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Show PAPER TELLS OF BIO SEA FIGHT t London, Jan. 25 (Monday.) The London Times this morning prints tho following article by its naval expert ex-pert on the North sea naval battle of yesterday: "News which comes in from the North sea of the doings of the squadrons squa-drons under Vice Admiral Beatty and Commodore Tyrwhltt is most welcome and Inspiring It will be some consolation con-solation to our seamen for the disappointment disap-pointment they experienced on the last occasion Germany sent her battle bat-tle cruisers for a raid "Grand Admiral on Tirpltz cannot say he had not had warning of what might happen if he decided to repeat his tactics or December 16, when he sent cruisers to shell Scarborough and the Hartlopools. On this occasion they appear to have been on tho way to repeat thoir operations when they were so fortunately sighted by our patrolling squadrons. "From tho composition of the German Ger-man force, which included battle cruisers, crui-sers, and destroyers, it Is evident that the udventure was to be made on a large scale and possibly at a longer distance from their base. Will Cease Jibes. "After this affair the German newspapers, news-papers, as well as their naval critics, will ceaso their jibes about the British Brit-ish fleet being condemned to inactivity inactiv-ity and afraid to leave its ports. "One largo armored cruiser sunk and two battle cruisers seriously damaged dam-aged Is fairly good evidence that our senmen are on the alert and quite ready to give the &ormanB an oppor-' tunlty for showing what they aro made of whenovor they care to seize iL "Although we are not told exactly where the British patrolling squadron met the Germans, It may bo assumed, since it was in the early morning, that the latter intended to make a descent upon the English coast, and therefore it was probably in the neighborhood of the Dogger bank. "However much they wero inclined to throw shells upon the English churchgoers on Sunday morning, they were in no fettle for fight and, as Sir David Beatty says in his report, they turned it once and made for home at high speed. Long Running Fight. "From what we know of other battles bat-tles at sea and the long ranges at which fire is opened, it .may be that something near ten miles separated the squadrons Avhen this happened. Then apparently a running fight of a hundred miles or more took place. "The Lion and her consorts, which included the Tiger, but recontly put out from the Clyde bank, and tho Princess Royal from Barrow, arc of over 2S knots speed, while the New Zealand and tho Indomitable are but little slower. They would therefore, be able to overhaul the derman ships, of which only the Derf linger is credited cred-ited with slightly higher speed. "It must have been a mlgnificont sight, this chase with all these ships tearing through the water at something some-thing like thirty miles an hour or more, and' it Is highly creditable, to tho marksmanship of the British gunners gun-ners that at the rate the ships were moving they should have inflicted such serious damage on the retreating onemy. Fleet's Strength Reduced. "The names of the four German cruisers include all the known effective effec-tive vessels of this class in German waters with the exception of the Von Der Tann, which was reported a few days ago as having sustained an injury in-jury of some sorL Now that the Bluecher is sunk and Admiral Beatty reports two others to be seriously damaged, the strength of the German battle fleet in this result has been reduced to a couple of ships. "Probably if the Derflinger wa, leading it may be supposed that the Seydlitz and the Moltke are the damaged dam-aged vessels and it may yet turn out when the reports come from the British Brit-ish destroyers that these vessels have shared the fate of the Bluecher. In any case they are not likely to bo available for raids for some time to come. "This engagement, therefore, although al-though none of the battleships of either ei-ther country took part, is of first importance. im-portance. It not only Indicates the watchfulness of our patrolling squadrons squad-rons and their readiness to take the initiative, but it is an evidence of the vigilance of the naval authorities and preparation made to meet any action of the Germans. The engagement illustrates the manner In which the fleet protects the coast and how much more effective reply to attempts at raiding may be made by an active patrol than any number of scattered flotillas of no great strength. "Altogether the chase and its result is a brilliant factor. The Bluecher, which was sent to the bottom, is sometimes classed as a battle cruiser, but as a matter of fact she is hardly that Although built after the British Brit-ish battle cruisers of the Invincible type she is only an improved Scharn-horst Scharn-horst with a displacement of about 4000 tons more, four more S.2-inch guns in her main battery and somewhat some-what better protection. "It is very satisfactory that she has gone because she was certainly more heavily armed than several of our pre-dreadnought cruisers approaching her tonnage. With the other ships which Admiral Beatty engaged, the Bluecher is believed to have taken part In the Scarborough raid She was, therefore, the first vessel to receive re-ceive retribution for that disgraceful business "Of the British ships it Is to bo noticed that the Lion and the New Zealand were present In the action in the fight on August 2S. It was the former which sunk the largest of the German cruisers engaged in that action ac-tion First Time in Action. "It may be assumed that as Commodore Com-modore Tyrwhltt's name Is mentioned, also light' cruisers and destroyers to which Sir David Beatty refers In his report, that some of these vessels were also in action for the first time "Once more it will be noticed that the casualties of the victors were very slight, a most satisfactory result which it is to be hoped will not bo affected by later reports which the admiralty oxpecL "Wo were told that the kaiser's birthday, which falls on Wednesday, was to be made the occasion of some startling surprise to the British nation. na-tion. As It is, Sir David Beatty and his comrades have presented to Lord Fisher a very appropriate present for his birthday which falls today." |