At 0.15 A.M. the Castor sighted a German destroyer on her starboard bow and opened fire with all guns at point-blank range. She was not seen again.
At 10.20 P.M. the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron sighted and engaged five enemy vessels, apparently a cruiser with four light cruisers, probably of the 4th Scouting Group. The enemy again opened fire with great rapidity and accuracy, and concentrated his fire on our two leading ships, the Southampton and Dublin, at very short range. Both vessels suffered considerable damage during the 15 minutes’ engagement and there were fairly heavy casualties; three fires which broke out on board the Southampton were promptly extinguished by fine work on the part of the officers and men, in spite of the fact that the hoses had been much cut up by shell fire.
The enemy squadron disappeared after this short but fierce engagement, and it is probable that the German light cruiser Frauenlob, whose loss was admitted by the enemy, was sunk during this action, which took place in that case between our own 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron and the German 4th Scouting Group.
At 11.30 P.M. the 4th Flotilla sighted and attacked enemy cruisers steering a south-easterly course. Again the vessels sighted opened fire immediately, and the flotilla leader Tipperary, commanded by Captain Wintour, the leader of the flotilla, was severely damaged by gunfire and set on fire forward; the Broke, leader of the 2nd half Flotilla, received injury to her steering-gear, rendering her temporarily unmanageable and causing her to ram the destroyer Sparrowhawk, with the result that it became necessary to abandon the latter destroyer on the following morning after taking off her crew. The destroyer Spitfire (Lieutenant-Commander C. W. Trelawny), next astern of the Tipperary, fired torpedoes at a four-funnelled cruiser which appeared to be hit and in a sinking condition, and the Spitfire then collided with a German light cruiser and, in scraping along her side, carried off some 29 feet of her skin plating.
The remainder of the 4th Flotilla, after this engagement, while steering to the south-eastward, came into contact at midnight with the enemy’s 2nd Battle Squadron, and one ship (probably the Pommern) was torpedoed and sunk either by the Ardent (Lieutenant-Commander Marsden) or Ambuscade (Lieutenant-Commander G. A. Coles) or Garland (Lieutenant-Commander R. S. Goff). A heavy and accurate fire was opened by the enemy and the destroyer Fortune (Lieutenant-Commander F. G. Terry) was sunk.
The flotilla was again in action a little later with some enemy battleships, and the Ardent attacked, and fired a torpedo, but the result could not be observed as a very heavy fire was concentrated on the Ardent, which sank with colours flying after a very gallant night’s work. It is sad to record that Lieutenant-Commander Marsden and one man were the only survivors, being picked up by a destroyer on June 1st after having been five hours in the water.
The 12th Flotilla had formed after dark astern of the 1st Battle Squadron. The 1st Battle Squadron was somewhat astern of the remainder of the Fleet during the night, owing to the Marlborough not being able to keep up 17 knots, although steaming at the revolutions for this speed. Consequently the 1st Flotilla was also more than five miles astern of the main portion of the Battle Fleet. At 11.30 P.M. also this flotilla was obliged for some little time to steer a south-easterly course, owing to the movements of another flotilla on the starboard hand, the identity of which cannot be determined with certainty. The result was that the 12th Flotilla was probably some ten miles to the north-eastward of the 1st Battle Squadron by midnight. The incident was a fortunate one since it brought the flotilla into contact with one of the enemy’s battle squadrons.
At 1.45 A.M. Captain Stirling, leading the flotilla in the Faulknor, sighted on the starboard bow this battle squadron, consisting of six ships steering south-east. The leading ships were thought to belong to the “Kaiser” class. Captain Stirling altered his course to one parallel to that of the enemy and increased speed to 25 knots to draw ahead, with the intention of turning to attack on a north-westerly course (the reverse of the enemy’s course), in order to give an opportunity of getting into close range. This attack was carried out at 2 A.M. at a range of about 3,000 yards, and all destroyers fired their torpedoes at the second and third ships in the line. Some took effect on the third battleship in the line, the explosion being so violent and the flame reaching to such a height that it appeared to those in our destroyers that the explosion of the torpedoes must have detonated the magazine and destroyed the ship.
Our destroyers were then forced to withdraw by the enemy light cruisers, which were in company with the battle squadron. The destroyer Mænad (Commander J. P. Champion) had, however, not turned to the north-westward with the remainder of the flotilla, as it had been anticipated that the attack would have been made with torpedo tubes bearing to starboard, and her tubes were not ready to fire to port. Commander Champion held on the south-easterly course and, turning later than the rest of the flotilla, fired one port tube, then turned again to south-east, trained his tubes to starboard, and at 2.25 A.M. fired two torpedoes to starboard at the fourth ship in the line at a range between 4,000 and 5,000 yards, one of which took effect. In this case, too, the flame of the explosion reached the mast head, and the ship was not seen again, although those ahead and astern of her were visible.
It is of interest to note that at the time of the first attack on this squadron six battleships were visible. After the first attack only five were seen by Captain Stirling, and twenty-five minutes later five were sighted by the Mænad, and after the Mænad’s attack only four were visible. The evidence that at least one of the battleships was sunk was considered at the time to be very strong, particularly as the reports from the Mænad and from Captain Stirling were sent to me quite independently, and Commander Champion was unaware of the fact that Captain Stirling had reported six ships as the original number in the battle squadron, and five as the number remaining after his attack.