Showing Approximate Armaments and Position of Minefields Fig 3-Map of Dardanelles Defences

The Battle of Jutland.

At the end of April, in deference to protests from the United States and other neutrals, the German submarines received orders to cease sinking merchant ships with out warning. Scheer thereupon determined to use the sub marines thus released in an attempt to trap the British fleet. By May 23, 22 submarines were stationed off the British bases, and the High Sea Fleet was to put to sea on that day in the hope of enticing the Grand Fleet over them. The plan had to be modified as the weather delayed the German fleet until May 3o. On that day, following upon reports of unusual activity by the enemy, the Grand Fleet sailed on one of its periodical southerly sweeps. On May 31, after a preliminary action between the rival battle cruiser forces in which the British suffered heavy losses, the two main fleets met and the battle of Jutland (q.v.) was fought. The German fleet after sustaining severe damage and being skilfully extricated from a very dangerous eluded the British fleet at night and retired behind its minefields at daylight on June I. The Grand Fleet returned to its bases on the 2nd and 3rd of that month.

June 5 was marked by the tragic loss of the "Hampshire," with Lord Kitchener on board, after striking a mine on the Orkney coast.

There were no large fleet movements during June as the High Sea Fleet was repairing its damage after Jutland. All the damaged British ships rejoined the Grand Fleet by the middle of July when a number of exercise cruises took place. In the second week in August, just as before Jutland, an unusual num ber of submarines were reported in the North Sea. Expecting another move on the part of the High Sea Fleet, Jellicoe swept south in force on August 18. Next morning ten Zeppelins were located stretched across the North Sea. By noon a fleet action appeared imminent, the battle fleets being only 42 miles apart, but warned by the Zeppelins, Scheer turned and made for home, and was soon beyond pursuit. The German battleship "Nassau" was twice torpedoed by a British submarine as the fleet put to sea ; the cruisers "Nottingham" and "Falmouth" were torpedoed and sunk; and two submarines were accounted for by the British flotillas during the operation.

During the autumn British squadrons were constantly at sea on observation cruises, while regular British cruiser patrols were established in the North Sea and a submarine patrol was main tained off the German ports. But the German fleet made no move until the night of Oct. 26, when two German destroyer flotillas, working from Zeebrugge, made their first raid on the Dover Straits, sinking two British destroyers and seven drifters and escaping unscathed. On Nov. 5 a division of the German fleet put to sea to help a stranded submarine. The British submarine "J. 1" was waiting and succeeded in torpedoing and damaging the

battleships "Kronprinz" and "Grosser Kurfiirst." Jellicoe, First Sea Lord.—The long winter nights at the end of November enabled the raiders "Moewe" and "Wolf" to break through the blockade. This was annoying but not serious, for it was the submarine which had now become the menace to shipping and exceptional measures were called for to deal with it. At the end of November, therefore, Admiral Jellicoe was ap pointed First Sea Lord to take over this great task. Admiral Beatty succeeded him in command of the Grand Fleet.

In September war against merchant ships was renewed with ever increasing vigour. During 1916, 436 British merchant ships were lost, totalling 1,250,000 tons. Of these 322 were sunk by sub marines, 88 by mines and 26 by raiders, etc. During the year a further 218 merchant ships had been attacked by submarines and had escaped.

The French fleet based upon Malta blockaded the Straits of Otranto watching for the Austrian "Dreadnought" squadron. The latter made no move but the Austrian submarines were active and the battleship "Jean Bart" (Dec. 1914) and the cruiser "Leon Gambetta" were torpedoed and sank. The French admiral with drew his heavy ships to Malta and kept watch upon the narrow waters of the Adriatic with cruisers and destroyers. In May 1915, after prolonged negotiations as to the distribution and command of the Allied fleets in the Mediterranean, Italy declared war against Austria. The Italian fleet, reinforced by 4 British battleships and 4 light cruisers and by 12 French destroyers and 7 submarines be came responsible for the Adriatic blockade. The French Admiral remained nominally in command of the Mediterranean, controlling the western basin, whilst naval operations in the Levant were under British control. The Italian battle squadron was based upon Taranto, but it was upon the cruisers, working from Brindisi, that the principal burden devolved. The cruisers "Dublin" (June 9) and "Giuseppe Garibaldi" (July 18) were torpedoed by Austrian submarines and the latter sank. In September a barrage of British net drifters was placed across the Straits of Otranto, but owing to the depth of water it was not very effective.

The Dardanelles campaign dominated other events in the Medi terranean during 1915 and, with the appearance of German sub marines in that sea during the summer, the task of protecting the stream of transports and supply ships became very difficult. In the autumn the almost simultaneous decision to evacuate Gallipoli and to commence the Salonika Campaign (q.v.) made demands upon the British transport service which all but stressed its powers to breaking point, and the losses caused by submarines became very serious.