Sinking of HMS Nomad

Extracts from a letter from Paul Whitfield, lieutenant commander on the HMS Nomad, 8 June 1916.

Paul Whitfield was recommended for promotion after leading 'a most gallant attack' on German battle cruisers during the Battle of Jutland. He was captured after his ship, the HMS Nomad, was sunk by enemy shellfire on 31 May 1916. In this cheerful letter, written from a German naval hospital on 8 June, Whitfield gives a lively account of the Nomad's last few hours. He concludes by taking issue with his captors' version of the battle: 'They would have me believe that nearly our whole Navy has gone, and they don't like me one bit when I tell them I don't believe them.'
Catalogue reference: ADM 137/4808 (8 Jun 1916)

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