One Hundred Years Ago

[Rix Gins]

https://youtu.be/5ndn-9vj80I

[gabrielle]

Just had to post this...from the Boston Globe 100 years ago today:

[gabrielle]

Awesome video Rix....so tragic for all involved.  What a bloody waste.

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, June 1, 1916.

[VtaGeezer]

https://youtu.be/5ndn-9vj80I

Biggest ship-to-ship battle.  8500 dead on both sides in one day.  The most horrendous tale to emerge was of cruiser HMS Black Prince burning so furiously that she glowed red as she drifted past by the German battleships that destroyed her.

[Rix Gins]

Another entry from Dick's Diary.  June 1, 1916.
http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/dicksdiary/entries/1916/06/thursday-1-june-1916.html

[Rix Gins]

Biggest ship-to-ship battle.  8500 dead on both sides in one day.  The most horrendous tale to emerge was of cruiser HMS Black Prince burning so furiously that she glowed red as she drifted past by the German battleships that destroyed her.

VtaGeezer is right about HMS Black Prince.  The Black Prince was one of the few ships destroyed on June 1, 1916.  It was hit around 12:30 am, while the German fleet was making a hasty exit.  The Admiral of the British fleet, John Jellicoe, had received a secret message from the Admiralty that the Germans would be retreating in a certain direction, so if he maneuvered  his fleet a certain way, then he would be able to re-engage the German fleet by daybreak.  The German fleet actually did head the way the message had described, but Jellicoe didn't trust the admiralty's message and he had his ships circle back to the scene of fighting to look for survivors. 

[albrecht]

Biggest ship-to-ship battle.  8500 dead on both sides in one day.  The most horrendous tale to emerge was of cruiser HMS Black Prince burning so furiously that she glowed red as she drifted past by the German battleships that destroyed her.

Aren't people still trying to salvage ships from this era to use the steel for sensitive equipment because the steel was forged in the "non-nuclear" era? Especially ones scuttled in Scotland?

[Rix Gins]

Here are a couple of recordings made on June 1, 1916.

The first one is an actual banjo solo, the first I have come across on the DAHR site.  It is called 'Ragging the Scale' and is performed by Fred Van Eps.
http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/700002707/B-17673-Ragging_the_scale

The second song is 'Hello, Hawaii, How Are You?' by Nora Bayes.
http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/matrix/detail/700002797/B-17762-Hello_Hawaii_how_are_you

'Hello, Hawaii, How Are You?' was also recorded by Billy Murray on January 5, 1916 and the recording was posted on page three of the 100 Years ago thread.
http://bellgab.com/index.php/topic,9331.60.html

[gabrielle]

Another entry from Dick's Diary.  June 1, 1916.
http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/dicksdiary/entries/1916/06/thursday-1-june-1916.html

Yikes.  At least the horses were freed.

[Rix Gins]

Yikes.  At least the horses were freed.

Yes, what a sight that must have been.  Horses and camels running wildly about.

[WhiteCrow]

Another painting from the Canadian National Art Gallery.. Ottawa

"Sappers"

[Walks_At_Night]

Thanks to those above that carried on Battle of Jutland topic - was busy over the weekend and have slummed around some on
lesser Bellgab threads.   

However back to Jutland.   Here is a little info on one of the main protagonists of the battle - David Beatty along with the ill-fated Battlecruiser concept.


Admiral of the Fleet, 1st Earl David Beatty was the Royal Navy commander in charge of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron during the
Battle of Jutland.  Beatty was an interesting guy - he liked to project a dashing image.  To enhance this he had his uniforms
custom made and wore his hat a rakish, jaunty angle. He married the immensely wealthy Ethel Field - she was Marshall Field of
Department store fame's daughter.  This had its advantages - when learning that Beatty might be disciplined for straining the
engines of a ship under his command she quipped "What? Court-martial my David? I'll buy them a new ship."

With a few exceptions the US Navy tends to have rather conservative names for its ships [cities, states, prominent men] but this
was not the case with the Royal Navy.  Beatty's second command was a great example of this - HMS Arrogant which he would command
in 1903.  By 1910 he would be made an Admiral [the youngest in the Royal Navy since Nelson] and was offered the second in command slot
for the Atlantic Fleet and he definitely turned some heads by refusing.  He wanted a posting with the Home Fleet so he could be close
to home - just about any other officer would never even consider such a thing - but having a dashing reputation and his wife's immense
wealth in his back pocket allowed him to pull it off.   There is no doubt that his career was stagnating when it was revived by the new,
young First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill.   The two had met at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898 and admired each other.

On March 1st, 1913 Beatty was placed in command of the 1st Battlecruiser squadron.   He would break with the thinking that the
commanding admiral of a fleet should tightly control their movements.   He would state to his Captains:
"The admiral will rely on captains to use all the information at their disposal to grasp the situation quickly and anticipate his wishes,
using their own discretion as to how to act in unforeseen circumstances".  At the time of the Battle of Jutland the 1st Battle Cruiser
squadron would be made up of 4 Battlecruisers,   HMS Princess Royal, HMS Lion, HMS Queen Mary and HMS Tiger.    The Battlecruiser
was born out of concern for the torpedoes that destroyers and submarines could fire along with the fact that the Battle of Tsushima
proved conclusively the effectiveness of heavy guns over intermediate ones.  It was felt that traditional Battleships might be too slow
to deal with the torpedo threat yet it was shown that the big gun was the way to go in slugging it out with the enemy.  So
a faster, big gunned ship was developed but at the cost of armor.    The roles envisioned for this class of ship were
heavy reconnaissance, close support for the battle fleet and pursuit.   The pursuit role was borne out early in WWI at the Battle of
the Falkland Islands when the Royal Navy Battlecruisers Inflexible and Invincible would run down the German East Asia squadron and
then annihilated it.

Things would not go so well for the British Battlecruiser during the Battle of Jutland.  When confronted with opposition sporting
heavy guns they developed a nasty habiy of exploding with the loss of almost all aboard.   HMS Invincible, HMS Indefatigable and
HMS Queen Mary would all explode in flames and sink.   Beatty's own flagship HMS Lion would almost suffer the same fate.   On the
German side only one Battlecruiser would be lost - SMS Lützow but it would take over 30 hits for it to be sunk. The Queen Mary was
lost after only two hits.  After watching the two of his Battlecruiser erupt before his eyes, Beatty said:

"There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today"

Then and now there were criticisms over Beatty's part in the Battle of Jutland.   However, it would not hinder his career. 
He would be named commander-in-chief of the Grand Fleet in December 1916 and would remain in that post until the end of the war.
Post war he was named Admiral of the Fleet on May 1st, 1919 and was created 1st Earl Beatty, Viscount Borodale and Baron Beatty of
the North Sea and Brooksby on October 18th, 1919 and he became 1st Sea Lord later that year.  He would be involved with the
negotiations of the Washington Naval Treaty with its famous 5:5:3 ratio.  He would retire from the Royal Navy in 1927.  He
was considered for the Governor General of Canada but this was ultimately rejected as  “no manners and an impossible American wife”.

Beatty would die on March the 12th, 1936

Admiral Beatty



HMS Lion


HMS Indefatigable sinking


HMS Invincible exploding


HMS Queen Mary burning


SMS Lützow slipping beneath the waves

[Walks_At_Night]

Video showing Beatty's pad and some footage of the Admiral himself:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5HsI-0PANo

[Walks_At_Night]

and Beatty's funeral

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWwTtk6ArLI

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, June 2, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Some items from the Chicago Day Book, June 2, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

An illustration from the June 2, 1916 front page of the Seattle Star.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah, Nevada Daily Bonanza, June 2, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Dick's Diary for June 2, 1916.
http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/dicksdiary/entries/1916/06/friday-2-june-1916.html

[gabrielle]

On June 2, 1916, the Canadian Corps began their fight at Mount Sorrel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mont_Sorrel

[K_Dubb]

However back to Jutland.   Here is a little info on one of the main protagonists of the battle - David Beatty along with the ill-fated Battlecruiser concept...

There was an interesting documentary recently that blamed the exploding battlecruisers not on design or concept but on the practice of storing charges in the turrets themselves (for speedier fire) and failing to close the blast doors (I've forgotten the technical term) that seal off the elevators to the turrets from the magazines below.  A hit on the turret would doom the ship.

It claimed that reports surfaced soon after the battle citing these factors and were repressed by the Admiralty.

[K_Dubb]

The Tonopah, Nevada Daily Bonanza, June 2, 1916.

Goodness, a bonfire on main street just sounds like a bad idea given the history of the camp.  I'm disappointed the fire department didn't show up for some drunken brawling and other hi-jinks.

[gabrielle]

K Dubb......I missed you!!!!

[Rix Gins]

K Dubb......I missed you!!!!

Me too.  Every once in awhile K disappears with our time machine and we wont see him for several weeks.  Maybe one of these days he will tell us where he goes...as long as it isn't something too personal...

[Rix Gins]

Everett True, June 3, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Day Book, June 3, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, June 3, 1916.

[Rix Gins]

Dick's Diary entry for June 3, 1916.
http://www.willisfleming.org.uk/dicksdiary/entries/1916/06/saturday-3-june-1916.html

[albrecht]

The Tonopah Daily Bonanza, June 3, 1916.

That article about the drunk stealing the razors to shave himself was a classic. Great writers and you can see the hilarious incident.