idea of the battle, for it cannot be pretended that they show the exact tracks of all the forces at all times. It is believed that they do not contain errors large enough to give one a false idea of the action.

II. COMPARISON OF THE OPPOSING FORCES

It seems proper that before commencing the description of the action we should see how the opposing forces compared to one another. In this comparison we need consider only four classes of ships: Dreadnought battleships, battle cruisers, light cruisers and destroyers. The British had eight armored cruisers present and the Germans had six pre-dreadnought battleships. The total results gained by the armored cruisers was to cripple the light cruiser Wiesbaden with gunfire; except for this they merely served as excellent targets for the guns of the German battle fleet. On the other hand, the pre-dreadnought battleships proved to be perfect targets for the torpedoes of the British destroyers; in addition, their slow speed was a positive menace to the greatly inferior German fleet, and after the battle they were eliminated from the High Sea Fleet. As both armored cruisers and predreadnought battleships did nothing but to swell the losses of their own sides it will not be necessary to consider them in the present comparison.

British

Sir Eustace D'Eyncourt in a paper entitled " Naval Construction During the War" states that at the Battle of Jutland the Grand Fleet had a superiority over the High Sea Fleet in weight of broadside of 175 per cent. This means that for each pound of metal thrown in the German broadside there were 2 pounds, or a superiority of nearly 3 to 1. Such a comparison is, however, unfair to the British. I have always held that the only fair basis of comparison is the displacement. When a ship of a certain displacement is designed, a certain proportion of this displacement must be allotted to the offensive armament, to armor and defensive arrangements and to the motive power. The amounts allowed to motive power by the British and German constructors were practically the same. However, the British then specialized on their offensive armament and to a considerable extent neglected their armor; while the Germans, on the other hand, specialized on their armor and defensive arrangements and to a considerable extent neglected their offensive armament. It is

amusing to see the British writers comment so bitterly upon the German superiority in armor and to see the German writers lament upon the British superiority in gunfire. It seems fair to assume that the British and German naval constructors were equally efficient and that the British superiority in gunfire counterbalanced the German superiority in armor. This is Admiral Jellicoe's opinion, for he states that "the true comparison lay between the displacement of the ships of the various classes."

Let us therefore obtain the displacements of the British and German battleships which took part in the battle. As there is a little discrepancy in the figures given by the various authorities, I take them directly from Admiral Jellicoe's book:

Thus there were 28 British battleships against 16 German; the average displacement of the British battleships was slightly greater than the German; the British were superior in total displacement in the ratio of 1.78 to 1. You will note that on the British side the Dreadnaught, Emperor of India and Queen Elizabeth were absent; on the German side one ship of the Kaiser class was missing; I believe this ship was the Prinzregent Luitpold. We will now compare the British and German battle cruisers. I use the figures of Admiral Jellicoe:

The British had nine battle cruisers against five German; the average displacement of the German ships was considerably greater than the British; the British were superior in total displacement in the ratio of 1.66 to 1. The British battle cruiser Australia was not present at the battle. The total displacement of the British battleships and battle cruisers combined was 844,450 against 482,070, a ratio of 1.75 to I.

Admiral Jellicoe lists 26 light cruisers as having been present. According to Jane their average displacement figures at 4165. The following German light cruisers are mentioned in various reliable reports of the battle:

Rostock.

Wiesbaden.

Elbing.

Regensburg.

Stettin. Munchen.
Hamburg. Frauenlob.

The following light cruisers could possibly have been present:

It is known that the second scouting group accompanied Hipper. The seaplane sent up by the Engadine reported sighting four light

cruisers. When Hipper turned to the southward his light cruisers followed him. At 4.08 p. m. the fifth battle squadron opened fire on these light cruisers instead of on the German battle cruisers, so that as late as this they were still well astern of the battle cruisers. At 4.15 the light cruiser Regensburg moved out to support a destroyer attack from a position ahead of the battle cruisers. I assume therefore that this ship was employed as a destroyer leader, thus giving Hipper a total of five light cruisers. Scheer also must have had at least two scouting groups of four light cruisers each. At about 6 p. m. the third battle cruiser squadron was engaging two groups of German light cruisers; there were three vessels in the first group, but the number in the second is not given. At the same time the first cruiser squadron was engaging three or four light cruisers of still another group. I therefore assume that Scheer had two groups of four light cruisers each in addition to the ones with Hipper and that he had two light cruisers as destroyer flotilla leaders. This gives a total of 15 light cruisers for the Germans. The Revista Marittima gives only II vessels, but I consider the larger number more probable. The average displacement of the 19 German light cruisers listed above is 4100, or practically the same as that of the British light cruisers. The superiority of the British in this class was therefore 26 to 15, or 1.74 to 1.

According to Admiral Jellicoe's list, the British had 78 destroyers; their total displacement was 77,200, an average of 990 tons per boat. Admiral Jellicoe states that the Germans had 88 destroyers; he apparently means eight full flotillas of II boats each. At that time there were attached to the Grand Fleet 80 destroyers, of which 70 were ready for sea, which Admiral Jellicoe states was "an an unusually large proportion." The additional eight destroyers were of the Harwich force. As the Germans did not put to sea as the result of a long-considered plan, it is fair to assume that only of their destroyers were actually ready for sea, or 77 boats. On 21 February, 1919, the New York Times states that "it is learned officially by Reuter's that 77 German destroyers were present." The Revista Marittima of April, 1919, also gives the Germans this very number of destroyers. I therefore assume that 77 German destroyers were present. It is difficult to compare the German and British destroyers; the British boats carried a heavier battery of guns; the Germans had six tubes to

four for the British. It is difficult to determine the average displacement of the German destroyers. Eleven boats of 1250 or 1300 tons were completed in 1915. Assuming that all these were present, their total displacement was 14,100 for the II boats. No other German destroyers exceeded 750 tons, while there were various classes of destroyers of 555, 561, 640 and 700 tons, respectively, which were present at Jutland. The five boats sunk were:

Assuming that the average displacement was 700 tons for the other 66 German destroyers the total displacement for these 66 boats would be 46,200. Therefore we have the following:

11 German destroyers: Average displacement 1282 Total displacement 14,100 66 German destroyers: Average displacement 700 Total displacement 46,200 Grand total..... 60,300

The total displacement of British destroyers was therefore superior to the total displacement of the German destroyers in the ratio of 1.28 to I.

The British superiority in battleships, battle cruisers and light cruisers was therefore 1.75 to 1; in destroyers it was 1.28 to I. I therefore consider their total superiority to be 1.60 to 1, or 8 to 5. III. THE POSITIONS OF THE OPPOSING FLEETS AT 2 P. M. 31 MAY, 1916, G. M. T.

At 2 p. m., G. M. T., the main body of the Grand Fleet, under the personal command of Admiral Jellicoe, was in position Latitude 57° 57′ N., Longitude 3° 45′ E. The battle fleet was disposed in line of divisions, the line of bearing of the division flagships being 26° true and the course 116° true. The formation of the battle fleet was as follows: