The Grand Fleet, 1914-1916

by John Rushworth Jellicoe

DESTROYERS RAISING STEAM ON THE FIRST OCCASION OF A SUBMARINE BEING REPORTED INSIDE SCAPA FLOW

THE FIRST OBSTRUCTION AT SCAPA FLOW

Consequently, the anxiety of officers in command of Fleets or Squadrons at anchor in any of the Bases used by the Grand Fleet was immense. For my part, I was always far more concerned for the safety of the Fleet when it was at anchor in Scapa Flow during the exceedingly brief periods which were spent there for coaling in the early days of the War, than I was when the Fleet was at sea, and this anxiety was reflected in the very short time that the Fleet was kept in harbour. It was also the cause of my taking the Fleet to sea very hurriedly on more than one occasion owing to the reported presence of a submarine in the anchorage, and considerable risks were accepted in getting the Fleet to sea in very thick weather at night on at least one of these occasions.

I have often wondered why the Germans did not make greater efforts to reduce our strength in capital ships by destroyer or submarine attacks on our bases in those early days. They possessed, in comparison with the uses for which they were required, almost a superfluity of destroyers, certainly a superfluity as compared with ourselves, and they could not have put them to a better use than in an attack on Scapa Flow during the early months of the 1914–1915 winter.

In August, 1914, Germany had 96 destroyers in home waters fit for such an operation, all with a speed of, or exceeding, 30 knots, this number being in addition to a total of 48 more destroyers, rather smaller and with speeds varying between 26 and 30 knots, which were quite fit for work in the Baltic or in the vicinity of German bases in the North Sea.

This country had in home waters at the same period only 76 destroyers that could be compared with the German vessels in view of modern requirements, and 33 of these had a speed of only 27 knots. Of the 76 destroyers, 40 were allotted to the Grand Fleet proper, the remaining 36 being based on Harwich. We had in addition 11 large and fast destroyers of the “Tribal” class which, owing to their small fuel capacity, were only of use in southern waters and were appropriated to Dover. And we possessed 25 destroyers of the “River” class, of a nominal speed of only 25 knots, as well as the old 30-knot destroyer; the latter class was only fit for patrol work in the vicinity of the coast.

It may be said that similar reflections to those I have mentioned might be made by the Germans as regards our own movements, and that they were surprised that we did not attack their Fleet at anchor. The answer is obvious to those aware of the conditions. We were very short of destroyers for fleet work, and we were well aware of the thoroughness of the defences of the German naval bases. We knew that they not only possessed the most powerful and ample artillery defences, but we knew also that the Germans had a very efficient mining service, and we were justified in assuming that they had protected their naval bases by extensive minefields. We, on the other hand, were entirely unprovided with this particular form of defence.

In view of the known quality of German artillery and mine defences and the thorough nature of their organisation, my own view was that they also possessed, in all probability, anti-submarine defences. For these reasons, together with the important fact that the German rivers are so shallow that our submarines could not enter them in a submerged condition, it appeared to me that an attack on their ships in harbour would meet with no success, and that we could not afford to expend any of our exceedingly limited number of destroyers, or submarines, in making an attack which would, in all human probability, be foredoomed to failure. Later knowledge of the German defences proved the correctness of this view. I can only imagine that the Germans credited us, also, with possessing harbour defences and obstructions which in our case were non-existent, although we did our best in the Fleet to give the impression that we had obstructed the entrances, for, pending the provision of proper obstructions, we improvised various contrivances. It may have seemed impossible to the German mind that we should place our Fleet, on which the Empire depended for its very existence, in a position where it was open to submarine or destroyer attack.

This view, however, did not relieve the minds of those responsible for the safety of our Fleet from the gravest anxiety whenever the more valuable ships were in the undefended harbours.