Is probable that the German fleet was on one of the excursions into the North Sea, which it has taken from time to time during the war, and met. whether or not by design, with the British fleet. Bkager-Rak Is an arm of the North Sea between Norway and Denmark. The point referred to in the official German statement as Horn Riff prob ably is the reef off tho Horn, on the southwestern extremity of Den-mark. This would Indicate that the battle was fought off the coast of Denmark. From the reef to Helgoland, the main German naval bass in the North Sea, Is about 100 miles. News of the engagement was held back by tho British Authorities, pend ing the return home of the fleet, and the first word received of the battle came by wireless from Berlin, by which means the Germans are able to escape the censorship over cable lines. The losses In the engagement must have been extremely heavy. The bat tle cruiser Indefatigable, for Instance, from which the German Admiralty re ports only two men were saved, prob ably had more than 800 men on board and others of the vessels sunk carried complements of men equally or nearly as large. Moral Effect of German Victory Will Be Great. FIGHT PUZZLES AMERICANS Th Invention of a machine to f rind m and ordinarily too smooth to h of um, bu enabled great quantities of It to be utilized In brlclc manufacture In Vlrfflnlav PRINCIPAL BRITISH VESSELS LOST IN BATTLE, MAT 81. Name And Class. Tonnage. Heavy Guns. Light Guns. Men. Queen Mary, battle cruiser. .27.000 8 13.6-lnch 16 4.0-inch 950 Indefatigable, battle cruiser 18.750 8 12.0-inch 16 4.0-inch 900 Invincible, battle cruiser. ... 17,250 8 12.0-Inch 16 4.0-lnch 7S1 Defense, armored cruiser .... 14,600 4 9.2-lnch 10 7.5-lnch 755 Black Prince, armored cruiser 13.650 6 9.2-inch '10 6.0-inch 704 Warrior, armored cruiser. .. 13,550 6 9.2-inch 4 7.5-lnch -704 Principal German Vessels Lost In Same Battle. Pommern, battleship 13.200 4 Jl.Q-lnca. 14 .7-lnch 729 Frauenlob, armored cruiser 2,715 ;.. io 4.1-inca 264 Wlesberger. British Either Encountered Dread noughts or Entered Mine Field, Is Opinion of Nary Officer.. Big Ship Men Take Hope. WASHINGTON', June 2. (Special.) Reports or the naval engagement In the North Sea. aroused the greatest in terest here, not only In naval circles. but at the various belligerent embas sles and among Administration offl cials. It was freely predicted that if the German fleet demonstrated a real superiority, ship for ship, the effects on the prospects for peace would be considerable. The particulars received here were Inadequate as a basis for Judgment. The prospects for peace would be Improved, It is believed, not because of actual physical change in the bel liferents having taken place, for Great Britain Is still indisputably mistress of the seas. But the moral effect, it Is felt, would be tremendous and would affect the war Just as would the fall of Verdun. Naval officers are still confident of the superiority of British gunnery and strategy. They believe that full re ports will show that a British flying squaaron encountered tne main Ger man battle fleet. In which case the results inould be counted a moral vie tory for the British. "So far as we can judge now the battle was fought on Germany's terms." a naval officer said. "The en gagement may have been due to poor judgment by the British commander, but, on the other hand. It was prob ably a perfectly legitimate chance to take. "The Germans, fighting near home, were able to use their Zeppelins to great advantage as scouts; then. too. fear of mine fields may have embar rassed the British. It seems certain that unless the British battle cruisers were sunk by mines, the Germans must have had a superior dreadnought force in the engagement. It Is almost In conceivable that the Great British bat tle cruisers were sunk by any other craft than dreadnoughts. "In that caxe the apparent fact that the British dreadnoughts escaped must be Interpreted as indicating that the German fleet fled the battle, perhaps In the fear that they were In the pres ence of the main British fleet. If the British pursued, the battle cruisers may have been sunk by mines or by the rearguard action of the German dreadnoughts." Naval officers here say this battle will demonstrate to Congress the ne cessity to continue to build dread noughts. The passage of the battle cruiser Navy bill by the House was a u...'"inininn in naval circles. It is COBB On the Conventions 1 sx; t i- - - IV. : Irvin S. Cobb. Everybody is interested in the National conventions. They're always important. This year they're going to be more inter esting than ever. Why? Because Irvin S. Cobb is going to write about them. He's going to write a story every day, beginning tomorrow, and we're going to print every story he writes. And YOU are going to read every story we print. You know you wouldn't miss one for any thing. And you are going to be sorry when the Democrats knock off work at St. Louis, be cause it will mean the end of Cobb's stories. Cobb is our greatest living hu morist. He is also a big, broad visioned reporter. He misses no vital point. He can tell things so that you, a thousand or two miles away, may see them vividly for yourself. SEE WHAT COBB SAYS IN THE OREGONIAN Beginning June 4. hoped that the Senate will Insist on the Inclusion of at least two battle ships. - "A battle cruiser against a dread nought Is a tin ship." a naval officer declared. "Battle cruisers have their use. and they are Important, but the main dependence of the Navy always has been and apparently always will be heavily armored vessels." The Navy Department expects to re ceive confidential reports from the na val attaches In Berlin and London that will reveal the true slgaiflcance of ths battle. ZEPPELINS TAKE PART DANISH STEAMSHIP CHEW WIT NESSES SEA BATTLE. Two Torpedo-Boata Are First Brltoma) to Ens-age Germans in Running; Fight la Norta Sea. COPENHAGEN. June 1. via London. June 2. (Delayed by censor, naval en gagement.) According to the Politiken, a Danish steamer arrived Thursday at Friedrlchshaven which had witnessed the battle In the North Sea. The steam er reports that Wednesday afternoon. 120 miles off Hanstholm, It was stopped by two British torpedo-boats to have its papers examined. At the same moment a large German fleet appeared, and the British warships Immediately prepared for action. The Gorman fleet, v.-hlcn approached at full speed, consisted of five large mod ern dreadnoughts, eight cruisers and :o torpedo-boats and destroyers. Suddenly the Germans began firing, and several hundred shells splashed around- the torpedo-boats. without, however, hitting them. The British ships went westward, pursued by the German fleet. At 6 o'clock the cannonade was resumed and continued until 9 oclock in the even- in . - Great Northern Railway Reduced rates to Tonasket and Oroville, Wash., account celebration of completion West Okanogan Valley Irrigation Project One ana one-third fare for round trip. Portland to Tonasket and return $1S.90 Portland to Oroville and return 19.55 Tickets on Sale June 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Return Limit June 13th Stopovers Allowed on the Return Trip The completion of the above project will be celebrated at Oroville on June 7th and at Tonasket June 8th. Special train service Wenatchee to Oroville and return, June 7th and 8th, leaving Wenatchee 6:15 A. M.f arriving; at Tonasket 11 :20 A. M., Oroville 11 :45 A. M. Leaving Oro ville 7:80 P. M., Tonasket 8:10 P. M. arriving Wenatchee 1 :00 A. M. Special through standard sleepers, Seattle to Oroville, leave Seattle 10:00 P. M., June 6th only. Con necting train leaves Portland 10:00 A. M. Tickets and sleeping car reservations at City Ticket Office, 343 Washington Street, and at Depot, 10th and Hoyt Streets. II. DICKSON C. P. & T. A. ill Telephones: Marshall 3071 A 22S6 PLAN TO VISIT GLACIER NATIONAL PARK THIS SUMMER SEASON JUNE 15th-OCT. loth A