Lot of odd islands in the South Indian Ocean. Jutland, for instance:

Examine the battle of Jutland.

What conclusions can be drawn?

Jutland is a small island in the South Indian Ocean where, in the autumn of 1932, one of the most significant modern battlefleet actions was fought between the fleets of Italy and Japan.

Jutland, so named for its central peak which is oddly (almost obscenely) shaped, was settled by the French late in the nineteenth century, at a time when Greece and other minor European powers were snapping up the last few colonial tidbits. The population is remarkably chauvinistic and contributed an annual brigade to the French cause during the First World War. The island, at the time of the battle, was beginning to recover from a severe manpower shortage and was a popular stop for cruise liners.

At the time of the Vienna Crisis, it became necessary for the contributing nations to make a show of extending their various spheres of influence in order to strengthen their hands at the later conference and hopefully derive a position of power from the treaty to be signed thereafter.

Accordingly Italy sent forth a "flag-showing" squadron of four modern battleships and an aircraft-carrier to visit far-flung European colonies, in blatant imitation of the earlier United States' "Great White Fleet" of several years before. As they approached Jutland, where a ball and open day were scheduled, lookouts reported a number of ships approaching from the east.

This was the Japanese Fifth Battle Squadron, consisting of two battleships, an escorting destroyer or two and a number of support vessels. The Japanese, busily scouting out anchorages, facilities and targets for the "Greater Co-Prosperity Sphere", had selected Jutland as a recreation port to mark the end of a week of exercise.

As the two fleets identified each other, there was a flurry of activity on the bridges of the Japanese and Italian flagships.

The two nations, nominal allies at the end of the First World War, were now nominal enemies through the interplay of shifting alliances and the League of Nations stance on the Ethiopian Intervention. Normally this state of affairs was of little consequence, as the two countries had no direct contact. What little trade there was continued through intermediaries, if the paper conflict was observed at all. However, the encounter of two well-armed fleets could not be shrugged aside. Long-range radio communication with superiors being unavailable at that time, the two admirals fell back on their standing orders, which dictated the speedy engagement of hostile forces.

The Japanese Admiral Harpoon, quickly taking note of the disparity in force, decided not to anchor and instead altered course to pass behind the island, hoping to escape once out of sight of the Italian fleet. However, while the speedy modern warships were able to interpose the bulk of Jutland, the oilers and support vessels trailed behind and attracted the attention of the Italians.

The Italian flagship, Spatlaese, led the Grappa, Crouchen, and Eagle in line-ahead pursuit around the curve of the island, with their minor vessels following.

Jutland, being but a small island, was not ideally suited to the intended Japanese plan, and as the two fleets circled the central peak, the respective flagships almost simultaneously sighted the slowest of the enemy ships, bringing up the rear of the battle-lines. A strange situation now ensued, with, in each case, a fast modern battleship out of sight of all opposition except for a slow, unarmoured, and essentially unarmed fleet auxiliary.

The first shots of the battle of Jutland were fired in defiance by the Italian oiler Chianti Napoli . At the extreme range of the 5-inch stern gun, the Italians opened fire on the huge grey super-dreadnought bearing down on them. There was no no doubt as to the outcome, once the Kirin returned fire with a salvo of ten 13.5 inch armour-piercing shells. The sound of heavy naval gunfire boomed across the water, sounding the death-knell of the tanker, which veered out of line and slowed to lie dead in the water, a helpless target for the succeeding Japanese battleships.

On the other side of the island, the Italian van then opened fire on the elderly Japanese freighter Saki Maru, which promptly burst into flames and exploded.

Over the next two hours the two fleets circled the island at their best speeds, chewing up their slower and crippled opponents as they fell behind. The tankers and storeships were the first to go, followed in good time by the slower and older battleships. The ex-RN light carrier Eagle, attempting to cut a corner, ran straight up onto a reef and was pounded by the Japanese each time they passed. To this day the shoal is known as Eagle Rock and the rusting remains shelter rich reserves of lobsters.

A brave attempt by the Japanese destroyer Konga to overtake the Italians failed when the enemy cruiser Crouchen , lagging behind with a ruptured boiler, demolished the lighter ship with two torpedoes, only to be picked off in her turn by the oncoming Akaga .

Eventually, as ship after ship fell out of line, the contest become a test of speed between the modern battleships, each striving to outpace the others. By 1734 the only ships remaining battleworthy were the two flagships, Kirin and Spatlaese , each of which had vanquished a succession of unequal opponents.

With all but the opposing flagships out of action, the result of the battle hinged upon the skill of the gunnery teams. As the Kirin and Spatlaese settled down to a one-to one gunnery duel, the importance of quick teamwork and accurate spotting became critical. On the Italian ship, the Fire Observation Officer (FOO), from his post high on the foremast, observed the fall of shot and passed control orders to his spotting-top crew, who calculated individual turret bearings and elevations. The Italian FOO, Commander Pico, was about to acheive his destiny in an act which would make him the object of naval comment throughout the world.

Pico, hitherto a man of indifferent skills, gave the order for rapid salvo fire on the Japanese ship. Observing the first salvo to fall short, he increased the gun range, seeking a "straddle", a combination of under and over shots guaranteed to cause a high percentage of target hits. As the officer with the best observation, Pico was also tasked with the job of reporting enemy fire and estimating point of impact so that appropriate avoiding action could be taken if possible. As the splashes of the Italian salvo subsided, the Japanese guns blinked once as they sent ten heavy shells flying towards the Spatlaese .

Commander Pico, catching sight of the shells of the salvo as they reached the apex of their trajectory, calculated that they would land directly on his position on the Spatlaese , and promptly voided himself. A second or so later most of the shells passed through the ship's masts and exploded harmlessly in the sea beyond. One shell impacted the spotting-top mainstay and exploded after the armour-piercing fuze's sixth-second delay. Luckily the shrapnel caused only minor casualties, but the blast from the mid-air explosion stripped away cloth and other loose objects from exposed positions around the upperworks. The huge battle ensign, the Admiral's last signal hoist, and the spotting team's uniforms were shredded by the shock. The FOO's faeces rained down upon the bridge, speckling the immaculate Italian uniforms of the officers.

Admiral Martini, his navigating officer and their aides and assistants promptly hurried below to change their uniforms and renew the battle in clean linen. Though these officers were largely killed when a 13.5 inch shell from the next salvo exploded in the wardroom, the dazed but vengeful Commander Pico maintained his post and directed the flagship's fire with almost inspired brilliance. Salvo after salvo rained down upon the hapless Japanese Kirin, silencing the remaining gun turrets and starting a fire in the superstructure.

Admiral Harpoon wisely ordered his flag captain to break off the action on receiving damage control reports. As Jutland sank below the horizon in the gathering darkness, he set a course for the neutral port of Honolulu in the Pacific, where he, his ship and his crew were interned for the duration of the conflict.

Though the Italian fleet had been severely mauled, indeed decimated, they retained possession of the battlefield and the resultant newspaper reports enabled the Italian government to press for reduced ceramic imposts at the conference. Though the trade treaty was set aside during the Second World War and remains in abeyance to this day, the episode was seen as a diplomatic coup throughout Europe.

The most significant lessons learnt from the battle of Jutland were important in the great clash of arms only seven years later, though thankfully for the security of the Free World, neither Japan nor Italy followed up these conclusions, preferring to follow more orthodox and conservative methods of warfare. Oddly enough, this is a common characteristic of latter-day conflict, where the veterans of past wars, usually risen to command ranks such as Admiral or General, will endeavour to refight their previous battles, ignoring the vital lessons of the opening actions. Here is a case where the more flexible doctrine will often prevail at the expense of superior force or moral superiority.

One of the most important conclusions, therefore, is that senior officers may be safely ignored unless they possess recent battle experience. In fact, there is a good case for the policy of eliminating all officers over the age of forty on the declaration of war and immediately (so as to gain from maximisation of training time) "bumping up" all junior officers two notches in the rank structure.

Less vital conclusions are threefold:

Selection of leave ports may affect the destiny of nations.
A stern chase is not necessarily the longest chase.
When the FOO shits, wear it.