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[Page 135]
1916.
sun & the German Fleet. Meanwhile, the two raiders, one of which was the "Moëwe", repeating her previous escapade, escaped to the North. Within 10 minutes "Indefatigable" blew up, probably caused by a shell from the enemy, piercing the deck & bursting in a magazine. Shortly afterwards "Invincible" appeared to break in two, probably having been hit by one or two torpedoes. Then "Queen Mary" blew up. The "Defence" & "Black Prince" survived, until the approach of our own battle squadron under Sir. J. Jellicoe, & then for some unaccountable reason turned & steamed between our main fleet & the enemy, accompanied by "Warrior" & "Shannon". The "Defence" & "Black Prince" soon succumbed to the superior fire of the larger German ships, & "Warrior" bore off in a badly damaged condition, & was, eventually, abandoned by her crew. The "Invincible" blew up somewhat later during the action than "Indefatigable". Thus, the action raged from 3.45 p.m. until about 6 p.m. when our main Battle Fleet appeared on the scene. Our battle-cruisers, which had for the greater part of the time fought their five ships against seven of the enemy, fought magnificently. No sooner had our Grand Fleet appeared than the German Fleet made for their base, & actually our battleships were only in touch with them for 6 minutes. Owing to the mist, a chase was impracticable, especially as the enemy split up & retreated independently.