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By 13.30, Beatty had disposed his force
so that the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron was some two miles to the
north-east of the Lion and the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron;
this was of no consequence. However the Fifth Battle Squadron
was stationed some five miles north-north-west of the Lion.
Whatever the reason, this was to prove a serious mistake as his force
was in no way concentrated and ready for action. Steaming ahead of him
was
his light cruiser screen.
At this point an archetypal strolling player
crossed the world stage. A Danish tramp steamer chose this moment
to pass mid-way between the outlying scouts of both sides. As
the two screens converged to investigate, they soon sighted each
other and firing broke out at 14.28.
Beatty made the flag signal for a general
change of course to south-south-east, which spawned one of the
most bitter, never ending disputes in the whole history of the
Royal Navy. The moment the signal was hoisted, the Lion turned
to the new course accompanied by the battlecruisers. At the same
time, Beatty increased speed to 22 knots. Unfortunately the Fifth
Battle Squadron failed to accompany them. What had gone wrong?
The Barham, the flagship of the Fifth Battle
Squadron, was too far away to read the flag signal made by the
Lion. The signal flags may have been large, but they could not necessarily
be read at a range of five miles; they were only
briefly displayed before being hauled down, this being the prompt
to execute
the order. The dense smoke pouring from the battlecruisers as
they simultaneously raised steam to accommodate the increase in
speed exacerbated this problem. As the 5th Battle Squadron turned
on to their next zig-zag, the two elements of Beatty's force were
left heading in opposite directions. Soon the 5 miles was nearer
10. Whoever was over the horizon, the battlecruisers would have
to meet them on their own.
As the fleets converged, the visibility
was favourable to Hipper: for it was considerably clearer looking
west rather than east. When Beatty finally sighted the German
battlecruisers from the Lion at about 15.30, he immediately
ordered his ships back onto an easterly course to close rapidly with the
Germans. At the same time he placed himself squarely between
Hipper and his bases.
By this time Hipper realised that not only
were the British were present in greater strength - he also
saw the imminent danger of being cut off. He reversed his course
to south-east. This would take him straight back towards the High
Seas Fleet and if Beatty followed him it would lead him straight into
Scheer's welcoming steel embrace.
Aboard the British ships the crews were
called to action stations. Midshipman John Ouvry, was relaxing
aboard HMS Tiger:
There was nothing much going on. So
the hands were given a 'make and mend'. That means that apart
from those employed in keeping the ship steaming, we could have
a 'doss' down, have a lie up. And that afternoon in the sun
it was nice and warm I had a nice little sleep on the quarterdeck.
We didn't know anything was around. No excitement at all. At half
past three tea was piped for the hands. That means the Bosun's
Mate went around and just shouted out, "Hands to tea!" I woke
up and slouched off towards the Gun Room where I hoped to get
a cup of tea. Almost immediately - I'd hardly got up when the
bugles went, "Immediate Action!" That meant instead of having
a fatheaded tea I had to run off as fast as I could to my action
station. Midshipman John Ouvry, HMS Tiger
Listen to Midshipman Ouvry (Ref: 9260) - .wav
| .mp3
The raison d'๊tre of the battlecruisers
and super-dreadnoughts lay in their huge main armament turrets. In
one of the Warspite's turrets was J J Hazelwood.
The guns crews were closed up and eventually
the order to load was passed. That meant that the shells and the
cartridges had to come up from the bottom of the ship where there
were shell rooms and magazines. It was all mechanical, being hydraulic.
They were brought up, the shell first, then the rammer operator
pushed the shell into the gun, followed by four quarter charges
of cordite. We stayed in this position until the order to bring
the guns to the ready was passed. The guns being loaded the next
order was passed, "Bring the guns to the ready!" When the guns
are brought to the ready you simply wait for the open fire, we
were looking forward to a chance to have a crack at the enemy.
We were keen this was the day we were waiting for. The officer
in charge of the turret was also excited. J J Hazelwood,
HMS Warspite
Listen
to J J Hazelwood (Ref: 4125) - .wav
| .mp3
The Germans were both surprised and relieved
that the British did not open fire before them, for they were
only too aware that the 13.5" guns of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron
had a far superior range to the German 11 and 12" guns. Finally,
the Germans found themselves within range and took the liberty
of opening fire first. It was only then, at last, that the British
guns blazed out.
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