"We fought close into the foe, and if anything is certain in the uncertainties of naval battle it is that we gave at least as good as we got. We passed along the line of German ships some miles away and let off broadside after broadside. The air was heavy with masses of smoke, black, yellow, green and every other color, which drifted slowly between the opposing lines, hiding sometimes friend and sometimes foe. The enemy ships were firing very fast, but watching the ships in front one came to the conclusion that the shooting was decidedly erratic. Again and again salvos of shells fell far short of the mark, to be followed immediately by others which screamed past high in the air.
ROAR OP THE GUNS TERRIFIC.
"I watched the Iron Duke swinging through the seas, letting off broadside after broadside, wicked tongues of flames leaping through clouds of smoke. The din of battle was stunning, stupendous, deafening, as hundreds of the heaviest guns in the world roared out at once. Great masses of water rose in the air like waterspouts, reaching as high as the masts, as the salvos of German shells fell short or went over their target. Now and then a shell found its mark, but it left us absolutely cold as to its effect on each man at a time like this. A dozen men may be knocked out at one's side. It makes no difference.
"It was impossible to see what was happening among the ships of the foe. The smoke obscured everything so effectually that one could only get a glimpse at intervals when a kindly wind blew a lane through the pall. It was apparent that the best ships of the enemy were engaged, but how many neither eye nor glass could make out. The number was certainly large. It was equally impossible to see what damage we were causing. Only the high command knew fine progress of the battle. That the damage inflicted on the German ships was great does not admit of any doubt. At one time two vessels, red with fire, gleamed through the smoke.
FLAGSHIP LOSES ITS WIRELESS.
"It is a curious feeling to be in the midst of a battle and not to know to which side fortune leans. Where only a few ships are engaged it is different. Our own losses were known with some degree of exactness, but even that was uncertain. Thus at one time it was thought that the Lion had been lost as it did not answer any call. It transpired that its wireless had been destroyed.
"With the dusk came the great opportunity of the mosquito craft and both sides made use of it to the full. It was in this way that one of the saddest of many sad incidents occurred. A destroyer, true to its name, dashed for the big enemy ship. It soon got into effective range and loosed its torpedo and with deadly effect on a German battleship. The ship went down and the destroyer raced for safety, the commander and officer standing on the bridge indulging in mutual congratulations at their success. At that moment a shell hit the bridge and wiped out the entire group.
"We fought what was in its way a great fight, although it was not a sailor's battle. Both the grand and the terrible were present to an almost overpowering degree. As a spectacle it was magnificent, awful. How awful, it was impossible to realize until the fever of action had subsided, until the guns were silent and the great ships, some battered, others absolutely untouched, were plowing home on the placid sea."
MEN THRILLED BY BATTLE FEVER.
After describing the battle itself, the officer reverted to incidents preceding it, saying: