Battle of Jutland HMS New Zealand (1911)

assembled officers of hms new zealand winston churchill , king george v

on 31 may 1916, 2nd bcs consisted of new zealand (flagship of rear admiral william christopher pakenham) , indefatigable; australia still under repair following collision new zealand. squadron assigned admiral beatty s battlecruiser fleet, had put sea intercept sortie high seas fleet north sea. british able decode german radio messages , left bases before germans put sea. hipper s battlecruisers spotted battlecruiser fleet west @ 3:20 p.m., beatty s ships didn t spot germans east until 3:30. 2 minutes later, ordered course change east-south-east position himself astride german s line of retreat , called ships crews action stations. ordered 2nd bcs, had been leading, fall in astern of 1st bcs. hipper ordered ships turn starboard, away british, assume south-easterly course, , reduced speed 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) allow 3 light cruisers of 2nd scouting group catch up. turn, hipper falling on high seas fleet, 60 miles (97 km) behind him. around time, beatty altered course east apparent still far north cut off hipper.

thus began so-called run south beatty changed course steer east-south-east @ 3:45, paralleling hipper s course, range closed under 18,000 yards (16,000 m). germans opened fire first @ 3:48, followed british. british ships still in process of making turn, , 2 leading ships, lion , hms princess royal, had steadied on course when germans opened fire. british formation echeloned right indefatigable in rear , furthest west, , new zealand ahead of , further east. german fire accurate beginning, british overestimated range german ships blended haze. indefatigable aimed @ sms von der tann, while new zealand, unengaged herself, targeted sms moltke. 3:54, range down 12,900 yards (11,800 m) , beatty ordered course change 2 points starboard open range @ 3:57. indefatigable destroyed @ 4:03, when magazines exploded.

after indefatigable s loss, new zealand shifted fire von der tann in accordance beatty s standing instructions. range had grown far accurate shooting, beatty altered course 4 points port close range again between 4:12 , 4:15. time, 5th battle squadron, consisting of 4 queen elizabeth-class battleships, had closed , engaging von der tann , moltke. @ 4:23, 13.5-inch (340 mm) shell hms tiger struck near von der tann s rear turret, starting fire among practice targets stowed there obscured ship , caused new zealand shift fire moltke. @ 4:26, ship hit 28-centimetre (11 in) shell, fired von der tann, on x barbette detonated on contact , knocked loose piece of armour briefly jammed x turret , blew hole in upper deck. 4 minutes later, southampton, scouting in front of beatty s ships, spotted lead elements of high seas fleet charging north @ top speed. 3 minutes later, sighted topmasts of vice-admiral reinhard scheer s battleships, did not transmit message beatty 5 minutes. beatty continued south 2 minutes confirm sighting himself before ordering sixteen-point turn starboard in succession. new zealand, last ship in line, turned prematurely stay outside range of oncoming battleships.

a chunk of armour knocked new zealand s x turret during battle of jutland on display @ torpedo bay navy museum in auckland

new zealand straddled several times battleship sms prinzregent luitpold not hit. beatty s ships maintained full speed in attempt increase distance between them , high seas fleet, , gradually moved out of range. turned north , north-east try rendezvous main body of grand fleet. @ 5:40, opened fire again on german battlecruisers. setting sun blinded german gunners, , not make out british ships, turned away north-east @ 5:47. beatty gradually turned more towards east allow him cover deployment of grand fleet in battle formation , move ahead of it, mistimed manoeuvre , forced leading division fall off towards east, further away germans. 6:35, beatty following indomitable , hms inflexible of 3rd bcs steering east-south-east, leading grand fleet, , continuing engage hipper s battlecruisers south-west. few minutes earlier, scheer had ordered simultaneous 180° starboard turn , beatty lost sight of high seas fleet in haze. twenty minutes later, scheer ordered 180° turn put them on converging course again grand fleet, had altered course south. allowed grand fleet cross scheer s t, forming battle line cut across battle line , badly damaging leading ships. scheer ordered yet 180° turn @ 7:13 in attempt extricate high seas fleet trap had sent them.

this successful, , british lost sight of germans until 8:05, when hms castor spotted smoke bearing west-north-west. ten minutes later, had closed range enough identify german torpedo boats, , engaged them. beatty turned west upon hearing gunfire , spotted german battlecruisers 8,500 yards (7,800 m) away. inflexible opened fire @ 8:20, followed rest of beatty s battlecruisers. new zealand , indomitable concentrated fire on sms seydlitz, , hit 5 times before turned west disengage. shortly after 8:30, pre-dreadnought battleships of rear admiral mauve s ii battle squadron spotted , fire switched them. germans had poor visibility , able fire few rounds @ them before turning away west. british battlecruisers hit german ships several times before blended haze around 8:40. after this, beatty changed course south-south-east , maintained course, ahead of both grand fleet , high seas fleet, until 2:55 next morning, when order given reverse course , head home.

new zealand fired 420 twelve-inch shells during battle, more other ship on either side. despite this, 4 successful hits credited battlecruiser: 3 on seydlitz , 1 on pre-dreadnought sms schleswig-holstein. hit once during battle, confirming crew piupiu , tiki worn new captain, j.f.e. (jimmy) green, brought luck.