ied.

CHAPTER XIX

ADRIFT

The great naval battle of Jutland was over.

The British fleet now had given up pursuit of the fleeing Germans and
Vice-Admiral Beatty paused to take stock of his losses; and they were
enormous.

Three great battle cruisers had gone to the bottom--the _Queen Mary_,
of 27,000 tons; the _Indefatigable_, of 18,750 tons, and the
_Invincible_, of 17,250 tons. Cruisers lost included the _Defense_, of
14,600 tons; the _Black Prince_; of 13,550 tons, and the _Warrior_, of
13,550 tons. The giant battle cruiser _Marlborough,_ of 27,500 tons,
had been badly damaged, as had the _Lion_ and other vessels. The
destroyers _Tipperary, Turbulent, Nestore, Alcaster, Fortune, Sparrow
Hawk, Ardent_ and _Shark_ had been sunk. Total losses ran high into the
millions and in the number of men above 7,000.

The German losses had been less, but nevertheless, taking into
consideration damage done to the effectiveness of the two fleets as a
whole, the enemy had sustained the harder blow. The British fleet still
maintained control of the North Sea, while the Germans, because of
their losses, had been deprived of a large part of the fighting
strength of their fleet. The British, in spite of their heavier losses,
would recover more quickly than could the enemy.

The dreadnaught _Westphalen_ was the largest ship lost by the Germans.
It was of 18,600 tons. The three German battleships lost, the
_Pommern_, the _Freiderich_ and the _Frauenlob_, were each of 13,350
tons. Four battle cruisers had been sent to the bottom. They were the
_Elbing_, the _Essen_, the _Lutzow_ and the _Hindenburg_, each of
14,400 tons. The German losses in torpedo destroyers had been
particularly heavy, an even dozen having been sent to the bottom.
Besides this, the enemy had lost three submarines and two Zeppelin
airships, besides a number of smaller aircraft. In men the Germans had
lost slightly less than the British.

And so both British and Germans counted the battle a victory; the
Germans because in total tonnage sunk they had the best of it; the
British, because they held the scene of battle when the fighting was
over and because the enemy had retired.

But, no matter with which side rested the victory, there was no
gainsaying the fact that the battle of Jutland was the greatest naval
struggle of all time.

After giving up pursuit of the enemy, the British withdrew. Damage to
the various vessels was repaired as well as could be