At 11 P.M. the light cruiser Active, astern of the 2nd Battle Squadron, observed a ship coming up from astern, and shortly afterwards saw searchlights switched on and a heavy fire opened against this vessel by a ship, or ships, on her starboard quarter. She appeared to be heavily hit and to sink. It is possible that this ship may have been the Black Prince, which had apparently lost touch with our fleet during the day action.
Shortly after this incident the Active passed over some submerged object which she bumped heavily. Subsequent examination showed that some 15 feet of her bilge keel had been torn away. It was not conceivable that the object struck could have been submerged wreckage from any ship which had taken part in the action, no fighting having taken place in the vicinity, and it seemed possible that the Active had struck an enemy submarine. At 11.30 P.M. the Colossus also passed over some submerged object which was felt to scrape along the bottom of the ship. Subsequent examination showed damage to both starboard propeller blades. Again there is doubt as to what the obstruction could have been; it was certainly not wreckage from any ship that had been in action.
At 2 A.M. on June 1st Vice-Admiral Sir Cecil Burney informed me that the Marlborough could not maintain the Fleet speed of 17 knots any longer, on account of the stress on the bulkheads, and that she had been obliged to ease to 12 knots. I directed him to order the ship to proceed to the Tyne or Rosyth, passing south of the German mined area. Sir Cecil Burney called the light cruiser Fearless alongside the Marlborough, and was transferred in her, with his Staff, to the Revenge, the Fearless being then detached to escort the Marlborough.
Some idea of the area covered by the different engagements which constituted the Battle of Jutland will be gathered from a consideration of the distances steamed by our ships during the operations.
The Battle Cruisers steamed some 64 miles between 3.48 P.M., the time of opening fire, and 6.17 P.M. the time that the Battle Fleet commenced action, and a further distance of some 57 miles to 9 P.M., when the Fleet turned to the southward for the night. The Battle Fleet steamed some 47 miles between the commencement of their engagement with the High Sea Fleet and the turn to the southward at 9 P.M.
The whole Fleet steamed some 85 miles during the period covered by the night action—9 P.M. to 2 A.M.
At 2.47 A.M., as dawn was breaking, the Fleet altered course to north and formed single line ahead in the order—2nd Battle Squadron, 4th Battle Squadron, 1st Battle Squadron (less the 6th Division). The 5th Battle Squadron rejoined at 3.30 A.M. and took station ahead of the 2nd Battle Squadron.
The weather was misty and the visibility even less than on May 31st, being only some three or four miles, and I considered it desirable under these conditions, and in view of the fact that I was not in touch with either my cruisers or destroyers, to accept the danger of submarine attack on a long line in order to be ready to meet the enemy’s Battle Fleet, if suddenly sighted. The 6th Division of the Battle Fleet was not in sight at daylight, having dropped astern during the night owing to the reduction in speed of the Marlborough and the change of flag from the Marlborough to the Revenge. Partly on account of the low visibility, and partly because of the inevitable difference in dead reckoning between ships, due to their many movements during the action and during the night, considerable difficulty was experienced in collecting the Fleet. This applied particularly to the destroyer flotillas, which had been heavily engaged, and whose facilities for computing their positions under these conditions were only slight; but the same difficulty was experienced with all classes of ships, and, although awkward, the fact did not cause me any surprise. The cruisers were not sighted until 6 A.M., the destroyers did not join the Battle Fleet until 9 A.M., and the 6th Division of the Battle Fleet with the Vice-Admiral of the 1st Battle Squadron, was not in company until the evening.
The difficulties experienced in collecting the Fleet (particularly the destroyers), due to the above causes, rendered it undesirable for the Battle Fleet to close the Horn Reef at daylight, as had been my intention when deciding to steer to the southward during the night. It was obviously necessary to concentrate the Battle Fleet and the destroyers before renewing action. By the time this concentration was effected it had become apparent that the High Sea Fleet, steering for the Horn Reef, had passed behind the shelter of the German minefields in the early morning on the way to their ports. The presence of a Zeppelin, sighted at 3.30 A.M., made it certain that our position at that time would be known to the enemy, should he be at sea, but the information obtained from our wireless directional stations during the early morning showed that ships of the High Sea Fleet must have passed the Horn Reef on a southerly course shortly after daylight.
At 3 A.M. the destroyer Sparrowhawk, which was lying disabled in Lat. 55.54 N., Long. 5.59 E., sighted a German light cruiser two miles to the eastward, steaming slowly to the northward. After being in sight for about five minutes this vessel slowly heeled over and sank, bows first. The Sparrowhawk was subsequently sighted by the Marksman and others of our destroyers, and, being too seriously damaged for towing back to a base, was sunk by the Marksman.