The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916

by John Rushworth Jellicoe

One other factor exercised a cramping effect upon our naval strategy throughout the War, namely, the bombardment of our undefended towns on the East Coast. Such bombardments were of no immediate military value to the enemy, but, in spite of the fact that the majority of the Press, and the public, realised that the Navy should not be led into false strategy because of these bombardments, it was difficult for the Fleet to ignore them, and I have no doubt that the Germans relied upon this fact.

Whilst the Fleet was based at Scapa Flow, it was quite impossible to ensure that the enemy would be brought to action after such an operation, since to attain this end it would have been necessary for the Fleet, or a portion of it, to be constantly cruising in the southern portion of the North Sea. This was not practicable, even had it been desirable, because of the impossibility of keeping destroyers with the heavier ships, and in any case it was false strategy to divide the Battle Fleet, as such a course might well have resulted in disaster.

The usual course adopted was to base the Battle Cruiser Fleet on Rosyth, and for that Fleet to cruise from that neighbourhood. The speed of the battle cruisers enabled them to get away from a decidedly superior enemy force of battleships if encountered, but there was always some risk in this case of a ship being disabled; the flag officer in command would then have been faced with the unpleasant alternative of abandoning her or of risking his whole force to cover her retreat.

Had we been able to keep an effective look-out off the enemy ports, so as to obtain warning of their ships leaving, the difficulty would not have been so great, but our submarines in those days (the only class of vessel which could be used for such a purpose) were not fitted with wireless installations with which they could signal from the required positions, or indeed from positions anywhere near the enemy’s coast, and, in any case, it must be borne in mind that at night the exit of enemy vessels unobserved, even under the conditions of a close submarine look-out, is a comparatively easy matter.

At this stage it is convenient to remark upon the condition of British naval bases. As is well known, the Grand Fleet was moved to Scapa Flow during the latter days of July, 1914, and the defenceless condition of the Base, both against destroyer attack and submarine attack, was brought very strongly into prominence by the presence of so valuable a Fleet at this Base.

The anchorage known as Scapa Flow has three main entrances navigable by all ships, the Hoxa, the Switha, and Hoy Channels, and, in addition, has some more narrow, shallow and tortuous entrances on the eastern side, the main one being Holm Sound. The question of providing gun defences for this Base, which the Admiralty had decided a year or two before the War was to be the main Fleet Base, had been discussed on more than one occasion, after examination by a committee of officers on the spot; but, since finance governs defence, and the Admiralty from year to year had insufficient money for even more urgent needs, no action had been taken. Scapa Flow lies some 450 miles from the German naval bases, and was, therefore, open to an attack by enemy’s destroyer flotillas as well as, of course, by submarines. Its main, indeed its only, safety against such attacks by submarines lay in the navigational difficulties attendant upon entry into the harbour, combined, as regards destroyer attacks, with the possibility of an enemy’s force being intercepted on its outward or homeward passage, or of its being successfully engaged in the vicinity of the base. The sailing directions laid great stress upon the difficulties of navigations in the approaches to this Base, due to the very strong and varying currents, but the Germans were well acquainted with the Orkney and Shetland Islands. They had indeed made it a practice to send ships to visit these islands fairly frequently before the War, and they were, therefore, as well able to judge of the difficulties of entry into Scapa Flow as we were; and seeing that we used it as a main Fleet Base, they could deduce the fact, if they did not know it already, that the difficulties of entry were not insuperable.

Sir George Callaghan, under these conditions, on the arrival of the Fleet at Scapa Flow at the end of July, took immediate steps, with the resources at his disposal in the Fleet, to improvise defences for the Base against destroyer attack. All that he could do was to land some 12-pounder guns from the ships of the Fleet and mount them at the entrances. No searchlights could, however, be provided, so that the guns were not of much value at night. Arrangements were also made for placing light cruisers and destroyers at the various entrances to assist these defences. The further step, of course, was taken when the Fleet was present at the Base of placing patrols to the eastward of the Pentland Firth. It was not felt in the Fleet, however, that these measures gave much security even against destroyer attack on a dark night, and, it gave no security whatever against submarine attack. Nothing but obstructions of some kind could give that security. The matter was frequently discussed. Although many brains had been at work, no satisfactory anti-submarine obstruction had been devised. Under the urgent pressure of war the solution was found. The conclusion generally held by experienced submarine officers was that, whilst the least important entrances, such as the Hoy, the Switha and the Holm Sound Channels, would be extremely difficult for the passage of a submarine, entry by the Hoxa Sound Channel was quite practicable by a determined submarine officer. So much for the Base at Scapa Flow.

At Cromarty the conditions were somewhat better. The only entrance to this Base is comparatively narrow, and was defended against the entry of destroyers and larger vessels by guns, which had been mounted by the Admiralty before war broke out. There was, however, no boom protection against the entry of destroyers, and the conditions in regard to submarine attack were the same as at Scapa Flow, there being no obstructions.

At Rosyth the same conditions prevailed as at Cromarty, namely, the harbour was defended by guns only against attack by destroyers. In this case, the guns were manned by the military, and not by marines, as at Cromarty; again the harbour was quite open to submarine attack.