Читать книгу A True Account of the Battle of Jutland, May 31, 1916 - Frothingham Thomas Goddard - Страница 1
PREFACE
ОглавлениеThe following is an account of the essential facts of the Battle of Jutland, amplified from the review in the author’s book, A Guide to the Military History of The World War, 1914–1918, published this year by Little, Brown & Co. This gives a greatly needed description of the events of the naval action, with the forces of both sides placed in true relation, one to the other.
No previously published account had contained an adequate treatment of the manœuvres of both fleets, as certain important events of the action were not understood, and it had been assumed that situations existed for which there was no foundation in fact. All this has resulted in a mass of confused and erroneous narratives – and the Battle of Jutland has become one of the most misunderstood actions in history.
The British Admiralty has announced that an official record of the Battle of Jutland would not be given out. Instead of this, the official dispatches covering the action have been issued in the form of a Blue-book. The publication of these documents does not help to solve many vexed questions – and the need is all the more evident of a trustworthy account of the action.
The reader may feel sure that the real course of the great naval battle has been traced in the present version, and that the facts here given have been established beyond dispute. In this way a reliable basis has been provided for reading narratives of the action, for studying the details of its varying fortunes – and for correcting many erroneous impressions which have been current.
A portion of the text was published in the Boston Evening Transcript of October 9, 1920. Two of the charts have been reproduced from A Guide to the Military History of The World War, and the thanks of the author are given to Messrs. Little, Brown & Co. for their courtesy in allowing use of the text of the book.