NAVAL BATTLE IN THE NORTH SEA

One of the most important naval battles of the war took place on January 24 in the North Sea between a British battle cruiser squadron under Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, comprising the battle cruisers Tiger, Lion, Princess Royal, New Zealand and Indomitable, assisted by a few light cruisers and destroyers, on the one hand, and on the other a German squadron, consisting of the battle cruisers Derflinger, Seydlitz and Moltke, the armored cruiser Bluecher, one of the finest in the Kaiser’s navy, and several light cruisers.

It was a running fight, covering over one hundred miles and lasting four hours.  At the end of this time the German armored cruiser Bluecher was at the bottom of the sea and two of the German battle cruisers had been damaged.  Two of Vice-Admiral Beatty’s ships were seriously damaged, namely, the giant battle cruiser Lion, which was Sir David’s flagship, and the torpedo boat destroyer Meteor, one of the largest and fastest of this class afloat.  However, both of these vessels were safely towed into port.  The loss in men on the British side was fourteen killed and twenty-nine wounded, while on the side of the Germans only 125 of the crew of 850 men on the Bluecher were saved; the other 725 went down with the ship.  The loss of the Bluecher was the hardest blow the German navy had sustained up to this time, as she was one of the newest and best vessels of her class.  She was built at a cost of $6,750,000.  Her speed was slower than that of the other vessels in the German squadron, which doubtless accounted for her loss.  The battle began about 150 miles from Heligoland and ended within about fifty miles of this German naval base.

Early in the month of February, England threatened to put all foodstuffs destined for German ports on the contraband list.  In retaliation, Germany, on February 4, through Admiral von Pohl, chief of the admiralty staff, issued a proclamation designating the waters around Great Britain and Ireland as a war area, to become effective February 18 and to be enforced by a formidable fleet of submarines, the object being to conduct war operations in this area for the purpose of destroying commercial ships of the enemy.

Just at this time the great passenger steamship Lusitania, in her passage from New York to Liverpool, hoisted the American flag while sailing through the Irish Sea, and Germany charged that the British Admiralty had issued confidential orders to captains of all British ships to sail under the stars and stripes or other neutral flags when necessary to use this means of protection against destruction by the warships of the enemy.  This situation seriously menaced the commerce of the United States as well as that of all other neutral nations, and the American Government, therefore, promptly issued a note of warning to both belligerents and demanded in strong terms the protection