But admitting all this, we own to a certain surprise
that Mr. Balfour should say, as he did in his speech at the Cannon Street Hotel on Wednesday, that he could not see how he could have done otherwise than he did. Fired by this statement, and by the attempt of Lord Beresford as a naval bulletin-writer, we have tried to see exactly how the facts stated and logically implied in the Admiralty communiqug of Friday week, and no more, could have been pre- sented in an exhilarating rather than a depressing form—presented, shall we say ? so as to give persons of nervous temperament a good rather than a bad night—not a very important matter, we admit, but still worth a little effort. The following is the text of the official
communique :—
" The Secretary of the Admiralty makes the following announcement : On the afternoon of Wednesday, May 31st, a naval engagement took place off the coast of Jutland. The British ships on which -the brunt of the fighting fell were the Battle-Cruiser Fleet and some cruisers and light cruisers, supported by four fast battleships. Among thoss the losses were heavy. The German Battle Fleet, aided by low visibility, avoided prolonged action with our main forces, and soon after these appeared on the scene the enemy returned to port, though not before receiving severe damage from our battleships. The battle-cruisers 'Queen Mary,' 'Indefatigable,' Invincible ' and the cruisers 'Defence' and 'Black Prince' were sunk. The 'Warrior' was disabled, and after being towed for some time had to be abandoned by her crew. It is also known that the destroyers 'Tipperary,' Turbulent,' 'Fortune,' Sparrowhawk,' and ' Ardent ' were lost, and six others are not yet accounted for. No British battleships or light cruisers were sunk. The enemy's losses were serious. At least one battle' cruiser was destroyed, and one severely damaged ; one battleship reported sunk by our destroyers during a night attack ; two light cruisers were disabled, and probably sunk. The exact number of enemy destroyers disposed of during the action cannot be ascertained with any certainty, but it must have been large.'"
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