I was idly reading an article the other day and came across a very odd claim, the source of which was page 46 of Keith Yates’ 2000 book Flawed Victory: Jutland, 1916, published by Naval Institute Press:
The German ships on the other hand were equipped with up to seven three-meter Zeiss stereoscopic range finders that were positioned at different points in the ship. The values obtained were then averaged mechanically. The stereoscopic devices gave more accurate values, especially for blurred images of the enemy ship, as might be the case under battle conditions due to interference from smoke or mist. As with the gunlayers, the problem was again that the German system placed too great a reliance on the skill and training of individual operators. They had to have perfect vision in both eyes and needed long periods of training. They were even ordered to abstain from beer and sex while preparing to go to sea.
From where did Yates find that last nugget of information regarding beer and sex? He does not say. In the foreword (p. x) we are informed:
The book is aimed intentionally at the general reader with an interest in naval history, like myself. For this reason I have not included any footnotes in the text, because these tend to distract the average reader from the flow of the narrative. Nonetheless, I hope the book will be regarded as a worthwhile reassessment of this intriguing battle and its equally fascinating aftermath.
Can you tell that Yates was a chemistry academic and not a historian? He also made the embarrassing claim:
As the bibliography will show, the book is based almost entirely on secondary sources, and I make no apology for this. It was never intended to be a piece of original scholarly research. There are surely no relevant facts or important details that have not been revealed after all this time in the many accounts and analyses written on the subject of Jutland.
I’m sorry, Dr. Yates, but there is no way in hell that your book can be ‘regarded as a worthwhile reassessment’. An undergraduate history student’s paper would be more useful because at least they would be forced to reference their assertions. Naval Institute Press erred, to put it mildly, in publishing what is in effect a very long school essay, and is about as useful as a hypothetical Harry Potter and the Battle of Jutland.
Ranting to one side, if anyone knows which secondary source Yates might have obtained this beer and sex factlet from, I would be most grateful to hear it. I’ve tried searching Google Books to no avail. I’ve checked Sumida, at the time (2000) the leading light of fire control history. I’ve looked at Marder and From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, volume III (both editions). I’ve even browsed in Seaman Stumpf’s edited and translated diaries to see if he mentioned the sacrifice of his seamen brethren.
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