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[Page 84]
1915
about 12 noon, & since 9 a.m. when the Germans had been sighted, the colliers had been cast off from the British ships, & steam raised for full speed. Admiral Sturdee then sent out his smallest ships "Glasgow", "Cornwall", "Kent" & "Carnarvon" to draw the enemy. The "Inflexible" & "Invincible" then moved out. It came as an unpleasant surprise to the Germans to see tripod masts moving out of the harbour. This fact told them that they had come into contact with super-Dreadnoughts, so that the odds were hopelessly against them, both as regards speed & gun power. He then decided to turn & run, & our ships gave chase. "Inflexible" & "Invincible" took on "Scharnhorst" & "Gneisnau", "Carnarvon" was despatched to sink the two ships in Port Pleasant, & the remainder went after the other German cruisers, with the result that all except "Dresden" were sunk. A few survivors were picked up from the "Gneisnau". The action lasted nearly 5 hours. The "Dresden" escaped to the Southward. "Invincible" was holed by an 8" shell from "Scharnhorst" through a bunker, making a hole 7 feet by 2 feet while another one wrecked the Wardroom. One of the 4" guns in the forward battery was blown into 2 pieces by a German shell. "Inflexible" was nearly torpedoed by "Gneisnau", being only narrowly missed. It was stated by survivors that in "Gneisnau" an Enginer Officer who was too free in the use of his revolver to coerce