Difference between revisions of "Account of Eric Sydney Brand at the Battle of Jutland"

Revision as of 12:37, 3 December 2008

pp. 10-13.

Account

On the evening of Tuesday 30th, May the familiar signal "Raise Steam" was received and, I suppose, about 10 pm. we slipped off quietly to sea. This was particularly easy in "Valiant" which was organised for just that and we slipped quietly into out three Defence watches, which whther closed up or not revolved in hrbour as well as at sea. 1916 was the firse [sic] year of "Summer Time" and the Fleet had been ordered to keep it in harbour but to revert to G.M.T. at sea. "Valiant" however wanted none of the disturbances of upsetting the 'Routine' clocks and only altered the clocks which were concerned outside the ship.

It is for this reason that the times which follow in my memory may often be an hour ahead of the times usually given in the official reports. On 31st, May, I had the Morning watch 0400 - 0800 in the starboard Anti-Submarine Control shelter, facing out on the starboard bow just abaft the Conning Tower. It was a beautiful morning, flat calm sea and some light mist and the watch passed entirely uneventfully.

My Action Station in "Valiant" was 'Rate Officer' in the 15" Gun Control Tower, a cylindrical armoured Tower set more or less in the center of the Conning Tower which surrounded it. On top of the Gun Control Tower was mounted the 'Armoured Director' which duplicated the Director Tower set in the Foretop. The Rate of Change of Range, was an important item in the Gunnery Control set up and it was up to me to try to estimate it at any time. My 'instrument' was what was known as a 'Dumaresq', after its inventor. After I had made an estimate of the 'inclination' of our target, i.e. the angle which the target's course made with my line of sight, and estimated the target's speed, I set these on the Dumaresq and was rewarded by being told the 'Rate' and the Deflection (left or Right) to be set on the gun sights.

But, in the modern "Valiant" there was an elaborate and valuable check provided upon the 20-year old Sub-Lieutenant's judgement. Down below armour in the Transmitting Station, presided over by the Instructor-Commander, Whetherhead,[sic] was a much larger Dumaresq and the 'rate' it was showing was connected to a pencil which drew a line on the plotting paper on which the ranges of the target were being plotted as they came in. If then, 'my' rate prodiced a line which co-incided with the change of range shown by the mean of the rangefinder's plot, then 'my' guesstimation of the speed and inclination of the target must be pretty good. This whole set-up was known as the Dreyer table after the name of it's [sic] inventor, Captain F.C.Dreyer (of whom we shall hear more later.

To enable me to chat back and forth to the Dreyer plot I had a direct line and personal telephone to Midshipman B.R.Hooper who could make 'suggestions' to me regarding my guesstimations from what he deduced from 'his' plot. I was seated immediately alongside the 15" Control Officer (Archie May, the (G) Officer so that I could ask his opinion of the inclination and speed and if from his fall of shot it seemed to him that my 'rate' was not working right he could quickly tell me so. The 'rate' which was decided on at any moment was that which was transmitted to the Director Layers and the guns (in case the Director broke down) only, of course, they were not concerned with the 'rate' as such but with the continually changing gun range which it produced.

Though there was a Control Officer in the foretop, the Gunnery Officer in the Gun Control Tower was regarded as the primary control and the Director could be laid from either the foretop or the Armoured Director on top of the 15" G.C.T. The 6" guns were controlled from an armoured space on either side of the Main G.C.T. but in no physical connection with it. Torpedo Control was exercised from a Torpedo Control Tower abaft the Mainmast. There were no Plotting arrangements as we knew them later in 'private' ships. The Navigating Officer had a Midshipman crouched alongside the Magnetic Compass in the Conning Tower (Wemyss) writing down courses and general remarks in his Note Book while in the Lower Conning Tower and [sic] R.N.R. Lieutenant kept what reckoning he could.

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