Battle of Jutland

[Lorac]

FREDERICK CHARLES TACON of Acton, London lost at the Battle of Jutland 90 years ago today.

Long may you rest in peace Uncle. xx

[Paul Nixon]

Remembering too, two of the men from Chailey lost aboard HMS Invincible 90 years ago today.

RIP Sidney Augustus George Bristow and Cecil Langridge.

[SiegeGunner]

Remembering all those who fought and those who died on this day 90 years ago. Remembering especially Rear Admiral Horace Hood, HMS Invincible, who established the Naval Siege Gun unit (my avatar) during his command at Dover 1914-15, and thinking of Henry Allingham, who was present in HMS Kingfisher on 31 May 1916.

Mick

[T8HANTS]

In grateful thanks that my Grandfathers ship H.M.S. Cochrane was one of only two that did not fire a single shot through the great action, because they were acting a cruiser screen on the opposite side of the fleet to the German High Seas Fleet. The result of which he lived to be 89, and I am here to write this.

To CPO/Stoker William Sprack whose luck was in that day, and with the deepest respect to those of both sides who were not so fortunate.

[per ardua per mare per terram]

RIP

[FAAAEd]

Remembering all those shipmates of uncle George (Target) who lost their lives on HMS Tiger and that George himself was lucky to survive as his ship could so easily have gone the way of the others in the Battle Cruiser Squadrons, as could Beattie's flagship Lion.

I am also thinking of Henry Allingham as he continues to stoically perform his duty in remembering the day by visiting HMS Belfast.

[Jonathan Saunders]

Remembering Francis Newcombe of HMS Shark together with all those who found themselves in peril on the sea this day 90 years ago.

[salientguide]

Never posted on this section before , but in rememberance of of all, on both sides, who perished at sea on that tumultuous, and for nearly 10,000 sailors catastrophic day 90 years ago. A sign of the times, not a single programme on this the 90th anniversary on any of the available tv channels amidst the Big Brothers and other dross that serves for tv entertainment. Thus are our heroes honoured and thus we get the society we deserve!!

Rant over. Am just back from a holiday on the Northumbrian coast around Seahouses, Holy island etc. It occurred to me the battle must have been very audible all along the north east coast, are there written accounts confirming that?

With respect SG

[FAAAEd]

Thus are our heroes honoured and thus we get the society we deserve!!

It is a national disgrace that recent history has been taught so badly all in the name of political correctness.

After all the activity commemorating Trafalgar last year I think that the RN is suffering a kind of PTSD and largely withdrawn back into its shell as the Silent Service.

Having written that, there was a bit about Henry on the BBC website at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/default.stm

Unfortunately the pop up, Frame 4, describes Henry as having belonged to the Royal Naval Air Force, pah!

But then we old hands are quite used to the press in general describing any British military type that is in the news as belonging to the RAF in spite of ROYAL NAVY being on the sides in large letters.

My rant over and I apologise if some think it in bad taste but I dislike lazy and inaccurate journalism which detracts from a worthwhile news item.

Rant over. Am just back from a holiday on the Northumbrian coast around Seahouses, Holy island etc. It occurred to me the battle must have been very audible all along the north east coast, are there written accounts confirming that?

With respect SG

The Battle of Jutland was in fact fought some considerable distance from the East Coast of Britain so it is doubtful if it was heard there. I'll re-examin accounts with that question in mind.

[historydavid]

I think it would have needed a very strong wind to bring the sound of the guns as far as the the east coast.

The battle was fought in the eastern part of the North Sea, almost in the Skaggerak (the German name for the battle).

Those in southern Norway and Denmark would have heard it much better, probably too loudly.

Best wishes

David

[Bombadier]

In grateful thanks that my Grandfathers ship H.M.S. Cochrane was one of only two that did not fire a single shot through the great action,

My grandfather's ship was, I believe, the other one, HMS Blanche. He was a boy sailor at the time and retired as a Lieutenant Commander in the 50s. Family hearsay has it that he was in one edition of the Manual of Seamanship as the seaman illustrating semaphore with flags.

Nigel

[David Seymour]

There is a good article on Henry Allingham, and HMT Kingfisher's role in the North Sea at the time of Jutland at http://www.raf.mod.uk/ptc/stomerln18.html

Disappointing indeed that such a battle as Jutland should have been ignored by all the television channels. An ideal candidate for "Timewatch" one would have thought.

My grandfather's ship was not there that day but HMS Tiger, on which he later served, was and my thoughts today go out to all who served in that most important of battles and to all their magnificent ships.

[SilverSoldier]

Hello Pals

A anniversary never to be forgotten today, the Battle of Jutland, especially for you guys who's family members fought, and died there. There was a tribute given to those brave men on the ITV news this evening including an interview with Mechanice Henry Allingham 9 Sqn Naval Air Service, the sole surviver, 110 years old on 6th June 2006.

God rest them all.

Terry W.

[ian turner]

From today's Tdelegraph:

Jutland survivor recalls horror of sea battle

Ninety years ago, Henry Allingham was on board a ship bound for the greatest sea battle of the First World War.

The Battle of Jutland, of which he is thought to be the last surviving British witness, cost the lives of nearly 9,000 men in a single day. The losses secured the British command of the seas and the blockade of Germany, but were soon overshadowed by the tragedy of the Western Front.

Henry Allingham: 'I didn't have time to be frightened'

Mr Allingham was not yet 20. Ninety years afterwards to the day, he boarded HMS Belfast, on the Thames, to commemorate those who were lost.

They were memories he would rather forget, he said when asked about the horrors of the night of May 31, 1916.

"You didn't have much time to think about it. You had a job to do and you just got on with it. You made sure you played your part and did the very best you were able to do.

"People asked if I was frightened. Well I didn't have time to be frightened. We were lucky. There were a lot of dud shells. That saved us from harm."

Mr Allingham, who celebrates his 110th birthday next week, joined the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915 as an aircraft mechanic and acted as an observer and gunner searching for U-boats, Zeppelins and mines in the North Sea.

In May 1916 he was ordered aboard Kingfisher as it set out to join the British Battle Fleet in the North Sea.

In the battle that followed more than 8,600 lives were lost as 250 British and German ships fought for supremacy of the seas.

"I was a very young man," said Mr Allingham. "I stuck my neck out a bit, which was stupid. I soon learned that was not the way to go on. A lot of the ships went straight, but there were mines which were lethal. We went round them. That was a good move."

Asked about the terrible loss of life, Mr Allingham said: "You don't think about how it feels.

"It is later on in life that it comes to you to think about it, and you want to forget. I didn't want to remember the war.

"Those men gave all they had to give, not only in the First World War but in the Second World War. What they did for me..."

The Duchess of Gloucester was in attendance on board HMS Belfast yesterday to open an exhibition, The Ghosts of Jutland, which will run for a year. She said the battle - unprecedented and ferocious - had been heard by farmers 30 miles inland in her native Denmark. Three battle cruisers, Invincible, Indefatigable and Queen Mary, were sunk. After the battle the bodies of British and German sailors washed up on the shores.

"Many lessons were learned that day in May that are still relevant today," she said. "Most acutely that the Royal Naval ships and sailors were not as invincible and indefatigable as those names implied, and the effect of high explosives on the human body was beyond imagining."

Mr Allingham is believed to be the oldest surviving First World War veteran. As well as Jutland, he saw service at the Somme and Passchendaele. Last August he led the nation in the Lord's Prayer at the Cenotaph to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War. He joked: "I have become quite sophisticated now."

Asked about the attention he has received, he added: "All this is unbelievable to me. There are lots of men who deserve to be made a fuss of far more than I do."

[gcwilson]

This announcement yesterday by the MoD may be of interest:

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceN...Wrecksvideo.htm

Graham W.

[Jonathan Saunders]

The anniversary of Jutland was covered in several of today's newspapers.

[salientguide]

It is a national disgrace that recent history has been taught so badly all in the name of political correctness.

After all the activity commemorating Trafalgar last year I think that the RN is suffering a kind of PTSD and largely withdrawn back into its shell as the Silent Service.

Having written that, there was a bit about Henry on the BBC website at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/default.stm

Unfortunately the pop up, Frame 4, describes Henry as having belonged to the Royal Naval Air Force, pah!

But then we old hands are quite used to the press in general describing any British military type that is in the news as belonging to the RAF in spite of ROYAL NAVY being on the sides in large letters.

My rant over and I apologise if some think it in bad taste but I dislike lazy and inaccurate journalism which detracts from a worthwhile news item.

The Battle of Jutland was in fact fought some considerable distance from the East Coast of Britain so it is doubtful if it was heard there. I'll re-examin accounts with that question in mind.

I think it would have needed a very strong wind to bring the sound of the guns as far as the the east coast.

The battle was fought in the eastern part of the North Sea, almost in the Skaggerak (the German name for the battle).

Those in southern Norway and Denmark would have heard it much better, probably too loudly.

Best wishes

David

Thanks Guys. Although posibly 100 miles away I feel sure the terriffic cannonade, certainly at the two major points of contact between the main fleets must have carried to the English coast. Certainly the princess in the article quotes it as being clearly audible in Denmark. Much closer but as we know the acoustic properties of sound over water carries it much further. After all with the exception of the Big Bertha type railway gun these were the heaviest guns in the world at that time. As for distance many accounts speak of the guns of France 60-70 plus miles away across land and sea being clearly audible in southern England and London. Would welcome any confirming accounts SG

[per ardua per mare per terram]

I'll leave it to someone else to be precise but the Battle took place over 300 miles from Rosyth and well over that to East Anglia. I've heard of the Somme bombardment being heard on the South coast, but none of that battle being heard in Leeds or Manchester. The accustic properties over water are good, not that good. The Princess said that the Battle was heard up to 50 miles inland in Denmark, not over the whole country and Denmark was about 3 times closer.

[MikB]

I seem to remember it said that the Denmark Strait engagement in 1941, where Hood was lost, was heard 600 miles away in Reykjavik (sp?).

Regards,

MikB

[FAAAEd]

I seem to remember it said that the Denmark Strait engagement in 1941, where Hood was lost, was heard 600 miles away in Reykjavik (sp?).

Regards,

MikB

If so it was probably due to the colder, denser air at that latitude and time of year.

Also the earth at Iceland rotated towards the sound.