TELL OF BATTLE HORRORS.
After the battle there were many stories of ships sinking with a great explosion: of crews going down singing the national anthem; of merchant ships passing through a sea thick with floating bodies.
From survivors came thrilling stories of the horrors and humanities of the battle. The British destroyer Shark acted as a decoy to bring the German ships into the engagement. It was battered to pieces by gunfire, and a half dozen sailors, picked up clinging to a buoy by a Danish ship, told of its commander and two seamen serving its only remaining gun until the last minute, when the commander's leg was blown off.
A lifeboat with German survivors from the German cruiser Elbing rescued Surgeon Burton of the British destroyer Tipperary. He had sustained four wounds.
THE FIRST OFFICIAL STORY.
The first account in detail of the battle was given by a high official of the British Admiralty, who said on June 4:
"We were looking for a fight when our fleet went out. Stories that the fleet was decoyed by the Germans are sheerest nonsense. In a word, with an inferior fleet we engaged the entire German high sea fleet, interrupted their plans, and drove them back into their harbors.
"In carrying out the plan decided upon we sustained heavy losses, which we expected, but we also attained the expected result of forcing the enemy to abandon his plan and seek refuge after we had given battle in his own waters near his coast.
"With the exception of two divisions, part of which was only partly engaged, the brunt of battle was borne by the battle-cruiser fleet, and with one exception our battle fleet is ready for sea service. I must admit that we had exceptionally hard luck with our battle-cruisers, but the loss of three great ships does not in any measure cripple our control of the sea.
"The great battle had four phases. The first opened at 3:15 p. m., when our battle-cruisers, at a range of six miles, joined action with German battle-cruisers. Shortly afterward the second phase began with the arrival on both sides of battleships, the Germans arriving first. But before their arrival our three battle-cruisers had been blown up, supposedly the result of gunfire, although possibly they were victims of torpedoes. "Such close range fighting with battle-cruisers might be criticized as bad tactics, but our fleet, following the traditions of the navy, went out to engage the enemy, and on account of weather conditions could do so only at short range.