Description
A Battle of Jutland Pair awarded to Stoker 1st Class James John Cordell, who served aboard H.M.S. Princess Royal, the Flagship of Admiral Beatty comprising, 1914-1920 British War and Victory Medals, (229872 J.J. Cordell. Sto. 1. R.N.), very fine.
James John Cordell was born on Christmas Day 1887 he joined the Royal Navy on the 25th December 1905 he joined H.M.S. Princess Royal on the 20th of January 1916. On 31 May 1916, Princess Royal was flagship of the 1st BCS under Beatty’s overall command; they had put to sea with the rest of the Battlecruiser Fleet to intercept a sortie by the High Seas Fleet into the North Sea. The British had decoded the German radio messages, and left their bases before the Germans put to sea. Hipper’s battlecruisers spotted the Battlecruiser Fleet to their west at 15:20, but Beatty’s ships did not see the Germans to their east for another 10 minutes. At 15:32, Beatty ordered a course change to east south-east, positioning the British ships to cut off the Germans’ line of retreat, and signalled action stations. Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard, away from the British, to assume a south-easterly course, and reduced speed to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up. With this turn, Hipper was falling back on the High Seas Fleet, 60 miles (97 km) behind him. Beatty altered course to the east, as he was still too far north to cut Hipper off.
This began what was to be called the “Run to the South” as Beatty changed course to steer east south-east at 15:45, now paralleling Hipper’s course less than 18,000 yards (16,000 m) away. The Germans opened fire first at 15:48, followed by the British. The British ships were still in the process of making their turn as only the two leading ships – Lion and Princess Royal – had steadied on their course when the Germans opened fire. The two battlecruisers engaged Lützow, the leading German ship, while Derfflinger targeted Princess Royal. The German fire was accurate from the start, with two hits on Princess Royal within the first three minutes. British gunnery was less effective; the range was incorrectly estimated as the German ships blended into the haze. Princess Royal’s ‘A’ turret stopped working effectively early in the battle: the left gun was rendered inoperable when the breech pinion gear sheared, and the right gun misfired frequently. By 15:54, the range was down to 12,900 yards (11,800 m); Beatty ordered a course change two points to starboard to open up the range three minutes later.
At 16:11, a torpedo fired by Moltke passed under Princess Royal. Those aboard the British ship saw the torpedo’s track, but incorrectly concluded that a U-boat was positioned on the opposite side of the British line – away from the German battlecruisers – and was firing toward both groups of ships. This false impression was compounded by reports of a periscope sighting by the destroyer Landrail. By this time, the distance between the British and German ships was too great for accurate fire, so Beatty altered course four points to port between 16:12 and 16:15, closing the range. This manoeuvre exposed Lion to the fire of the German battlecruisers, and the smoke from multiple successful hits caused Derfflinger to lose sight of Princess Royal and switch targets to Queen Mary at 16:16. By 16:25, the range was down to 14,400 yards (13,200 m) and Beatty turned two points to starboard to open the range again. Around this time, Queen Mary was hit multiple times in quick succession and her forward magazines exploded. At 16:30, the light cruiser Southampton, scouting in front of Beatty’s ships, spotted the lead elements of the High Seas Fleet charging north at top speed. Three minutes later, they sighted the topmasts of Vice-Admiral Reinhard Scheer’s battleships, but did not report this to the fleet for another five minutes. Beatty continued south for another two minutes to confirm the sighting before ordering his force to turn north.
Derfflinger firing a full broadside
The German battlecruisers made their own turn north in pursuit, but Beatty’s ships maintained full speed, and gradually moved out of range. The British battlecruisers turned north, then north-east, to try to rendezvous with the main body of the Grand Fleet, and at 17:40 opened fire again on their German counterparts. Facing the setting sun, the Germans could not make out the British ships and turned away to the north-east at 17:47. Beatty gradually turned towards the east so his ships could cover the Grand Fleet as it deployed into battle formation, but he mistimed his manoeuvre and forced the leading British division to manoeuvre away from the Germans. About 18:22, Princess Royal was hit by two 12-inch (305 mm) shells fired by the battleship Markgraf; one of these disabled ‘X’ turret and the other penetrated the ship’s side armour. By 18:35, Beatty was following the 3rd BCS as they were leading the Grand Fleet east-southeast, and continuing to engage Hipper’s battlecruisers to their south-west. A few minutes earlier, Scheer had ordered a simultaneous 180° starboard turn, and Beatty lost sight of them in the haze. At 18:44, Beatty turned his ships south-east, then south-southeast four minutes later, to find Hipper’s force. He then ordered the two surviving ships of the 3rd BCS to take position astern of New Zealand, while slowing to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) and altering course to the south. Beatty then ordered his ships to make a complete circle to stay within visual range of the Grand Fleet. At 18:55, Scheer ordered another 180° turn, which put the German ships on a converging course again with the Grand Fleet. However, the British had altered course to the south, allowing the Grand Fleet to cross Scheer’s “T” and inflict damage on the leading German ships. Scheer ordered yet another 180° turn at 19:13, and successfully extricated the High Seas Fleet from the danger precipitated by his previous turn. About this time, Princess Royal fired at the leading German battlecruiser for three minutes without result.
The British lost sight of the Germans until the light cruiser Castor spotted smoke to the west-northwest at 20:05, then identified and engaged several German torpedo boats. Hearing the sound of gunfire, Beatty ordered his ships west, and spotted the German battlecruisers only 8,500 yards (7,800 m) away. Inflexible opened fire at 20:20, followed almost immediately by the rest of the battlecruisers. Shortly after 20:30, the pre-dreadnought battleships of Konteradmiral (Rear-Admiral) Franz Mauve’s II Battle Squadron were spotted. The British battlecruisers and German pre-dreadnoughts exchanged fire; the Germans fired only a few times before turning away to the west because of poor visibility and the more accurate British gunnery, disappearing into the mist around 20:40. Beatty’s battlecruisers sailed south-southeast, ahead of both the Grand Fleet and the High Seas Fleet, until the order to reverse course for home was given at 02:55.
Along with the rest of the battlecruisers, Princess Royal reached Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland on the morning of 2 June, and she immediately received temporary repairs over the next eight days. She then sailed for Plymouth, where permanent repairs were completed on 15 July, and returned to Rosyth by 21 July. Princess Royal was hit nine times during the battle – six times by Derfflinger during the “Run to the South”, twice by Markgraf during the “Run to the North”, and once by Posen just after II Battle Squadron appeared – with 22 killed and 81 injured. The battlecruiser fired only 230 main-gun shells during the battle, as her visibility was often impaired by the funnel smoke and fires aboard Lion. She was credited with three hits on Lützow and two on Seydlitz.
He spent some 75 days in prison during his Naval career his papers marked “RUN” on several occasions. He was discharged on the 3rd of March 1919.
Sold with copy service papers and Medal Roll showing that he is also entitled to a 1914-15 Star.
