The following extracts are taken from: ‘The fighting at Jutland – The personal experiences of sixty officers and men of the British Fleet.‘ Editors: HW Fawcett and GWW Hooper. First published in 1921.
The Adventures of H.M.S. Acasta
The destroyer, Acasta, one of the four boats attached to Admiral Hood’s Battle Cruiser Squadron, came into action about 5.50 p.m., shortly after H.M.S. Chester.
H.M.S. Acasta attacked the enemy in company with the leader of her division, H.M.S. Shark (whose Captain, Commander Loftus Jones, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallant conduct while the Shark was sinking), and H.M.S. Christopher and H.M.S. Ophelia. They engaged enemy light cruisers and destroyers, and eventually the Acasta fired a torpedo at German battle cruisers, after which she made back to the north-westward close past H.M.S. Lion. (The fact of having closed unexpectedly on the German battle cruisers shows clearly that Admiral Hood’s Squadron had ‘over-run’ the action and had sighted the enemy battle cruisers before making contact with our (Rosyth) battle cruisers.) Acasta was severely damaged in these attacks, and as a result of this damage lay stopped in the path of the Battle Fleet after they had deployed into battle line, and ‘reviewed the fleet,’ cheering each ship as they passed. This incidence was referred to in Admiral Jellicoe’s despatch:-
‘At this time (6.45) the destroyer Acasta was passed in a disabled condition. She signalled that she was holed fore and aft, and unable to move her engines. In spite of her condition her ship’s company were observed to be cheering as the Battle Fleet passed.’
The Adventures of H.M.S. Acasta
Described by her Commanding Officer
On the afternoon of 30th May the four destroyers, Shark, Acasta, Ophelia,and Christopher, were detailed to screen the 3rd Battle Cruiser Squadron (Invincible, Inflexible, and Indomitable), and the same evening we left Scapa Flow ahead of the main fleet and steered to the south-eastward at about 17 knots. All was peace until the next afternoon, when about 5.30 p.m. Firing was heard in the distance. Later flashes were seen in the direction where Chester had been detached to reconnoitre. The weather was misty, and it was difficult to know what was happening, but at about 10 minutes to 6 we sighted a part of the enemy’s fleet, and Commander Loftus Jones, in the Shark, receiving orders from Admiral Hood to proceed independently, led us into attack.
We could not clearly distinguish the various enemy ships, but we could make out several German light cruisers and a number of destroyers which evidently had sighted our 3rd B.C.S., and were commencing to make a torpedo attack on them. But when they saw us leading out the appeared to become undecided as to what our force consisted of, and as far as we could make out, turned from their torpedo attack to engage us with gunfire. The destroyers were supported by cruisers, and things very quickly became unpleasantly warm, The German shooting was undoubtedly good, their salvoes falling close together – perhaps too close together, really – but at first we were little hit, although a piece of shell scalped a signalman on our bridge and a lot of splinters were flying about. We afterwards picked out 30 to 40 pieces of shell from the mattresses slung around the bridge. Also, on the bridge we were all soaked through by the spray thrown up by shell, causing the sub-lieutenant to remark that ‘an umbrella would be handy.’
After a while we received our first direct hit, which was right forward on the water-line, and gave us the feeling that the ship had been pushed bodily sideways. Incidentally, it spoilt the lower mess deck as a mess deck. About 10 minutes past 6, having seen that the enemy’s destroyer attack was frustrated, the Shark turned the division to port away from the enemy, and we then saw that Shark herself was practically stopped, and had a quantity of steam pouring out of her engine-room, so we turned back to render any assistance possible.
We signalled to Shark to ask if we could be of any help, but although I passed quite close to her, we got no answer back. We saw men aft. But none for’ard. Most unfortunately at this moment we got two big ones through the after end of the engine-room, which smashed the steering engine and set alight the engineer’s store. The dynamo was wrecked, various exhaust pipes were cut, the engine room was filled with steam, the emergency stop-valve on deck was broken, and we were left without means of shutting steam off. Everyone in the engine-room who had not been killed was forced to come up at once on deck owing to the escaping steam. I rang down ‘Stop’ and ‘Astern,’ but with no result, and it was some time before orders could be got through by word of mouth to the stokehold to shut off steam at the boilers.
Whilst turning up to close Shark we fired a torpedo at the leading enemy battle cruiser at a range of about 4,500 yards, and shortly afterwards an explosion was seen. Soon after passing Shark, with the steam sending us uncontrolled ahead, we crossed the bows of the Lion and very nearly caught a salvo of big stuff which was meant for her.
At about 6.30, having barged through our own destroyer flotillas ahead of the battle fleet – guided by Providence, for we had no steering gear to guide the ship with- we at last got the ship stopped, and lying there only about 200 yards from the battle line, held a very fine view of the Grand Fleet coming into action, as ship after ship they passed us. The men were very excited and cheered each ship as she passed, some to port and some to starboard, particularly the Commander-in-Chief in the Iron Duke. We hoisted the ‘Not under control’ signal, and endeavoured to tell the battleships that we were unable to move, for it would have been an ignominious end to have been run down by our own fleet. Fortunately they all dodged us.
Later, I went aft from the bridge to inspect the damage we had received. The engine-room was an awful mess, and the store-room just abaft it absolutely wrecked and smouldering. The dynamo had ceased to exist, there was fuel everywhere, and the upper deck all around the after part of the engine-room was riddled with holes. We did our best to fill up the holes in the side with hammocks, canvas, etc., but it didn’t make much difference. We had great difficulty in getting-down to the engine-room, as there was still a lot of steam escaping, but eventually we got all the people up from there. The damage forward was not serious, and was dealt with by shoring up the bulkheads and blocking the holes with hammocks. The destruction of the dynamo left us with no lights except candles, which made repair work very difficult, especially later when it got dark, but the engine-room department did wonders particularly when it is remembered that their store-room had been wrecked, and that they were left with practically no spare parts or tools. The remarks of the artificers trying to fit a three-eighths nut on to a five-eighths bolt, by candle light in some out-of-the-way corner, working up to their waists in oil and water, were distinctly illuminating. One odd effect of being heavily engaged, which was told me by the first lieutenant, was that nobody at the after guns realised that the ship had ever been hit.
He also warned me that I should not find my cabin very comfortable now, and I found that he was quite right, for two shells had gone through it completely wrecking it, and the North Sea was flowing freely in and out.
As the battleships passed us we had one very close shave from being rammed, for as Marlborough, leading the rear division of the battle fleet, came nearly up to us she was hit by a torpedo under her starboard bow, which threw up a big black column of spray as high as her upper turret, and she immediately listed to starboard. Apparently she was under port helm at the time, as she swung off her course and passed us on her port hand, which was lucky for us, as at the moment of being torpedoed she was heading straight for us.
After the fleet had passed, Fearless, and Galatea both closed us to offer assistance, but as there were no enemy ships about, and we seemed to be still seaworthy, we did not consider it necessary to accept their help. Shortly afterwards the periscope of a submarine was reported by one of the men, and we opened a very heavy bombardment on it, but it was a false scare, the periscope turning out to be only a thin spar floating upwards, Still it was an unpleasant few minutes, for we were absolutely incapable of moving.
At this time the Warspite was a few miles away from us steaming round in circles, her steering gear apparently damaged. She made a good target for ‘U’ boats, so that we were all very much on the lookout for them. Just before dark she steamed away and we were left by ourselves with no other ships in sight, feeling rather lonely.
By midnight some sort of repairs had been made to the steering engine and to the damaged steam pipes, and we started to crawl towards Scotland on a zigzag course, making 2 to 3 knots. But the steering gear was of very little use, and before long we realised that it would be impossible for us to make harbour as we were making no real headway, and very little of the oil fuel remained for to use. Several hands had to be employed carrying fuel forward in buckets to an undamaged tank. We knew nothing of the movements or the whereabouts of either friend or enemy, and to add to our discomfort the wind and sea were fast getting up.
During the night we heard German wireless signals close to us, but when daylight came there was nothing in sight. Later during the forenoon as destroyer was sighted coming up from the southward, and seeing her through the mist, end on,we took her to be a German, and manned the guns; but when she made the challenge, although we could not answer it having no searchlights left, we realised that she was a friend and that it was all right. She turned out to be the Nonsuch and took us in tow smartly, bringing us to Aberdeen, where tugs took us into the harbour at about 9 p.m. On the 2nd of June. Nonsuch then parted company for Rosyth.
Narrative from H.M.S. Calliope
Just after deployment we saw the destroyer Acasta in a very bad way, down by the head, on fire, and not under control, coming from the direction of the firing; she passed astern of us and ahead of the approaching battleships.
Narrative from H.M.S. Colossus
Just after this interlude we passed close by the destroyer, Acasta, lying completely disabled; one of our Torpedo Gunners had lately joined her, and he and his party aft gave us a rousing cheer as we passed.
Narrative of a Midshipman… H.M.S. Neptune
We passed a disabled destroyer on our starboard bow, very close to us, but she was one of ours – the Acasta. She was badly holed forward and aft and was much down by the bows, but the crew were clustered aft cheering us and the other ships as we passed, and then she disappeared astern rolling heavily in the wash of the battle fleet but with her ensign still flying, apparently not “done for” yet.
…
Till then we tried to sleep, but thoughts of that torpedo almost hitting us, of the Acasta, of the Marlborough, of the shapeless hump of the Invincible, and all the other incidents of the action, made any sleep difficult.
Events Noted from the Fore-top of H.M.S. Marlborough
A few minutes after we were hit we passed a destroyer, the Acasta, close on our port hand, flying 6 flag – “Am in danger of sinking” – and the “Not under control” signal; she had a collision mat stretched out over her starboard quarter. I was afraid for a moment that we were going to collide with her, as we passed so close to her that from aloft she was almost hidden by our ram, and we seemed to be practically on top of her. But she came by all clear, and her men cheered as we passed.