With the success of the 12' armed battle cruisers at Jutland ITTL, could the RN be tempted by a cruiser killer based on the Courageous class with two triple 12', 45 caliber gun turrets. 5.5" turreted secondary's, more armour and a speed reduced slightly to say 30 knots?
The Great War at Sea ... Take 13
- Thread starter Perky50
- Start date
So we'd be looking at a Fast/Heavy Battleship divide between the Renowns and Nelson's respectively.
Makes sense, or work towards a fast battleship with the next generation of vessel, and even then you need about 25 -26 knots and you'd be speedy enough. Folks say the QE's were fast battleships but I don't think they ever hit 25 knots and were more 23 and MAYBE 24 knot ships if you flogged their guts out. So an evolutionary descendent of them could be a 25 - 26 knot ship that can actually hit and sustain that speed. Then you'd also have some faster BC type ships at the 28 - 30 knot range (don't really need faster) to be the fast wing.
I'd not bother with 12-inch guns, especially on something as fragile as a Courageous hull, they had issues with the 15-inchers firing and rough seas as it was, a triple 12-inch would be a nasty amount of stress. Drop the tonnage to around 15k tonnes, add some new 9.2 mounts and thicken the armour and you'd probably have a decent cruiser killer, but the RN had enough of those with their very abundant CL's.
*edit*
I'd go and say that a large cruiser like that would probably be a waste of money, sure she could operate as say a squadron leader or something for cruiser squadrons, i'd rather the money be better spent on an improved Hawkins and Emerald type ship.
Post War the RN wants to keep the following.
4 x surviving QE's.
4 x Renown class fast Battleships.
2 x Canada class ships.
5 x Revenge Class battleships
1 x Tiger (I do recall her getting a sister, dunno if she was completed or not)
I'd not bother with 12-inch guns, especially on something as fragile as a Courageous hull, they had issues with the 15-inchers firing and rough seas as it was, a triple 12-inch would be a nasty amount of stress. Drop the tonnage to around 15k tonnes, add some new 9.2 mounts and thicken the armour and you'd probably have a decent cruiser killer, but the RN had enough of those with their very abundant CL's.
*edit*
I'd go and say that a large cruiser like that would probably be a waste of money, sure she could operate as say a squadron leader or something for cruiser squadrons, i'd rather the money be better spent on an improved Hawkins and Emerald type ship.
Post War the RN wants to keep the following.
4 x surviving QE's.
4 x Renown class fast Battleships.
2 x Canada class ships.
5 x Revenge Class battleships
1 x Tiger (I do recall her getting a sister, dunno if she was completed or not)
Last edited:
Something tells me the Brits may want to look at the issue of their shells not working the way they're supposed to.
Dont really see an advantage to using 2 x triple 12" guns over an 4 x 2 9.2", reload will be slower and ranging harder with only 2 turrets.
9.2" may even be overkill, maybe a well armoured County is the way to go. High freeboard and a deep ships girder will mean they can be driven hard in almost any weather state and lots of room for fuel gives them impressive range as well.
Cost and numbers will always be an issue for the RN, so a mix of the big cruisers and Arethusa types will once again be the required mix, treaties allowing. Which shows how well the OTL admiralty though things out.
Can't see the RN keeping Tiger as the only 13.5" ship, however I could see the other 13.5" ships being kept on well into the early 30s as there isno point giving up a quantative advantage in ships that are more than a match for anything afloat until KGV/NorCal/Littorio types are being built.
A slow drum beat of upgrades for the 13.5" ships would help keep them competitive for longer, new Admiralty FCTs and improved 30° turrets would suffice and keep the naval armament industry ticking over in the UK betwen the wars.
9.2" may even be overkill, maybe a well armoured County is the way to go. High freeboard and a deep ships girder will mean they can be driven hard in almost any weather state and lots of room for fuel gives them impressive range as well.
Cost and numbers will always be an issue for the RN, so a mix of the big cruisers and Arethusa types will once again be the required mix, treaties allowing. Which shows how well the OTL admiralty though things out.
Can't see the RN keeping Tiger as the only 13.5" ship, however I could see the other 13.5" ships being kept on well into the early 30s as there isno point giving up a quantative advantage in ships that are more than a match for anything afloat until KGV/NorCal/Littorio types are being built.
A slow drum beat of upgrades for the 13.5" ships would help keep them competitive for longer, new Admiralty FCTs and improved 30° turrets would suffice and keep the naval armament industry ticking over in the UK betwen the wars.
Last edited:
A balanced 9.2" design could easily hit a bit of a sweet spot for the RN. Able to take on any raider, light cruiser, and probably any heavy cruiser, in a 1:1 match. Big enough and tough enough to require a BC or BB to deal with reliably. If they are built at around 15k tons, they should have enough room for flag facilities, enabling them to act as the leader for a hunter group.
Plus those guns were good, I did a comparison with the 11 inch from the Graff Spee and the 11 inch only had a 2,000 or so yard advantage.
9.2"/51 used on HMS Gorgon and Glatton might be a starting point. 9.2"/50 had a reputation for poor accuracy but only fired 2crh shells, greenboy typeshells should improve accuracy and armour penetration.
On 15k tons your not going to get a balanced design armoured against its own shells, enough belt and deck to protect against 8" is probably the best we can hope for which is fine until the inevitable upgunning competition starts between the various naval forces world wide.
On 15k tons your not going to get a balanced design armoured against its own shells, enough belt and deck to protect against 8" is probably the best we can hope for which is fine until the inevitable upgunning competition starts between the various naval forces world wide.
“I was in a rather dark mood, as I watched over the bungled procedures being undertaken at that point. This had been the second time the tow had parted on that old relic. While the first leg had been relatively simple, other than slow, she had managed it under her own power. However, once her old engines had packed it up, it had been decided that my ship would be responsible for getting her back.
From that point on, my day would become noticeably bleaker as while between our ship’s lack of experience in such matters, and our comrade’s tagging along behind inability to maintain a rather straight forward steady course, the tow would part not once, but twice, the second time managing to shear off the cable in such a manner as to clear our stern in a savage manner, while at the same time inflicting similar hurt on the cripple.
While the casualties of the event were being attended to, I had been forced to stop my own ship as well, as there were concerns of the rudder being fouled by a submerged loop of the errant cable. However, as the offending cable was cut loose and would fall free unimpeded, I gave orders to get the tow re-attached so that our sorry procession might once again be underway.
However, it would all come to naught, for just as the vibrations began to mumble through the deck below my feet, a lookout above would point out the tracks of the inbound torpedoes, and sadly in turn, our day would become noticeably worse.”
Captain John R. Seagrave of HMS Lancaster
---0---
U-63 had come upon HMS Lancaster and its charge as it patrolled the approaches to the Firth of Forth. That the German submersible had located them had been a matter of simply looking in the right direction when Lancaster had been letting off steam just after the tow had snapped.
As the U-boat’s commander, Lt. Otto Schultze, had carefully closed on their discovery, he had been somewhat confused at the overlapping silhouette of the two vessels, initially mistaking them for one rather large vessel of a completely unknown type.
However, as the range closed he would soon decipher that this odd apparition was actually two ships, not one, as the unmistakeable outline of a county class cruiser was soon enough identified. The other one, however, was something completely different.
As he would pick his way toward his targets, Schultze would look over the strange looking vessel through his U-Boat’s periscope with much interest, committing as much as possible to memory to aid in sketches later. For while unlike any vessel he had seen before, from the intelligence reports he had read over the past months, he knew it could only be one of the Royal Navy’s new mobile aerodrome ships, as that could be the only reason for the unusual flat upper deck, running from one end of the ship to the other.
The ship was motionless, riding poorly on the swells, while for whatever reason, a large county class cruiser was along side the aerodrome ship. He had noted another big cruiser circling these stopped vessels, as well as an additional pair of their destroyers too; which were moving about some distance from the bow and stern of the floating airfield. While it was all very curious, Schultze did not have the time or the need to understand just what these English sailors were undertaking, and as soon as practically possible, he would launch one torpedo each at either target. With them safely on their way, He would order his ship to a greater depth along with a new course to vacate the area, as along with most other U-boat commanders, he had learned early on that these days it was not wise to linger in the area of an attack.
---0---
Both torpedoes would find their targets with ease, the first striking HMS Lancaster well aft, and blowing in her hull plates just ahead of her aft magazines, while the hit on HMS Campania would be dead center in her engine room. The result was as would be expected with such hits, and while Lancaster would drift clear, and last early 20 minutes before sinking, Campania would capsize very quickly and be on her way to the bottom in well under ten minutes.
While the escorting destroyers, numbering four in total, would locate the U-boat shortly after, their rather clumsy efforts would allow U-63 to escape without much effort, although the destroyers continued presence in the area would curtail the submersibles activities there for some hours.
While HMS Campania would have the dubious honour of becoming the world’s first aircraft carrier to be lost in combat, Lt. Otto Schultze and U-63 would enter the record books as well, as the ship and crew that had indeed sunk the world’s first proper aircraft carrier.
--0—
While the loss of Campania was an event of certain significance, the immediate reaction on both sides was initially overtaken by other events of that day. While both Jellicoe and the Admiralty would note the loss of these two vessels, there were many other issues to be dealt with that morning as the last effects of the previous day’s battle were being dealt with, while the prospect of further hoped for action was being addressed as well.
On top of this there was the need to provide for not only the safe return of the several damage ships struggling for home ports, and a continued effort to seek out any remaining survivors from the engagements just past.
For Jellicoe, the morning’s light had not brought with it the proof of a great victory over the High Seas Fleet as had been hoped for, and despite all the efforts of the previous day the initial intelligence would show the guaranteed destruction of no more than four, and possibly five of Scheer’s battleships. Comparing that with his own losses and damages known at that point, would tell Jellicoe that while His fleet had gained a numerical victory, that difference was small.
He had taken the calculated risk that Scheer’s ships had retired toward the Skagerrak, and had brought his fleet about in an attempt to cut them off, however with his arrival at that point in the morning, and not finding any evidence of the High Seas Fleet, would tell him that the German ships had either already passed or had managed to somehow avoid the Grand Fleet, and escape to the south.
In the next few hours Jellicoe would find his concerns dropping off somewhat as more intelligence of the previous day’s activities began to filter in, mainly from various groups of survivors from the lost ships of the High Seas Fleet that would be collected during the rest of the day. As well the stunning message that Admiral Scheer had been brought off his sinking flagship would further improve his outlook; that was at least until the first reports of an unspecified number of German battleships that were well to the south of his position at that point in time.
No matter his efforts, no further reports were forthcoming for some time, leaving Jellicoe concerned with the size of that force. By that time, six of the High Seas Fleet’s battleships had been cautiously believed to have been lost in the previous day’s actions, and while some had argued that the likelihood of additional losses had been achieved, those could not be confirmed; leaving Jellicoe to consider the fact that whatever forces he might be able to assemble to face this threat could well be looking at a dozen or more heavy ships.
That the Royal Navy did have a battle squadron in the area was indeed true, as well as the Harwich Force. Also close at hand were elements of the French Atlantic Fleet, which had sailed down the channel and into the North Sea late in the day on the 1st. However, even though these vessels combined would outnumber or at the very least, roughly equal the maximum possible size of the remaining units of the High Seas Fleet sailing south at that time, one would have to consider just what those available ships actually were.
Bradford’s 3rd Battle Squadron, consisting of eight old pre-dreadnoughts, were little better than Mauve’s pre-dreadnoughts that had been dealt so decisively on the previous day by the much more powerful dreadnoughts of the Grand Fleet. While the accompanying Harwich Force would surely be able to overwhelm any light craft remaining with these ships of the High Seas Fleet, the heavy losses they might take in a direct action against a prepared column of the German battleships could well be severe too, given the losses and damages suffered the previous day by the Grand Fleet’s flotillas in their valiant effort against Scheer’s force.
That left the French Fleet, under the command of Admiral Augustin Boue de La Peyriere, ‘The Master of the Adriatic’ as he was so well known in France, for his decisive victory over the Austrian fleet there in 1914. While Jellicoe would have little doubt that the French were very capable in their own right, with ships and men as good as most any in the Grand Fleet, he was concerned that this fine force of six modern dreadnoughts, a trio of the big French armoured cruisers, and 16 of their destroyers, might well be find themselves caught out alone against a superior number of German battleships before British squadrons could arrive to assist.
---0---
Given the apparent fragile nature of the Entente at that point of the war, such possibilities were a real concern, and Jellicoe could hardly begin to imagine just how such a potential loss might negatively impact Anglo-French relation at that crucial stage of the war. That the French Fleet was even there at all, was something of a miracle In itself, for while these elements had moved from the Mediterranean in early 1915, in an effort to help offset growing losses of the Grand Fleet’s battleships and battle cruisers, further attempts at integrating these vessels into the Grand Fleet had not delivered a positive result.
In fact, more events had been further catalyst for the increasingly strained relations between the two allies, which had become so very much poorer after France had taken the view in the past weeks, the main one being that the British had forestalled their efforts to keep their Balkan allies in the war. Additional fat would be added to this fire by the British refusal to transfer troops to the Verdun front, instead keeping them in Western Belgium, which had been long considered by the French to be of lesser importance.
So while the Admiralty had wanted the French fleet to deploy forward to operate directly under the command of Jellicoe, the French preferred to continue to base their forces in French ports in Brittany, and requested that a British battle squadron be assigned there to operate with them.
The Admiralty, galled by the French demands, would pressure the French further, and the French would counter by saying their fleet would sail to join the Royal Navy when Great Britain would assent to allowing total control of the combined BEF, including not only the future campaigns of the BEF, but also to transfer large portions of it to the battles around Verdun, where they would operate under French command.
The British would simply forgo further discussions on the issue, and expend no further direct effort on the subject, simply concentrating their efforts against the High Seas Fleet with the assets they had available themselves, while on the continent, the British Expeditionary Army Group, as it would now be officially known, would further separate itself from the French Army’s overall command.
While at the top the rift between the two nations was growing, both diplomatically and militarily; at lower levels, a level of understanding was reached which would help better allow for the practicalities of association with their erstwhile allies, particularly in military formations at a more tactical level.
The results of these low level contacts would be seen in the last hours of May, when Admiral La Peyriere would receive notice through his liaison’s with the Channel Fleet, that the High Seas Fleet was likely sailing for the North Sea. With certain elements of his fleet held at short notice for sailing in the event of such contingent events, He would be leading his force through the channel by early afternoon.
That he was able to sail in a relative swift manner, was that while he had been advised of the German Fleet’s actions, there had been a higher level contact made by the Government of Great Britain on the matter as well, soon after concerns were raised that something might be afoot with German naval planning.
All the British were looking for at that point was simply to have the French consider a sweep toward the North Sea, that they might be available if the situation turned for the worse, While attempting to put forward his case, Great Britain’s Ambassador to France, Sir Francis Bertie, would be forced to sit through the condescending tirade of French Minister of the Navy, Marie-Jean-Lucien Lacaze’s string of interruptions, where he reminded Bertie that the Marine Nationale was not at the Royal Navy’s beck and call, and that if France deemed it fit to seek action with the Kaiser’s Navy, the would do so based on their own need, not that of the Royal Navy.
He would be again reiterating the point that it was the stubbornness of the British army to refuse to accept French command, and move to support the defense of Verdun that had caused this problem, and then asked how the Royal Navy could think to ask for French naval support, when with the cowardly decision of the British army to refuse to support their brave French allies at Verdun?
At that point Bertie, would finally lose his patience with the Frenchman, would in turn interrupt Lacaze, with what was for him, an unusually bombastic response. Soundly putting the pompous marionette in his place, before rising as to leave. Lacaze, finally realizing just how far he had trampled proper diplomatic protocols, and would attempt to apologize for his words and actions.
: “As he stepped after me, the tone of his voice soften as the beginnings of an apology began to form. As I turned back toward him I would cut him off with one simple question, “Will ‘La Royale’ sail?”
His response was a simple nod, followed by a quiet ‘oui’. With that, I would bid him good-bye, then leave his presence.”
-Viscount Bertie of Thame
The French did order La Peyriere to sea, albeit with strict orders to maintain independent control of his squadron.
While the desired British result of the discourse was arrived at, it would do so at the further degeneration of Anglo-French relations, and while the tone of the meeting, as well as the scandalous content of it, would be kept from public knowledge for some time, It would permanently further damage the already frail Anglo-French alliance.
---0---
“The unmitigated gall of the French to finally openly suggest that the British Army refused to fight at France’s side, when in fact they had been in just that place for nearly two full years would prove to be one of the first major steps on the path to the eventual collapse of the much hoped for alliance between the two nations. That our sons, along with those of the Empire, had laid down their lives in great numbers to bolster French force of arms, was indeed fact beyond doubt, a fact that France so blindly choose to ignore.
The French Field Marshall’s would make great noise in the foulest of manners regarding our nation’s refusal to allow our soldiers to die at Verdun. Foremost among their accusations would be these implication of cowardice, that our soldiers, without the inner will of the French poilu, could not stand before the German onslaught. In truth, the only reason we would hold back our armies is the incompetent leadership of those same Marshall’s. That they might callously bleed out the sons of France was their due. However, we would not allow them to do the same with ours.
That the French High Command would use such low machinations, to cover their own follies in their unsuccessful efforts to bludgeon their way through to the unfound victory at Verdun would not only shed the first rays of light on the incompetence of their armies’ leadership, but as well the folly of their government, who that instead of properly dealing with the issue, would callously attempt to pass the blame onto their closest of allies.”
This all would be the consummate proof of the beginning of the end of that great nation. For while our men are in line beside theirs, fighting our common foe, and Our great fleet is sailing forth to bring the enemy to battle, a battle with an outcome, that may well decide the fate of both our nations, they would attempt to conspire to hold back their fleet, in their low attempt to deliver up our valiant soldiers to a dark fate of French design.
Thankfully, one man, Viscount Bertie, would stand up to this rot and not only see us through, but in his same act, deliver up to the ‘La Royale’ of old, it’s last deserved chance for glory, a chance played well by that fine officer of the Marine Nationale, Admiral Augistin Boue de La Peyriere.”
From: “The Death of a Nation – The Fall of France -1870 – 1919”
By W.S Churchill
---0---
It had been very much a normal sort of sortie for La Peyriere’s fleet, with nothing of note to interfere with his voyage down the channel, and out into the North Sea. With the six modern dreadnoughts under his command stretched out in a line behind his flagship, while scattered around his fleet the 16 destroyers with him were busy looking for submarines and other threats. Pushed out in front of his fleet, his three big armoured cruisers, taking their scouting duties very seriously as they were looking for the German fleet retiring from the north.
As to that fleet, there was little information, as the initial report from the scout Royal Navy aircraft had not been complete. In the initial messages from both Jellicoe and the Admiralty, La Payriere had been cautioned to approach carefully, as while these vessels were in all likelihood damaged, their total number might well include up to a dozen dreadnought’s.
La Payriere had been concerned with this report as well, as with the closest heavy units of the Royal Navy, consisting of the eight old battleships of 3rd BS, were some twenty miles to his north west. As he was sorting through his midday orders, another signal would arrive suggesting that this force should not likely contain more than nine German dreadnoughts.
Not realizing that Jellicoe was basing his estimates on information collected from confirmations of the multiple sinkings the previous day, he was beginning to wonder as to the quality of Jellicoe’s intelligence staff. However, La Peyriere would continue on his course for several more minutes, when a quick wireless report from his north easterly cruiser, Waldeck Rousseau, would report funnel smoke to the north. This would be followed shortly after by a rather more unusual report of three big biplanes which had been spotted to their north.
---0---
In the cockpit of the big Sopwith experimental, Flight Commander Charles Edmonds, had noted the big French cruiser long before the look out on that ship had noted his flight of aircraft as they had flown past just to the north of the ungainly looking vessel. By chancing upon the cruiser, Edmonds had finally gained a bit of luck, which up until that point had been proving evasive.
His flight of aircraft, originally numbering five, had been reduced before even leaving the deck of HMS Warrior earlier in the morning. That a second one had simply lost power half an hour after take off, and would jettison its load, before crash landing in the North Sea. Even if he had of had a wireless, there would be no one to operate it, as his plane only carried himself, and he would carry on with the other pair of planes following, as they sought out their target.
By the time He and his wingmen had spotted the cruiser, flying was not that much fun any more. While the big Sopwith was a stable beast, and in a relative sense, without much effort it easily maintained its position, with a good hour and some of flying time, the accumulative effect of cold, wet and pain was starting to wear him down. The sighting of the big French Cruiser had been uplifting, and followed shortly after his wingman wagging his wings to point out the ships to the north east, the effect of the adrenaline rush would cancel out those negatives, as he led his small flock around to its new heading.
As he eased his charge down closer to the sea, his mind was rolling over the rote and plan of what would soon be upon him as:
“ … my mind fell back to that recent fortnight off the coast of Ireland, buzzing about from our landing field to that battleship cruising off the coast, HMS Colossus, our target. Back and forth we went, three times a day when the weather allowed, learning how to judge angle, approach and windage … like using slow bullets to shoot slower ducks. The whole process seems simple until you try. But we did try, and in our young minds we thought we were the champions of the sky in those lumbering great mounts, as we began to see what we should be doing. There were ten of us originally, three weeks before, and now here we were, dashing in on our fast approaching target, a scant 40 feet off the water, just three of us left to make our mark with our flying steeds. A quick signal to my pals to stay with me as we held on toward the leading big ship of the three ship column, as the odd brown puff would begin to mark the enemy’s gunners attempts to engage us.
Then it was time for the final adjustments, ninety knots airspeed, thirty feet off the water … 3, 2, 1, I grabbed the leaver and gave a mighty tug. My plane literally leapt up and forward once free of the torpedoes weight, as that big engine yanked us forward. In quick sequence we were closing the target, then it was up and over as we raced across our battered and still smoking target.
Great fun!
I looked over to my right, to see Posh still with me, but a look to my left revealed no sign of Rowdy, and then the fun was gone. Caught in the moment I had no time to see if we hit the bugger, and from our perch, I could see no change. I would have liked to circle to see if we had been successful, but time and fuel would prevent that. With a last thought for our lost friend, I would check my compass and head back toward Warrior.”
From “The Seahawks – The RNAS in the Great War” by G. Byron Coulthorpe
On board SMS Brandenburg, many of those who witnessed the event were dumbfounded, as the three torpedo planes had bore in on them, but only for a minute at most.
“We only had two of our purpose built anti-aircraft guns in service at that point, and one could not find a clear arc to fire. But as it banged off its first round, everyone would settle back to their duties, and those who could find weapons were firing back at the fast approaching craft, as our damaged ship began to slowly swing to port. Over the growing din of the gunfire I could hear the rising growl of those planes, and I looked up as two of them raced across our bows, their pilots hunched low in their seats.
The third one I didn’t see, but heard, its uneven engine report telling of the success of our gunners. A moment later its engine would stop in a clatter of noises as it flew into the tangle of aerials between our masts, to be torn to pieces, followed in the next moment by the detonation of a torpedo further aft. Before the arrival of the first reports to let sink in just what had happened, torpedoes delivered from flying machines. Then we were alerted to the sighting to the south west, as once again our tormentors appeared.”
Lt. Heinz Kruger
The torpedo struck Brandenburg square amidships, and while ripping open her outer hull, her inner torpedo defences would absorb most of the blast, and the flooding, while never fully contained, would be slow enough to allow the badly damage battleship to fight her last fight.
While of limited success, the Royal Naval Air Service had delivered the first carrier attack in history. Though it would be some months before enough serviceable aircraft could be amassed to attempt such an operation again, it would prove to be the shades of things to come.
--0—
Back on Iron Duke, Jellicoe’s day was improving somewhat, and while there was still bad news coming in, the good news was finally beginning to outnumber it. By all calculations, the Grand Fleet had sunk at least seven of the High Seas Fleets battleships, while the French under La Peyriere, was bringing the force retiring south, now identified as three heavily damaged dreadnoughts, to task.
With the last of the High Seas Fleet believed to be sailing the waters of the North Sea, being wrote down by the French, Jellicoe would turn his labours to getting his fleet safely home.
---0---
As La Peyriere had led his battleships on toward the German squadron, He had been quite confident that while there would be a good chance of taking damage, with his half dozen undamaged battleships against the three heavily damaged German ships, it was not likely to be much of a contest. His tactics had no need for complication, and would consist of simply closing on an arc that would keep his broadside firing arcs clear, and commencing fire at 15,000 yards, which was near about the maximum range of his two newest ships. So it would come as a surprise to him when at a range of a little over 16,000 yards, the German Squadron would be the first to open fire.
La Peyriere would immediately counter by ordering his four older Courbet class ships to begin go return fire, but his newer pair would have to wait for the range closed another 700 yards, before they could join in.
“If the truth be known, the fire of these German battleships was something of note. While their salvoes were small, no doubt due to damages suffered the day before, that would not stop them from drawing in markedly closer to our ships. In return, at that range our countering salvoes from the older ships of my line would have a much longer time to become effective.
It would be some 15 minutes of fire before a hit was seen on the last of the German battleships. However, in that span of long minutes, our battleships would be hit several times by those German shells, two on my flagship, three on Lorraine, and another pair on Courbet, which was leading the second squadron.
However, within a minute of our latest hit, our own guns, along with those of Lorraine would join the fight, and at that point I sincerely felt that it would only be a matter of time.”
- Admiral A.B.d La Peyriere
What had been seen by both sides as a rather one-sided affair, with very much of a pre-determined result, would require a rethinking. Just after Lorraine had fired her third salvo, a hit from Prinz Regent Luitpold was observed striking her between her two aft turrets. Scant seconds later the rear of the French dreadnought would disappear under a towering plume of smoke and flame.
On his flagship, Bretagne, La Peyriere had little time to consider Lorraine’s fate, as his ship in turn had been struck heavily by two shells from Brandenburg, the first detonating in the upper decks amidships, while the second one had bore through the face of the foremost main turret, and burst inside.
In what had become one of naval warfare’s more spectacular sights, the torn open turret would serve as the base for the towering pillar of fire as the powder and munitions inside the lower structure would burn out. By the time La Peyriere would regain his feet, one of his most modern ships was sinking fast, while the other had lost its two forward turrets, and a battle that should have been a very simple affair, had turned into something much different.
As the battleships on both sides adjusted their fire, hits would continue to fall on either side, raising dark flowers of smoke mixed with flowers of flame. At the end of the German line the savaged Helgoland was failing fast under the steady fire of Jean Bart and France, and with just her forward starboard wing turret returning fire intermittently, the fire from that mount was essentially ineffective. Her speed falling back, and listing heavily to starboard, there was little hope left for the gallant old warrior. While the remaining pair would carry on she would fight her own last lonely battle for another half hour, before finally succumbing to her wounds.
At the head of the German line a shell from Bretagne had struck the bridge, killing most there and leaving the ship to muddle on without command. More shells had reduced her further, and with that the damage from the earlier aerial torpedo had flooded out two of her boiler rooms which in turn had slowed her further.
Prinz Regent Luitpold, with just two of her turrets still firing, now constituted the main strength of the German squadron, and while those four guns were exacting a solid return on Courbet, the final result of the action was no longer in doubt.
Brandenburg would be the first to go, slowing, and listing and with her last turret falling silent, she would be finished by torpedoes from the swarm of French destroyers that were charging in to finish the last pair of German battleships.
Prinz Regent Luitpold would be finished in this way as well, but not before accounting for a pair of her assailants. As the guns fell silent, the French destroyers would set to dragging sailors from the sea, while La Peyriere would bring his Fleet about for the return to port.
La Peyriere had fulfilled his harsh prophecy regarding feeding the fish, the problem with it was that along with those sailors of the High Seas Fleet, almost 1300 souls from ‘La Royale’ would join them.
---0---
For all the numbers of ships that had scoured the Jutland Bank looking for the last survivors of the High Seas Fleet, it had been a small flotilla of Danish Herring boats that had found them. With her bows already submerged, and her portside awash, Fredrich der Grosse’s surviving crew would form up and in an orderly manner, board the fishing boats as they came along side in turn. As the last small boat was churning off back toward the Danish coast, Fredrich der Grosse would roll over, then with a hiss of air and a froth of bubbles, she was gone beneath the waves.
---0---
Over the remaining hours of June 2nd, the bulk of the Grand Fleet would return to port, leaving some of their more fatally injured on the wayside as they came back to the west. Jellicoe had been on the bridge of HMS Iron Duke as he led his fleet back under the Forth Bridge, acknowledging the crowds on shore as his ships came back to home port.
As one after the other, many of those ships would find their way to their mooring points, while others would move off to receive the immediate care of dockyards and shipwrights. There were already some which had been dispatched directly to other locations to see to their damages, while some would simply be berthed in those designated places to take on fuel and ammunition.
While those with various curious or even dark motive that would peer out from the shore and do their best to discern what great men of war had not returned, Jellicoe himself was already perusing that painful intelligence. The casualty lists were compiling as well, the cold hard book keeper’s tally, that would cause him the most discomfort of all his duties. As he took in the took in all this he would ponder the cost:
“We had met the High Seas Fleet, and in our best style, bested them. While from what I could see at that point in time, our victory should be decisive, for with the loss of five of our battleships, along with several cruisers and numerous destroyers, we had, with the help of our French allies, removed the threat of the High Seas Fleet from these sacred isles.
Yet for many of our fellows, they would be remembered for their part in this great victory through their memorials and the remembrances carried close by their kin, while others would suffer on with their wounds in those places of care and convalescence across the British Isles.
As I looked through those records, I noted that the battle fought was in fact a great levening of our great nation, for as this day would slip away, the lamps would burn late in homes across the nations, from the greatest royal houses, to the simplest of cottages, as families and kin of the men of the Royal Navy would await the arrival of news of their loved ones.”
- Admiral John Jellicoe
---0---
Of all the families worried for the fate of their kin that day, one in particular would stand out. With just a half dozen coaches, the great steam locomotive was pounding north out of London, bound for Edinburgh by Royal Charter. The lines had been cleared, and the train was racing north at nearly ninety miles an hour, flashing through stations under her mantle of smoke and steam, her shrill whistle answering back to the station master’s swaying lantern.
In the coaches behind rode a Mother of great importance, Queen Mary, Wife of King George V, and mother to Prince Albert of York. With her son wounded in battle, she would do what few other mothers in the Empire could do, she would set out to be at her son’s side. In a logistical procedure worth remembering, the Queen had moved near Heaven and Earth, with the result this Royal Train would arrive in Edinburgh in time for the arrival of HMS Collingwood dockside.
When questioned on the event later in life, King George V would simply respond by saying:
“I would rather face down a Tiger barehanded, than stand between Mary and her children in their time of need.”
The King and Queen would arrive as the wounded were being brought down from the ship, Queen Mary checking each one as she looked for her own. It had set off a near scandal as she had broke protocol and standard by the dozen. However, the King had waved off those concerned then joined her, as they together would great each injured sailor, her with a soft touch, and he with a kind word of thanks.
“This was how Prince Albert found them, as he brought up the tail end of the line of injured men. In a very un-naval manner, as well as being rather unfit for royalty, Queen Mary, a tear on her cheek, would embrace him. While happy to see him well tended to and whole, she would chide him for being at the end of the line, as the son of the King, he should have been first.
“No Mother,” his reply began, “It would not look good for the family, if I had left in that fashion.”
In his turn, the King would brace his son’s shoulder, and with just the hint of a smile add, “Well done, Mister Johnson.”
-“As Sons serve their Father – The Royal Princes in the Great War”.
---0---
From that point on, my day would become noticeably bleaker as while between our ship’s lack of experience in such matters, and our comrade’s tagging along behind inability to maintain a rather straight forward steady course, the tow would part not once, but twice, the second time managing to shear off the cable in such a manner as to clear our stern in a savage manner, while at the same time inflicting similar hurt on the cripple.
While the casualties of the event were being attended to, I had been forced to stop my own ship as well, as there were concerns of the rudder being fouled by a submerged loop of the errant cable. However, as the offending cable was cut loose and would fall free unimpeded, I gave orders to get the tow re-attached so that our sorry procession might once again be underway.
However, it would all come to naught, for just as the vibrations began to mumble through the deck below my feet, a lookout above would point out the tracks of the inbound torpedoes, and sadly in turn, our day would become noticeably worse.”
Captain John R. Seagrave of HMS Lancaster
---0---
U-63 had come upon HMS Lancaster and its charge as it patrolled the approaches to the Firth of Forth. That the German submersible had located them had been a matter of simply looking in the right direction when Lancaster had been letting off steam just after the tow had snapped.
As the U-boat’s commander, Lt. Otto Schultze, had carefully closed on their discovery, he had been somewhat confused at the overlapping silhouette of the two vessels, initially mistaking them for one rather large vessel of a completely unknown type.
However, as the range closed he would soon decipher that this odd apparition was actually two ships, not one, as the unmistakeable outline of a county class cruiser was soon enough identified. The other one, however, was something completely different.
As he would pick his way toward his targets, Schultze would look over the strange looking vessel through his U-Boat’s periscope with much interest, committing as much as possible to memory to aid in sketches later. For while unlike any vessel he had seen before, from the intelligence reports he had read over the past months, he knew it could only be one of the Royal Navy’s new mobile aerodrome ships, as that could be the only reason for the unusual flat upper deck, running from one end of the ship to the other.
The ship was motionless, riding poorly on the swells, while for whatever reason, a large county class cruiser was along side the aerodrome ship. He had noted another big cruiser circling these stopped vessels, as well as an additional pair of their destroyers too; which were moving about some distance from the bow and stern of the floating airfield. While it was all very curious, Schultze did not have the time or the need to understand just what these English sailors were undertaking, and as soon as practically possible, he would launch one torpedo each at either target. With them safely on their way, He would order his ship to a greater depth along with a new course to vacate the area, as along with most other U-boat commanders, he had learned early on that these days it was not wise to linger in the area of an attack.
---0---
Both torpedoes would find their targets with ease, the first striking HMS Lancaster well aft, and blowing in her hull plates just ahead of her aft magazines, while the hit on HMS Campania would be dead center in her engine room. The result was as would be expected with such hits, and while Lancaster would drift clear, and last early 20 minutes before sinking, Campania would capsize very quickly and be on her way to the bottom in well under ten minutes.
While the escorting destroyers, numbering four in total, would locate the U-boat shortly after, their rather clumsy efforts would allow U-63 to escape without much effort, although the destroyers continued presence in the area would curtail the submersibles activities there for some hours.
While HMS Campania would have the dubious honour of becoming the world’s first aircraft carrier to be lost in combat, Lt. Otto Schultze and U-63 would enter the record books as well, as the ship and crew that had indeed sunk the world’s first proper aircraft carrier.
--0—
While the loss of Campania was an event of certain significance, the immediate reaction on both sides was initially overtaken by other events of that day. While both Jellicoe and the Admiralty would note the loss of these two vessels, there were many other issues to be dealt with that morning as the last effects of the previous day’s battle were being dealt with, while the prospect of further hoped for action was being addressed as well.
On top of this there was the need to provide for not only the safe return of the several damage ships struggling for home ports, and a continued effort to seek out any remaining survivors from the engagements just past.
For Jellicoe, the morning’s light had not brought with it the proof of a great victory over the High Seas Fleet as had been hoped for, and despite all the efforts of the previous day the initial intelligence would show the guaranteed destruction of no more than four, and possibly five of Scheer’s battleships. Comparing that with his own losses and damages known at that point, would tell Jellicoe that while His fleet had gained a numerical victory, that difference was small.
He had taken the calculated risk that Scheer’s ships had retired toward the Skagerrak, and had brought his fleet about in an attempt to cut them off, however with his arrival at that point in the morning, and not finding any evidence of the High Seas Fleet, would tell him that the German ships had either already passed or had managed to somehow avoid the Grand Fleet, and escape to the south.
In the next few hours Jellicoe would find his concerns dropping off somewhat as more intelligence of the previous day’s activities began to filter in, mainly from various groups of survivors from the lost ships of the High Seas Fleet that would be collected during the rest of the day. As well the stunning message that Admiral Scheer had been brought off his sinking flagship would further improve his outlook; that was at least until the first reports of an unspecified number of German battleships that were well to the south of his position at that point in time.
No matter his efforts, no further reports were forthcoming for some time, leaving Jellicoe concerned with the size of that force. By that time, six of the High Seas Fleet’s battleships had been cautiously believed to have been lost in the previous day’s actions, and while some had argued that the likelihood of additional losses had been achieved, those could not be confirmed; leaving Jellicoe to consider the fact that whatever forces he might be able to assemble to face this threat could well be looking at a dozen or more heavy ships.
That the Royal Navy did have a battle squadron in the area was indeed true, as well as the Harwich Force. Also close at hand were elements of the French Atlantic Fleet, which had sailed down the channel and into the North Sea late in the day on the 1st. However, even though these vessels combined would outnumber or at the very least, roughly equal the maximum possible size of the remaining units of the High Seas Fleet sailing south at that time, one would have to consider just what those available ships actually were.
Bradford’s 3rd Battle Squadron, consisting of eight old pre-dreadnoughts, were little better than Mauve’s pre-dreadnoughts that had been dealt so decisively on the previous day by the much more powerful dreadnoughts of the Grand Fleet. While the accompanying Harwich Force would surely be able to overwhelm any light craft remaining with these ships of the High Seas Fleet, the heavy losses they might take in a direct action against a prepared column of the German battleships could well be severe too, given the losses and damages suffered the previous day by the Grand Fleet’s flotillas in their valiant effort against Scheer’s force.
That left the French Fleet, under the command of Admiral Augustin Boue de La Peyriere, ‘The Master of the Adriatic’ as he was so well known in France, for his decisive victory over the Austrian fleet there in 1914. While Jellicoe would have little doubt that the French were very capable in their own right, with ships and men as good as most any in the Grand Fleet, he was concerned that this fine force of six modern dreadnoughts, a trio of the big French armoured cruisers, and 16 of their destroyers, might well be find themselves caught out alone against a superior number of German battleships before British squadrons could arrive to assist.
---0---
Given the apparent fragile nature of the Entente at that point of the war, such possibilities were a real concern, and Jellicoe could hardly begin to imagine just how such a potential loss might negatively impact Anglo-French relation at that crucial stage of the war. That the French Fleet was even there at all, was something of a miracle In itself, for while these elements had moved from the Mediterranean in early 1915, in an effort to help offset growing losses of the Grand Fleet’s battleships and battle cruisers, further attempts at integrating these vessels into the Grand Fleet had not delivered a positive result.
In fact, more events had been further catalyst for the increasingly strained relations between the two allies, which had become so very much poorer after France had taken the view in the past weeks, the main one being that the British had forestalled their efforts to keep their Balkan allies in the war. Additional fat would be added to this fire by the British refusal to transfer troops to the Verdun front, instead keeping them in Western Belgium, which had been long considered by the French to be of lesser importance.
So while the Admiralty had wanted the French fleet to deploy forward to operate directly under the command of Jellicoe, the French preferred to continue to base their forces in French ports in Brittany, and requested that a British battle squadron be assigned there to operate with them.
The Admiralty, galled by the French demands, would pressure the French further, and the French would counter by saying their fleet would sail to join the Royal Navy when Great Britain would assent to allowing total control of the combined BEF, including not only the future campaigns of the BEF, but also to transfer large portions of it to the battles around Verdun, where they would operate under French command.
The British would simply forgo further discussions on the issue, and expend no further direct effort on the subject, simply concentrating their efforts against the High Seas Fleet with the assets they had available themselves, while on the continent, the British Expeditionary Army Group, as it would now be officially known, would further separate itself from the French Army’s overall command.
While at the top the rift between the two nations was growing, both diplomatically and militarily; at lower levels, a level of understanding was reached which would help better allow for the practicalities of association with their erstwhile allies, particularly in military formations at a more tactical level.
The results of these low level contacts would be seen in the last hours of May, when Admiral La Peyriere would receive notice through his liaison’s with the Channel Fleet, that the High Seas Fleet was likely sailing for the North Sea. With certain elements of his fleet held at short notice for sailing in the event of such contingent events, He would be leading his force through the channel by early afternoon.
That he was able to sail in a relative swift manner, was that while he had been advised of the German Fleet’s actions, there had been a higher level contact made by the Government of Great Britain on the matter as well, soon after concerns were raised that something might be afoot with German naval planning.
All the British were looking for at that point was simply to have the French consider a sweep toward the North Sea, that they might be available if the situation turned for the worse, While attempting to put forward his case, Great Britain’s Ambassador to France, Sir Francis Bertie, would be forced to sit through the condescending tirade of French Minister of the Navy, Marie-Jean-Lucien Lacaze’s string of interruptions, where he reminded Bertie that the Marine Nationale was not at the Royal Navy’s beck and call, and that if France deemed it fit to seek action with the Kaiser’s Navy, the would do so based on their own need, not that of the Royal Navy.
He would be again reiterating the point that it was the stubbornness of the British army to refuse to accept French command, and move to support the defense of Verdun that had caused this problem, and then asked how the Royal Navy could think to ask for French naval support, when with the cowardly decision of the British army to refuse to support their brave French allies at Verdun?
At that point Bertie, would finally lose his patience with the Frenchman, would in turn interrupt Lacaze, with what was for him, an unusually bombastic response. Soundly putting the pompous marionette in his place, before rising as to leave. Lacaze, finally realizing just how far he had trampled proper diplomatic protocols, and would attempt to apologize for his words and actions.
: “As he stepped after me, the tone of his voice soften as the beginnings of an apology began to form. As I turned back toward him I would cut him off with one simple question, “Will ‘La Royale’ sail?”
His response was a simple nod, followed by a quiet ‘oui’. With that, I would bid him good-bye, then leave his presence.”
-Viscount Bertie of Thame
The French did order La Peyriere to sea, albeit with strict orders to maintain independent control of his squadron.
While the desired British result of the discourse was arrived at, it would do so at the further degeneration of Anglo-French relations, and while the tone of the meeting, as well as the scandalous content of it, would be kept from public knowledge for some time, It would permanently further damage the already frail Anglo-French alliance.
---0---
“The unmitigated gall of the French to finally openly suggest that the British Army refused to fight at France’s side, when in fact they had been in just that place for nearly two full years would prove to be one of the first major steps on the path to the eventual collapse of the much hoped for alliance between the two nations. That our sons, along with those of the Empire, had laid down their lives in great numbers to bolster French force of arms, was indeed fact beyond doubt, a fact that France so blindly choose to ignore.
The French Field Marshall’s would make great noise in the foulest of manners regarding our nation’s refusal to allow our soldiers to die at Verdun. Foremost among their accusations would be these implication of cowardice, that our soldiers, without the inner will of the French poilu, could not stand before the German onslaught. In truth, the only reason we would hold back our armies is the incompetent leadership of those same Marshall’s. That they might callously bleed out the sons of France was their due. However, we would not allow them to do the same with ours.
That the French High Command would use such low machinations, to cover their own follies in their unsuccessful efforts to bludgeon their way through to the unfound victory at Verdun would not only shed the first rays of light on the incompetence of their armies’ leadership, but as well the folly of their government, who that instead of properly dealing with the issue, would callously attempt to pass the blame onto their closest of allies.”
This all would be the consummate proof of the beginning of the end of that great nation. For while our men are in line beside theirs, fighting our common foe, and Our great fleet is sailing forth to bring the enemy to battle, a battle with an outcome, that may well decide the fate of both our nations, they would attempt to conspire to hold back their fleet, in their low attempt to deliver up our valiant soldiers to a dark fate of French design.
Thankfully, one man, Viscount Bertie, would stand up to this rot and not only see us through, but in his same act, deliver up to the ‘La Royale’ of old, it’s last deserved chance for glory, a chance played well by that fine officer of the Marine Nationale, Admiral Augistin Boue de La Peyriere.”
From: “The Death of a Nation – The Fall of France -1870 – 1919”
By W.S Churchill
---0---
It had been very much a normal sort of sortie for La Peyriere’s fleet, with nothing of note to interfere with his voyage down the channel, and out into the North Sea. With the six modern dreadnoughts under his command stretched out in a line behind his flagship, while scattered around his fleet the 16 destroyers with him were busy looking for submarines and other threats. Pushed out in front of his fleet, his three big armoured cruisers, taking their scouting duties very seriously as they were looking for the German fleet retiring from the north.
As to that fleet, there was little information, as the initial report from the scout Royal Navy aircraft had not been complete. In the initial messages from both Jellicoe and the Admiralty, La Payriere had been cautioned to approach carefully, as while these vessels were in all likelihood damaged, their total number might well include up to a dozen dreadnought’s.
La Payriere had been concerned with this report as well, as with the closest heavy units of the Royal Navy, consisting of the eight old battleships of 3rd BS, were some twenty miles to his north west. As he was sorting through his midday orders, another signal would arrive suggesting that this force should not likely contain more than nine German dreadnoughts.
Not realizing that Jellicoe was basing his estimates on information collected from confirmations of the multiple sinkings the previous day, he was beginning to wonder as to the quality of Jellicoe’s intelligence staff. However, La Peyriere would continue on his course for several more minutes, when a quick wireless report from his north easterly cruiser, Waldeck Rousseau, would report funnel smoke to the north. This would be followed shortly after by a rather more unusual report of three big biplanes which had been spotted to their north.
---0---
In the cockpit of the big Sopwith experimental, Flight Commander Charles Edmonds, had noted the big French cruiser long before the look out on that ship had noted his flight of aircraft as they had flown past just to the north of the ungainly looking vessel. By chancing upon the cruiser, Edmonds had finally gained a bit of luck, which up until that point had been proving evasive.
His flight of aircraft, originally numbering five, had been reduced before even leaving the deck of HMS Warrior earlier in the morning. That a second one had simply lost power half an hour after take off, and would jettison its load, before crash landing in the North Sea. Even if he had of had a wireless, there would be no one to operate it, as his plane only carried himself, and he would carry on with the other pair of planes following, as they sought out their target.
By the time He and his wingmen had spotted the cruiser, flying was not that much fun any more. While the big Sopwith was a stable beast, and in a relative sense, without much effort it easily maintained its position, with a good hour and some of flying time, the accumulative effect of cold, wet and pain was starting to wear him down. The sighting of the big French Cruiser had been uplifting, and followed shortly after his wingman wagging his wings to point out the ships to the north east, the effect of the adrenaline rush would cancel out those negatives, as he led his small flock around to its new heading.
As he eased his charge down closer to the sea, his mind was rolling over the rote and plan of what would soon be upon him as:
“ … my mind fell back to that recent fortnight off the coast of Ireland, buzzing about from our landing field to that battleship cruising off the coast, HMS Colossus, our target. Back and forth we went, three times a day when the weather allowed, learning how to judge angle, approach and windage … like using slow bullets to shoot slower ducks. The whole process seems simple until you try. But we did try, and in our young minds we thought we were the champions of the sky in those lumbering great mounts, as we began to see what we should be doing. There were ten of us originally, three weeks before, and now here we were, dashing in on our fast approaching target, a scant 40 feet off the water, just three of us left to make our mark with our flying steeds. A quick signal to my pals to stay with me as we held on toward the leading big ship of the three ship column, as the odd brown puff would begin to mark the enemy’s gunners attempts to engage us.
Then it was time for the final adjustments, ninety knots airspeed, thirty feet off the water … 3, 2, 1, I grabbed the leaver and gave a mighty tug. My plane literally leapt up and forward once free of the torpedoes weight, as that big engine yanked us forward. In quick sequence we were closing the target, then it was up and over as we raced across our battered and still smoking target.
Great fun!
I looked over to my right, to see Posh still with me, but a look to my left revealed no sign of Rowdy, and then the fun was gone. Caught in the moment I had no time to see if we hit the bugger, and from our perch, I could see no change. I would have liked to circle to see if we had been successful, but time and fuel would prevent that. With a last thought for our lost friend, I would check my compass and head back toward Warrior.”
From “The Seahawks – The RNAS in the Great War” by G. Byron Coulthorpe
On board SMS Brandenburg, many of those who witnessed the event were dumbfounded, as the three torpedo planes had bore in on them, but only for a minute at most.
“We only had two of our purpose built anti-aircraft guns in service at that point, and one could not find a clear arc to fire. But as it banged off its first round, everyone would settle back to their duties, and those who could find weapons were firing back at the fast approaching craft, as our damaged ship began to slowly swing to port. Over the growing din of the gunfire I could hear the rising growl of those planes, and I looked up as two of them raced across our bows, their pilots hunched low in their seats.
The third one I didn’t see, but heard, its uneven engine report telling of the success of our gunners. A moment later its engine would stop in a clatter of noises as it flew into the tangle of aerials between our masts, to be torn to pieces, followed in the next moment by the detonation of a torpedo further aft. Before the arrival of the first reports to let sink in just what had happened, torpedoes delivered from flying machines. Then we were alerted to the sighting to the south west, as once again our tormentors appeared.”
Lt. Heinz Kruger
The torpedo struck Brandenburg square amidships, and while ripping open her outer hull, her inner torpedo defences would absorb most of the blast, and the flooding, while never fully contained, would be slow enough to allow the badly damage battleship to fight her last fight.
While of limited success, the Royal Naval Air Service had delivered the first carrier attack in history. Though it would be some months before enough serviceable aircraft could be amassed to attempt such an operation again, it would prove to be the shades of things to come.
--0—
Back on Iron Duke, Jellicoe’s day was improving somewhat, and while there was still bad news coming in, the good news was finally beginning to outnumber it. By all calculations, the Grand Fleet had sunk at least seven of the High Seas Fleets battleships, while the French under La Peyriere, was bringing the force retiring south, now identified as three heavily damaged dreadnoughts, to task.
With the last of the High Seas Fleet believed to be sailing the waters of the North Sea, being wrote down by the French, Jellicoe would turn his labours to getting his fleet safely home.
---0---
As La Peyriere had led his battleships on toward the German squadron, He had been quite confident that while there would be a good chance of taking damage, with his half dozen undamaged battleships against the three heavily damaged German ships, it was not likely to be much of a contest. His tactics had no need for complication, and would consist of simply closing on an arc that would keep his broadside firing arcs clear, and commencing fire at 15,000 yards, which was near about the maximum range of his two newest ships. So it would come as a surprise to him when at a range of a little over 16,000 yards, the German Squadron would be the first to open fire.
La Peyriere would immediately counter by ordering his four older Courbet class ships to begin go return fire, but his newer pair would have to wait for the range closed another 700 yards, before they could join in.
“If the truth be known, the fire of these German battleships was something of note. While their salvoes were small, no doubt due to damages suffered the day before, that would not stop them from drawing in markedly closer to our ships. In return, at that range our countering salvoes from the older ships of my line would have a much longer time to become effective.
It would be some 15 minutes of fire before a hit was seen on the last of the German battleships. However, in that span of long minutes, our battleships would be hit several times by those German shells, two on my flagship, three on Lorraine, and another pair on Courbet, which was leading the second squadron.
However, within a minute of our latest hit, our own guns, along with those of Lorraine would join the fight, and at that point I sincerely felt that it would only be a matter of time.”
- Admiral A.B.d La Peyriere
What had been seen by both sides as a rather one-sided affair, with very much of a pre-determined result, would require a rethinking. Just after Lorraine had fired her third salvo, a hit from Prinz Regent Luitpold was observed striking her between her two aft turrets. Scant seconds later the rear of the French dreadnought would disappear under a towering plume of smoke and flame.
On his flagship, Bretagne, La Peyriere had little time to consider Lorraine’s fate, as his ship in turn had been struck heavily by two shells from Brandenburg, the first detonating in the upper decks amidships, while the second one had bore through the face of the foremost main turret, and burst inside.
In what had become one of naval warfare’s more spectacular sights, the torn open turret would serve as the base for the towering pillar of fire as the powder and munitions inside the lower structure would burn out. By the time La Peyriere would regain his feet, one of his most modern ships was sinking fast, while the other had lost its two forward turrets, and a battle that should have been a very simple affair, had turned into something much different.
As the battleships on both sides adjusted their fire, hits would continue to fall on either side, raising dark flowers of smoke mixed with flowers of flame. At the end of the German line the savaged Helgoland was failing fast under the steady fire of Jean Bart and France, and with just her forward starboard wing turret returning fire intermittently, the fire from that mount was essentially ineffective. Her speed falling back, and listing heavily to starboard, there was little hope left for the gallant old warrior. While the remaining pair would carry on she would fight her own last lonely battle for another half hour, before finally succumbing to her wounds.
At the head of the German line a shell from Bretagne had struck the bridge, killing most there and leaving the ship to muddle on without command. More shells had reduced her further, and with that the damage from the earlier aerial torpedo had flooded out two of her boiler rooms which in turn had slowed her further.
Prinz Regent Luitpold, with just two of her turrets still firing, now constituted the main strength of the German squadron, and while those four guns were exacting a solid return on Courbet, the final result of the action was no longer in doubt.
Brandenburg would be the first to go, slowing, and listing and with her last turret falling silent, she would be finished by torpedoes from the swarm of French destroyers that were charging in to finish the last pair of German battleships.
Prinz Regent Luitpold would be finished in this way as well, but not before accounting for a pair of her assailants. As the guns fell silent, the French destroyers would set to dragging sailors from the sea, while La Peyriere would bring his Fleet about for the return to port.
La Peyriere had fulfilled his harsh prophecy regarding feeding the fish, the problem with it was that along with those sailors of the High Seas Fleet, almost 1300 souls from ‘La Royale’ would join them.
---0---
For all the numbers of ships that had scoured the Jutland Bank looking for the last survivors of the High Seas Fleet, it had been a small flotilla of Danish Herring boats that had found them. With her bows already submerged, and her portside awash, Fredrich der Grosse’s surviving crew would form up and in an orderly manner, board the fishing boats as they came along side in turn. As the last small boat was churning off back toward the Danish coast, Fredrich der Grosse would roll over, then with a hiss of air and a froth of bubbles, she was gone beneath the waves.
---0---
Over the remaining hours of June 2nd, the bulk of the Grand Fleet would return to port, leaving some of their more fatally injured on the wayside as they came back to the west. Jellicoe had been on the bridge of HMS Iron Duke as he led his fleet back under the Forth Bridge, acknowledging the crowds on shore as his ships came back to home port.
As one after the other, many of those ships would find their way to their mooring points, while others would move off to receive the immediate care of dockyards and shipwrights. There were already some which had been dispatched directly to other locations to see to their damages, while some would simply be berthed in those designated places to take on fuel and ammunition.
While those with various curious or even dark motive that would peer out from the shore and do their best to discern what great men of war had not returned, Jellicoe himself was already perusing that painful intelligence. The casualty lists were compiling as well, the cold hard book keeper’s tally, that would cause him the most discomfort of all his duties. As he took in the took in all this he would ponder the cost:
“We had met the High Seas Fleet, and in our best style, bested them. While from what I could see at that point in time, our victory should be decisive, for with the loss of five of our battleships, along with several cruisers and numerous destroyers, we had, with the help of our French allies, removed the threat of the High Seas Fleet from these sacred isles.
Yet for many of our fellows, they would be remembered for their part in this great victory through their memorials and the remembrances carried close by their kin, while others would suffer on with their wounds in those places of care and convalescence across the British Isles.
As I looked through those records, I noted that the battle fought was in fact a great levening of our great nation, for as this day would slip away, the lamps would burn late in homes across the nations, from the greatest royal houses, to the simplest of cottages, as families and kin of the men of the Royal Navy would await the arrival of news of their loved ones.”
- Admiral John Jellicoe
---0---
Of all the families worried for the fate of their kin that day, one in particular would stand out. With just a half dozen coaches, the great steam locomotive was pounding north out of London, bound for Edinburgh by Royal Charter. The lines had been cleared, and the train was racing north at nearly ninety miles an hour, flashing through stations under her mantle of smoke and steam, her shrill whistle answering back to the station master’s swaying lantern.
In the coaches behind rode a Mother of great importance, Queen Mary, Wife of King George V, and mother to Prince Albert of York. With her son wounded in battle, she would do what few other mothers in the Empire could do, she would set out to be at her son’s side. In a logistical procedure worth remembering, the Queen had moved near Heaven and Earth, with the result this Royal Train would arrive in Edinburgh in time for the arrival of HMS Collingwood dockside.
When questioned on the event later in life, King George V would simply respond by saying:
“I would rather face down a Tiger barehanded, than stand between Mary and her children in their time of need.”
The King and Queen would arrive as the wounded were being brought down from the ship, Queen Mary checking each one as she looked for her own. It had set off a near scandal as she had broke protocol and standard by the dozen. However, the King had waved off those concerned then joined her, as they together would great each injured sailor, her with a soft touch, and he with a kind word of thanks.
“This was how Prince Albert found them, as he brought up the tail end of the line of injured men. In a very un-naval manner, as well as being rather unfit for royalty, Queen Mary, a tear on her cheek, would embrace him. While happy to see him well tended to and whole, she would chide him for being at the end of the line, as the son of the King, he should have been first.
“No Mother,” his reply began, “It would not look good for the family, if I had left in that fashion.”
In his turn, the King would brace his son’s shoulder, and with just the hint of a smile add, “Well done, Mister Johnson.”
-“As Sons serve their Father – The Royal Princes in the Great War”.
---0---
4 x surviving QE's.
4 x Renown class fast Battleships.
2 x Canada class ships.
5 x Revenge Class battleships
1 x Tiger (I do recall her getting a sister, dunno if she was completed or not)
I'm not sure about this.
In 1916 or 17, in this timeline, the German navy is finished.
The French, Italian, and Imperial Russian navies are allies, and not in the same league as the RN.
The Japanese are allies as well. In 1917, they have 6 14" BB/BC (4 kongo, 2 fuso) and 2 14" (ise) building.
The US have, in 1917, 8 12", and 6 14" and 3 14" (new mexico) building.
Both of these would be outclassed by keeping only the Revenge, QE's and Renowns, all 15", and keeping pace with the other navies building programme.
The US, which superficially has a strong battleship line, has no cruisers less than 10 years old, and even those are less then impressive.
When compared to the RN they are also short of destroyers.
So I think keep the 15" ships, and build new if needed. After all they have been turning out 5 or 6 BB/BCs a year since 1908.
4 x Renown class fast Battleships.
2 x Canada class ships.
5 x Revenge Class battleships
1 x Tiger (I do recall her getting a sister, dunno if she was completed or not)
I'm not sure about this.
In 1916 or 17, in this timeline, the German navy is finished.
The French, Italian, and Imperial Russian navies are allies, and not in the same league as the RN.
The Japanese are allies as well. In 1917, they have 6 14" BB/BC (4 kongo, 2 fuso) and 2 14" (ise) building.
The US have, in 1917, 8 12", and 6 14" and 3 14" (new mexico) building.
Both of these would be outclassed by keeping only the Revenge, QE's and Renowns, all 15", and keeping pace with the other navies building programme.
The US, which superficially has a strong battleship line, has no cruisers less than 10 years old, and even those are less then impressive.
When compared to the RN they are also short of destroyers.
So I think keep the 15" ships, and build new if needed. After all they have been turning out 5 or 6 BB/BCs a year since 1908.
Hello all, I'm really enjoying your thoughts and comments.
In a semi ironical sort of manner, it might have been easier for the RN's future building programs if they had lost this battle, for then they could just churn out whatever possible in a mad panic to regain the advantage.
In this scenario things are different, and with the battle's result, in combination with their relative comparative strengths against the world's other navies, they are going to have more time for study before forging ahead with new building programs.
While there will be an impetus for additional battleships, both cruisers and destroyers will trump that, along with things that airplanes can fly off ... and that's just dealing with ships!
there are everything from shell and powder issues, through not only new technologies, but the better use of old things too.
As well, there are issues to be considered regarding the men of the fleet themselves as the first vestiges of a 'kinder and gentler' empire begins to squirm from the egg.
thanks again!
In a semi ironical sort of manner, it might have been easier for the RN's future building programs if they had lost this battle, for then they could just churn out whatever possible in a mad panic to regain the advantage.
In this scenario things are different, and with the battle's result, in combination with their relative comparative strengths against the world's other navies, they are going to have more time for study before forging ahead with new building programs.
While there will be an impetus for additional battleships, both cruisers and destroyers will trump that, along with things that airplanes can fly off ... and that's just dealing with ships!
there are everything from shell and powder issues, through not only new technologies, but the better use of old things too.
As well, there are issues to be considered regarding the men of the fleet themselves as the first vestiges of a 'kinder and gentler' empire begins to squirm from the egg.
thanks again!
I dont think this is realistic at all, it allows no time for maintanace, repair or rebuild, plus the Orions , Iron Dukes and the big cats are a match for anything afloat for many years.
I cant see the Canadas being kept in service at all as they were not admiralty designs, so they will differ in equipment and design principals. They will be sold quickly as the RN rids its self of any ships not designed by the DNC to admiralty standards of stablity, habitation and construction.
Well, so muc for the French/British alliance.
Given the title "The Fall of France", we might see the BEF yanked from French soil.
Given the title "The Fall of France", we might see the BEF yanked from French soil.
Fantastic conclusion to the battle. I can see the 4th plinth at Trafalgar Square having an Admiral on it.
Great story. I would pay good money to see this in print/ kindle format !
Great story. I would pay good money to see this in print/ kindle format !
On one hand, could be a mutiny.
On the other hand, it's France. Domestic politics leading to revolt is par the course.
Excellent update! Superbly written and ominous with the French there too with the 'Fall of France'.
RE the USN they build a superb family of dreadnoughts with the Standards and the Texas and Arkansas classes were fine vessels but as you said they had no cruisers younger than 10 years and most of those were now obsolete armoured cruisers and they had I think 2 CL's that could be considered comperable to RN ones. They also as you said had a real destroyer shortage and didn't have any large modern destroyers until the 1917 Four Stacker family came along. The USN was madly top heavy with almost all the money spent on its very good Dreadnoughts.
They also had a large number of pre-dreads still in service, some not that old and comparable to those lost recently and the Nelsons. Not bad ships, just a bit dated.
What i'd do if I was the RN was this immediately post war.
Retire all 12-inch gunned survivors, scrap or sell them off.
Retire all the 13.5-inch gunned ships apart from the surviving Iron Dukes and retain Tiger and Queen Mary. The Iron dukes would be slowly retired when replacement new builds are constructed, same with Queen Mary and Tiger.
Canada and Eagle offer to New Zealand/Australia and Canada.
4 x Queen
4 x Renown
5 x Revenge
The 15-inch gunned ships become your main fleet and will be more than enough for any threat. Perhaps look at turning Queen Mary into a converted carrier?
RE the USN they build a superb family of dreadnoughts with the Standards and the Texas and Arkansas classes were fine vessels but as you said they had no cruisers younger than 10 years and most of those were now obsolete armoured cruisers and they had I think 2 CL's that could be considered comperable to RN ones. They also as you said had a real destroyer shortage and didn't have any large modern destroyers until the 1917 Four Stacker family came along. The USN was madly top heavy with almost all the money spent on its very good Dreadnoughts.
They also had a large number of pre-dreads still in service, some not that old and comparable to those lost recently and the Nelsons. Not bad ships, just a bit dated.
What i'd do if I was the RN was this immediately post war.
Retire all 12-inch gunned survivors, scrap or sell them off.
Retire all the 13.5-inch gunned ships apart from the surviving Iron Dukes and retain Tiger and Queen Mary. The Iron dukes would be slowly retired when replacement new builds are constructed, same with Queen Mary and Tiger.
Canada and Eagle offer to New Zealand/Australia and Canada.
4 x Queen
4 x Renown
5 x Revenge
The 15-inch gunned ships become your main fleet and will be more than enough for any threat. Perhaps look at turning Queen Mary into a converted carrier?
Love this story. It's interesting to note that it seems to me that this version of Jutland doesn't change things strategically from OTL. The RN is in total control of the North Sea (though this time they know it) and the Germans only option is unrestricted submarine warfare.
The RN will be able to release destroyers from the Grand Fleet for convoy escorts and they can decommission the pre dreds (which they now know are nothing but floating coffins) to man more convoy escorts (when they get around to realising that convoys are the answer).
The RN will be able to release destroyers from the Grand Fleet for convoy escorts and they can decommission the pre dreds (which they now know are nothing but floating coffins) to man more convoy escorts (when they get around to realising that convoys are the answer).
With the HSF out Jellicoe will be much more open, his main fears were the lack of DD's around his fleet due to the prewar building program.