In 1889 Great Britain passed its Naval Defence Act. The act
instituted a commitment to maintaining naval supremacy by servicing
a navy of equal size to both the second and third largest navies in
the world. The policy served shipyards well but unsurprisingly
contributed to a naval arms race as Britain sought to keep pace
with the growth in firstly French and Russian navies and then
German and American navies. Between 1907 and 1914 Britain massively
increased the tonnage of her navy in response to the challenge from
Germany. By the outbreak of war she had assembled the largest (by
tonnage) naval fleet ever assembled with 49 battleships of which 29
were dreadnought class. Germany by contrast had produced
18 meaning that a 'safety-first' policy would be adopted in the
early stages of the war as Admiral von Ingenhol kept his ships in
port under the protection of German sea-ward guns. This suited the
British Grand Fleet in Scapa Flow who sought to blockade Germany,
keeping their ships from the Atlantic Ocean and depriving the
German war machine of steel and their civilians of food. In 1916
the cumulative effects of the blockade in addition to the stalemate
on the western front triggered a change in German naval doctrine
and Admiral Hipper introduced a bolder 'divide and conquer'
approach. British naval intelligence forewarned Admiral Jellicoe of
this and on the 31st May the British Grand Fleet left
port for the first time during the conflict. Travelling with her
were many recognisable faces from the world of international rugby.
England's 1913 Grand Slam winning captain Norman Wodehouse was a
gunnery officer on board HMS Revenge, one of his
successors Lieutenant Commander WJA 'Dave' Davies was on board the
fleet's flagship HMS Iron Duke and Lieutenant Commander
Harrison was at the head of the British Battlecruiser Fleet on
board HMS Lion. Also in the Battlecruiser Fleet was the
HMS Indefatigable whose Torpedo Officer was Lieutenant
Commander John Skinner Wilson. Wilson a combative forward with the
United Services and Navy (1908, 1913) had been twice capped for
Scotland in 1909. Both Wilson and Harrison were about to find
themselves engaged in the opening salvoes of the largest naval
battle in history. Unbeknownst to Hipper British intelligence had
cracked the code on German naval transcripts earlier in the war and
were forewarned of increased German activity in the North Sea.
Hipper's plan was to find and destroy British patrol squadrons and
the group of battlecruisers that he located west of Jutland on the
31st May 1916 looked like precisely that. 
It was the Germans that opened fire first and drew
first blood. Lion received nine hits and only the quick
thinking of a mortally wounded major, who flooded the ship's
magazines before they could explode, kept the ship from sinking.
Indefatigable was less fortunate and received five direct
hits which ignited her magazine and sent her to the bottom of the
sea with a loss of 1017 lives from a crew of 1019. Lieutenant
Wilson was amongst the victims. After catching sight of the main
German Fleet the remainder of the British Battlecruiser Fleet
turned and fled north to where the British Grand Fleet lay in wait,
ready to turn the tables on the unsuspecting enemy. At the head of
the Grand Fleet was a flotilla of armoured cruisers that included
HMS Defence. On board Defence was Gunnery Officer
Cecil Halliday Abercrombie. Abercrombie had attended the same HMS
Britannia Naval Training School as Wilson and had followed his
progress on the rugby field. An energetic, fast and physical player
he had been first selected for Scotland in 1910 and scored a try in
Paris the following year. He remained in the squad and earned the
last of his six caps against Wales in 1913. [caption
id="attachment_1323" align="alignnone" width="674"]
HMS Defence[/caption] Before the main body of the
Grand Fleet could engage the enemy Defence had moved in on
the stricken SS Wiesbaden. In so doing she opened herself
up to attack from five superior German ships. The doomed cruiser
received multiple hits and was sunk with a loss of all but ten of
the ships 903 man complement. Despite her sinking she continued to
fire on the German ships in defiance till the very last and several
eye witness accounts claim that it was Abercrombie's turret that
remained active right up until the point she slipped beneath the
waves. Shortly after the sinking of Defence the Grand
Fleet made contact with the German High Seas Fleet. After crossing
the T both Iron Duke and Revenge were able to
land multiple hits on the outnumbered foe before night fell and
smaller destroyers continued the battle in the dark. At the final
reckoning of the Battle of Jutland the Royal Navy had succeeded in
sinking eleven German ships for a loss of fifteen of her own. In
light of such numbers the Germans proclaimed themselves the victors
and celebrated a great victory against a previously invincible
naval foe. But the loss of Abercrombie and Wilson was not in vain.
Despite suffering more losses than the Germans the British Fleet
had done enough to maintain the status quo. The blockade continued
and the German High Seas Fleet was so weakened that she did not
venture forth from port again. [caption id="attachment_1328"
align="aligncenter" width="220"]
John Skinner Wilson, Scotland[/caption] [caption
id="attachment_1331" align="aligncenter" width="220"]
Cecil Halliday Abercrombie, Scotland[/caption]
About the Author - Phil McGowan had
been a member of the museum team since 2007. He has written two
books and is currently researching a third about the contributions
of English rugby players to the First World War.
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