The naval battle process of the Battle of Helgoland Bay

0500 hours on August 28, 1914.

As the sky grew brighter, Tirit led the Harwich Squadron to the scheduled assembly point northwest of Helgoland Island. Linxian led the 3rd Destroyer Detachment in front. Two miles to the rear, Captain William Blount on the reconnaissance cruiser HMS Fearless was commanding Destroyer Detachment 1. Different from the past, the North Sea that day was surprisingly calm, but in the windless and moist air ahead, the fog was gradually condensing, and the visibility quickly dropped to 6,000 yards. The 1st Light Cruiser Squadron of Goodnough, which was trailing 10 miles away, If Tilit encounters trouble, the first thing he counts on is the close support of these six light cruisers.

Betty met up with the cruiser Squadron K an hour ago. The five battlecruisers Lion, Queen Mary, Grand Princess, Invincible, and New Zealand lined up in a single column and stayed 30 miles northwest of Tirit. office to provide long-range cover for this operation. According to Study's order, another long-range support force, the cruiser Squadron C, was still 100 miles to the west and was destined to be unable to arrive on the battlefield in time.

The 8th Submarine Detachment has long been lurking in the bay. The E6, E7 and E8 submarines scheduled to serve as decoys surfaced and headed towards Helgoland Island in the east, hoping to lure out the German lightning strike fleet. ; E4, E5 and E9 were ambushing near Helgoland, preparing to attack passing German ships; D2 and D8 took up combat positions near the mouth of the Ems River, waiting for the enemy to come out for support; Keyes himself was cruising with two destroyers Behind the decoy submarine.

As the commander of the First Reconnaissance Group, Franz Hipper had to take care of his battleships; as the commander of the higher-level cruise fleet, Hipper commanded all battles of the Ocean Fleet. Cruisers, armored cruisers and light cruisers, he unified the command of the reconnaissance force when the fleet went into battle, and acted as the eyes and ears of the battle fleet; his third title was the well-known Commander of the Defense of Helgoland Bay, a position for the internal defense plan The importance of the war is self-evident, for which he is directly responsible to Admiral Frederich von Ingenohl, Commander-in-Chief of the Ocean Fleet. The great responsibility represented by these three "hats" caused him to suffer from severe neurasthenia. Hipper's colleague, Major General Leberecht Maass, commander of the 2nd Reconnaissance Group, also served as the commander of the Thunder Strike Fleet of the Ocean Fleet. Most of the light surface ships responsible for patrolling the bay were his subordinates. The daytime peripheral patrol mission on the 28th fell on the shoulders of the nine minesweepers of the First Minesweeper Detachment, while the less dangerous inner patrol was handed over to the 12 minesweepers of the Third Minesweeper Division. The light cruiser Stettin, which served as a direct support mission, was anchored on the east side of Helgoland Island, with its boilers only half-burned, while Fraunlob cruised on the south side of the island.

Off-duty ships are scattered throughout the bay. The fifth torpedo detachment was docked at the Helgoland pier. The eight light cruisers Mainz was docked at the mouth of the Ems River, Ariadne was in the Gade Bay, Cologne, Strasbourg, St. Larsund and Kolburg were at Wilhelmshaven on the west side of the Ged Bay, Danzig and Munich were at Brunsbüttelkoog at the west exit of the Kiel Canal, and the battlecruisers Seydlitz and Mao Qi and von der Tann also stopped in Wilhelmshaven. The lowest water level at the mouth of the Jed River that morning appeared at 0933, and heavy warships could not pass until the afternoon.

Just after 0500, the lookout of the German 1st Torpedo Squadron seemed to see a British submarine on the surface firing two torpedoes towards itself. The commander of the detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Wallis, immediately ordered the launch of the attack. The search formation pursued westward, and at the same time radioed a warning that "an enemy submarine was present in the bay." The fifth torpedo detachment anchored on Helgoland Island immediately started to light a fire and prepared to set off to destroy the hateful British submarine. At 0700 hours, the surface ships of both sides made contact for the first time. The German 1st Torpedo Ship Detachment had been searching westward for two hours without results. The G194 Torpedo Ship on the far right side of the formation, the northernmost one, suddenly discovered the Harwich Division emerging through the fog to the south. fleet. Seeing that the situation was not good, G194 turned and fled to the southeastern Helgoland Island. Lieutenant Colonel Frank Rose, commander of the 4th Detachment of the 3rd British Destroyer Detachment, who was eager to fight, took Laurel, Daredevil, Lysander, and The four ships of Laertes gave chase.

G194's call for help reached Wilhelmshaven. Hipper ordered the two light cruisers on duty, Stettin and Fraunlob, to attack first. The remaining eight light cruisers off duty also began to make fire in preparation for war. . In order to save time, they were ordered to dispatch one as soon as one was ready, without waiting for the formation. In the next few hours, 8 light cruisers set off from their respective anchorages one after another. According to Hipper's plan, Mainz would cut off the British retreat route from the west, while the other 7 cruisers headed north to gather. , and finally formed an encirclement from the west and north. Based on G194's initial contact report, Hipper judged that 10 light cruisers were enough to deal with known enemies, so there was no need to use battlecruisers.

At this time, the weather in Jade Bay was very clear. Although it was against common sense in the art of war to dispatch light cruisers sporadically, under good visibility conditions, a lone German light cruiser could be detected early at a long distance even if it encountered a superior enemy. And to avoid it, Maas, who went out on the Cologne, could relatively easily gather his troops on the road or during battle and resume his proper tactical command. In Hipper's view, good weather can reduce the risk of dispersing troops from large to small, and no German captain thought of sending a message to remind Hipper Bay that there was dense fog at this time.

According to the original plan, Tilit had already reached the time to turn to the west, but seeing that the four destroyers had never returned, he was worried that the Ross detachment would suffer a disadvantage when encountering a superior enemy, so he had to temporarily give up heading west at 0726 The plan of mopping up was to rush eastward with the main force. Not far away, the unsuspecting German Fifth Lightning Striker Detachment was approaching. Because they were notified that they were hunting slower submarines, they set off in a hurry. At this time, they had just increased their speed to 21 knots. When the sound of artillery fire from the Ross Squadron pursuing G194 came, they realized that their speed was not enough to face a surface battle. Before they could complete their retreat and turn, a large group of men from the Harwich Squadron came out of the fog to kill them. come out. A chase battle that lasted for half an hour broke out. The German torpedo ship rushed towards Helgoland Island, trying to seek shelter from the 210mm shore gun on the island. Tirit led the army to cover it up. The British army had all the advantages on the scene, but the poor visibility obviously affected the performance of the gunners, and only severely damaged the torpedo striker V1. Soon, the advancing Harwich Squadron broke through the inner patrol circle. The German Minesweeper Division No. 3 fled in all directions. The bridge of the minesweeper D8 was hit by a bullet. The captain was killed and T33 was also seriously injured. Although the German ships sought help in every possible way, the shore batteries never fired a single shot because the thick fog obscured their vision.

At 0758, Tirit, who was pursuing fiercely, could vaguely see the more than 60-meter-high red cliffs of Helgoland through the fog. At this time, Stettin and Fraunlob rushed to Came to the rescue and immediately changed the tactical situation. Knowing that it was outnumbered, the British destroyer immediately stopped chasing in accordance with the regulations and retreated to its own cruiser. The cruisers from both sides fought each other as soon as they met. The fearless shells fell like raindrops, and a 105mm gun in Stettin was quickly destroyed. Now that the purpose of covering the retreat of the friendly forces had been achieved, Stettin, who had also not reached full speed, did not try his best to resist, and turned around and retreated. At the same time, Lin Xian was locked in a bitter battle with Fraunlob. Although the Linxian was significantly better than its opponents launched in 1902 on paper, its shortcomings in the running-in time affected its combat effectiveness. Two 4-inch guns were jammed, another was damaged, and the torpedo tube was scrapped. For a while, only the 6-inch gun on the bow could return fire (the other four intact guns may not be able to fire at Frauenlo due to the restriction of the range of fire). Bu opened fire), the scene was extremely passive, and he was hit by 15 rounds, but miraculously only 11 were killed and 16 were injured. Although the firepower density was limited, Linxian's counterattack was very efficient. She hit Fraunlob with 10 bullets in one shot, and one of the 6-inch bullets hit the bridge, killing or injuring 37 people below the captain. , Fraunlob had to drag the right-leaning hull out of the battle.

The sound of artillery gradually died down, and the Harwich Squadron could no longer see any traces of German ships. Tirit began to reorganize the formation, and the eastward pursuit brought him very close to the German base. During the battle, Lin Xian The No. 1 was injured, the engine room was flooded, the speed was reduced to 20 knots, and it was impossible to escape at high speed. These two conditions were exactly what Case tried to avoid when formulating his plan. Goodnow received news of the cruiser engagement and decided to help. At 0810, he sent two light cruisers, Nottingham and Lowestoft, towards Tirit.

Turn back

At 0812, the Harwich Squadron began to turn back to the west, and almost immediately met the German 1st Torpedo Ship Detachment that was following. Most of the German ships took advantage of the heavy fog. The cover bypassed the British fleet, but the detachment's flagship V187 ushered in a sudden rain of bullets. She turned sharply and headed south, and was horrified to find that two British light cruisers suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking the way. Nottingham and Lowestoft heading south inadvertently achieved a pincer effect with the Harwich Squadron! After three salvos, the light cruiser's shooting became more and more accurate. V187 decided to make a desperate move and turned back. Her sudden wit seemed to have worked. The British 1st Destroyer Detachment was caught off guard. The relative speed of both sides at this time exceeded 50 knots, which also affected the hit rate. V187 actually passed through the first row of British destroyers without any damage. The second row of British ships was already prepared and soon paralyzed V187 on the water. The destroyer group circled around the injured opponent, and the 4-inch guns fired at a distance of 600 yards, turning the V187 into a colander. The overflowing steam mixed with thick smoke filled the ship, and spread from time to time due to flames and explosions. V187's artillery fell silent, her fate was sealed, and the seriously injured captain ordered explosives to be planted to scuttle her. The British ships immediately ceased fire, lowered their boats and went to salvage survivors. However, some German officers and soldiers misunderstood the good intentions of the British. At this moment, the flag of the German Imperial Navy was still flying on the masthead and was not lowered to express surrender. Out of the instinct of the soldiers, they firmly believed that the small boats were carrying British sailors to seize the ship. In order to declare that the battle was not over, Captain Braun commanded an 88mm gun to hit the Sparrowhawk 200 yards away. The enraged British immediately resumed the bombardment. At this time, the self-sinking explosives also exploded, and V187 sank at 0910.

Rescue work on the sea began slowly. However, the Stettin broke out of the fog at full speed and opened fire.

The four destroyers seized the time to recall their own rescue teams, and then abandoned the boats and ran away. However, the two boats of the Defender were too far to be retrieved quickly. The captain had to reluctantly decide to abandon the ship and people and retreat. As the warships from both sides chased and disappeared into the fog, the 10 British and 28 German prisoners on the small boat seemed to have been abandoned. The British submarine E4 surfaced not far away. She was lurking here to call for help, and was lucky enough to witness the sinking of V187. It was she who first discovered the approaching Stettin. After the torpedo attack failed, E4 avoided the impact of Stettin and avoided the limelight for a while underwater. When her periscope came out of the water again, the warships on both sides were nowhere to be seen. There were several small boats drifting with the current on the empty water, and two of them were actually full of passengers. So all the British officers and soldiers were rescued on the E4 boat. Due to limited space, the captain of the boat, Major Ernest Leir, only selected three uninjured prisoners - the commander of the detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Wallis, and a A warrant officer and a sailor. The other Germans in the boat were released, and the British submarine left them food, water and a compass showing the direction of Helgoland. They were rescued by a friendly ship later that day.

Almost at the same time, a series of ridiculous misunderstandings occurred in the British side. The cause of the misunderstanding was the communication negligence of the staff mentioned before. After Goodnow dispatched two light cruisers at 0810, he took the remaining four ships south at 0830, preparing to support Tirit's scheduled sweep to the west. Case, who was completely unaware of the reinforcements, saw two light cruisers passing by in the distance, and immediately logically judged them as enemy ships. He only had two destroyers on hand, so he had to take the best option and launch an attack on the planned flagship of the support force, the Invincible. reported for help (of course he didn't know that Betty on the Lion was now commanding a larger battlecruiser fleet). Goodnow intercepted the message and, not realizing that Keyes was actually talking about Nottingham and Lowestoft, turned the ship around and went to the rescue. 0853 Goodnow finally found the Silent Hound, but their meeting caused even greater chaos. Keyes discovered that four light cruisers appeared from another direction, and logically deduced that four new "enemy ships" had joined the battle. He turned and fled towards the battlecruiser, trying to lead the "enemy ships" towards the battlecruiser's guns. The tone of the report was also more urgent. This new request for help telegram was intercepted by Goodnow again. Knowing that the "enemy situation" was serious, the four light cruisers naturally pursued it more vigorously. Tilit, who was unaware of the situation, also joined in to cause trouble. He heard that Case was in a difficult situation and also sent a message asking Goodnow to quickly resist the pursuit of the "enemy ship". The chaos lasted until 1000 Keyes recognized the Southampton. However, the British submarine had almost caused an accidental attack before. At about 0930, submarine E6 fired two mines at Southampton from a distance of 500 yards. Southampton swerved to avoid it and then rushed up at high speed in an attempt to collide. E6 only managed to avoid it by relying on an emergency dive. After clarifying their identities, Gu and Kay sailed west together. At this time, Goodnow tried to recall the advance Nottingham and Lowestoft, but neither ship received the telegram and was not involved in the rest of the day's battle.

To aid Keyes, Tirit turned east again at 0945. This decision requires taking considerable risks, not to mention that Lin Xian was injured, the destroyer fleet was scattered in all directions due to high-speed maneuvers, and the entire westward advance plan was already far behind the schedule at this time, and German reinforcements were definitely arriving quickly. Tirit met Stettin almost immediately. After a brief pursuit, the eight destroyers of the 1st Destroyer Detachment that had been chased by Stettin also appeared and returned to the team. Then the telegram came, and after learning that the misunderstanding between Case and Goodnow had been resolved, Tilrit made another 180-degree turn. During the fierce battle with Fraunlob, a hole was punched in the Linsien's boiler water pipe. At this time, the speed was less than 10 knots, and the commodore decided to use the gap in the battle to carry out emergency repairs. At 1017, the Fearless was ordered to come to the upper side. The two ships were moored side by side. The sound of the engines fell silent, and the repair team was busy up and down. The Stettin was still lingering around, darting in and out of the fog, seemingly maintaining contact.

At 1040, Lin Xian's speed had returned to 20 knots, and all artillery except the two 4-inch guns were restored to use. When the engines roar again, the Empire's counterattack is about to begin. The German light cruisers were originally dispatched separately. In order to rush for time, Maas did not deliberately gather troops on the way. Therefore, they all arrived and went into battle separately. There was a lack of contact and cooperation between them. Strasbourg and Titus were the first to appear. Ritter wrote in his report: "We came under an extremely violent and accurate bombardment. Salvo after salvo fell at a distance of twenty or thirty yards, but none hit. Two torpedoes were fired at us, aiming very well. "It's accurate but the range is insufficient." Tirit launched 12 destroyers into the counterattack. One torpedo grazed the bow of the German ship, and another slipped under the stern without exploding. The surprised Strasbourg turned and hid. In the fog. Tirit was already in a hurry to get away from this land of right and wrong, but before he could take his final call, the Cologne carried Major General Maas onto the stage again. Tirit was forced to turn back to fight again. This time he recognized the Cologne as a powerful Long-class armored cruiser and asked Betty for help. Betty's reaction was to ask Goodenow to detach two more light cruisers, but Goodenow had already learned the lessons of the last division of troops. This time he wanted to concentrate the troops firmly on his hands. He took all four light cruisers. Come.

Under the torpedo fire of the Harwich people, the Cologne had to retreat, and Tirit headed west again. The four hours of turning back and forth must have made him physically and mentally exhausted.

Hipper judged from the intensive radio communications in the bay that the British strength was not weak, so at 0850 he ordered the battlecruiser to light a fire. He requested the commander-in-chief von Ingenohl to dispatch a battle patrol as soon as possible. The admiral agreed, but the water level of the estuary still did not allow it.

Decision

At 1100, when Tirit was tired of dealing with the German light cruiser's revolving attack, Betty and his 5 battle cruisers and 4 destroyers were wandering 30 meters northwest. miles. He had been monitoring the communications in the bay all morning, and knew of the misunderstanding between Keyes and Goodnow, and that Tirit was in trouble. Tirit had only moved 15 miles westward intermittently in 4 hours, and was now held up in the enemy's hinterland only 20 miles away from Helgoland. German reinforcements are obviously arriving continuously. Four cruisers have appeared (Stettin, Fraunlob, Strasbourg, Cologne), one of which may be an armored cruiser. This means that even with Gude No's presence was not enough to ensure the upper hand. To make matters worse, Betty clearly knew that the Germans could dispatch battlecruisers or even battle fleets soon in the afternoon. If they faced the Ocean Fleet, the self-protection of his five battlecruisers was still doubtful, let alone rescue. The balance of victory was tilting toward Germany every minute.

Betty paced back and forth on the bridge of the Lion. As the most senior officer in this operation, victory or defeat depended on his decision. Beatty could not sit back and watch Tirit being besieged and remain indifferent, but if he moved forward, he would expose the five precious battle cruisers to the threat of mines and German submarines (in Beatty's subsequent report, he believed that the threat of submarines was not serious). Large, because the sea is calm at this time, the periscope sticking out of the water is easy to spot, and the underwater speed of the submarine is not enough to track the high-speed battle cruiser). While hesitating, Betty asked Captain Ernle Chatfield, the captain of the Lion, for advice: "What do you think we should do? I should go to support Tirit, but if a valuable ship is lost, "The whole country will not forgive me." Chatfield later admitted that he was not shouldering as big a responsibility as Betty at the time, and was just "eager to find excitement", so he blurted out: "Of course we are going. "So Betty made up his mind, and at 1135, the battlecruisers rushed southeast at a speed of 26 knots, and increased to 27 knots 10 minutes later. Even so, it would take them an hour to reach the battlefield.

At 1130, Mainz was sighted by the vanguard destroyer 6 miles ahead of Lindsey. According to Hipper's order, Mainz sailed from the mouth of the Ems River and intercepted the front of the Harwich Squadron in only one and a half hours. This shows that Tirit is really close to the German coast. Mainz crossed the British ship's bow from south to north and launched broadside salvos, forcing some British ships to engage in the same direction to slow down the British westward withdrawal. Mainz's artillery fire was accurate and frequently resulted in cross-fire, but none of them hit. Eleven British destroyers launched lightning strikes, which also failed. After 20 minutes of exchange of fire, Mainz suddenly discovered thick black smoke appearing in front of the port side. These were Goodnow's four light cruisers. Mainz immediately turned right and broke away, just escaping the opponent's first salvo. The escaping Mainz ran into the main force of the Harwich Squadron. Tirit gave an order, and 20 destroyers launched an attack formation. Rushing towards the enemy ships at full speed, many destroyers rushed to within 1,000 yards in order to increase their hit rate. Mainz, who was attacked from both sides, was constantly hit by artillery shells. She desperately focused her firepower on the incoming destroyer to counter the lightning strikes. Laurel of the 4th Detachment of the 3rd Destroyer Detachment was hit by three 105mm rounds just after it fired two torpedoes. The shells and chimneys were blown away, and the ammunition began to explode. The captain, Lieutenant Colonel Ross, was injured in both legs, but he still insisted on staying on the bridge to command. The ship withdrew from the battle under the cover of steam and soot; the reckless ones who followed behind The USS was hit on the bridge, and its captain, Major Nigel Barttelot, was killed; the third Lysander was lucky and was not hit; the fourth ship Laertes was hit by four rounds from a single salvo , immediately loses power. 33 British torpedoes fired rapidly at Mainz.

The situation in Mainz was not good. There was a fire on the ship, the left engine was dead, the rudder was stuck on the right side, and she was unable to dodge the torpedoes. At 1215, a torpedo from Lydiad hit her and the hull was lifted out of the water by a violent explosion. The stuck rudder brought her closer to Goodnow's four light cruisers. An officer on the Southampton wrote: "We are approaching her, and every salvo can hit..." The survivors Providing more details, "the upper deck was full of ruins, flames, searing heat and corpses." At 1220, the captain, Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm Pasche, ordered "Sink yourself and everyone put on life jackets" as he stepped out of the conning tower. , was shot and killed immediately. But the ship's officer, Captain Tholens, refused to obey and ordered the battle to continue. A British officer was filled with respect when faced with this situation: "Mainz showed incredible bravery... The last time I saw her, she was a complete wreck, and the entire middle of the hull had been reduced to a smoking hell. , but she still used a bow cannon and a tail cannon to spit out artillery fire of anger and resistance, like a wounded and crazy wild cat.

"At 1225, Mainz's resistance finally ceased, Goodnow also ordered a ceasefire, and the Liverpool lowered the boat and rescued 86 people. Seeing that the deck of the German ship was crowded with wounded people who were unable to move, Keyes also took the risk to The Silent Hound pulled up to the ship's side, and about 220 people evacuated to the British destroyer. However, a young German officer who was very active in transporting the wounded refused to leave the ship. Despite every attempt, the officer just stood still. Give a salute and say briefly: “Thank you, no. Mainz sank in 1310, and the German officer was eventually rescued. Another survivor of the ship was Lieutenant Wolf von Tirpitz (his father was also the father of the Ocean Fleet, Field Marshal Alf Reid von Tirpitz).

Tilrit has not yet escaped. He is still trying his best to maintain tactical command at this time, but the Germans are in disarray, Strasbourg He and Cologne emerged from the fog time and time again and wanted to take action when they saw the lone British ship. When a large number of British ships arrived, they were forced to retreat. Although this approach was not a threat, it effectively held back Tilit. At 1237, a huge gray ship silhouette suddenly emerged from the fog in the west. At this time, Tilit's heart was probably filled with some kind of sadness and bitterness of impending disaster, but this unpleasant taste did not last long. , as the lookout loudly announced the name of the Lion, the sadness on the bridge disappeared in an instant - Betty came, and the other four battlecruisers also appeared in sight, "They each followed the lead ship. The wake appeared and passed by like an express train. "An officer wrote, "There is no one on the deck, the chimney is spitting out thick smoke, and the turret is turned to the port side of the expected battle in advance, as if eager for battle. "

A big reversal

Four days ago, on August 24, Betty still lamented in a letter to her wife: "We patrol all day long...but when will we come out and get beaten? The problem lies entirely with our German friends. I have been looking forward to this day for thirty years, and now I sit in such an enviable position with nothing to do. Three weeks into the war, no enemy was encountered. "Four days later, the Germans were within reach of the fog, and a battle was imminent.

At about 1210, gunfire was first reported. Soon it loomed out of the fog on the port side The muzzle flash was just a faint light that appeared and disappeared at first. Around 1220, the Mainz appeared in front of us, and the unrelenting shooting of the four British light cruisers caused more explosions and bigger fires. Turn left to detour.

At 1237, the battlecruisers made visual contact with the Harwich Squadron. Strasbourg and Cologne, which were clinging to Tirit, saw that the situation was not good and immediately turned around. Strasbourg managed to escape, but Cologne's luck was obviously not good enough. Betty easily cut off the Cologne's retreat with the battle cruiser's speed advantage and kept it within sight at a distance of 6,000 yards. The Cologne became an excellent moving target, "and the ships in the squadron also opened fire one after another. " Chatfield wrote, "Soon, the German ship was hit multiple times by heavy artillery shells; she bravely used her small 4-inch (actually 105 mm) gun to aim at our ship's control tower and fight back. Someone felt that a small 4-inch shell hit the armor of the command tower, and shrapnel flew away with a hiss. Within minutes, the Cologne was reduced to a hulk. "

At 1300, a small German light cruiser with double chimneys appeared in front of Betty. This was Ariadne who had just arrived on the battlefield. She was still confused about the battle situation, and her route happened to cross the Lion. The bow of the ship. Invincible and New Zealand were obviously lagging behind the other three new battle cruisers at this time, but Betty did not intend to let them stay to finish off the Cologne. Considering that the enemy base was close at hand and the main German force might appear at any time, Betty Deciding to keep the force as concentrated as possible, Chatfield ordered the gunnery officer to switch shooting targets. Ariadne's snake dodge had little effect at such a close range. One salvo hit close range at about 330 yards, and the second hit so close that the water column flooded the front deck. "The Lion's third salvo hit the target, and other ships joined in one after another. The British battle cruiser fired at a distance of 3,000 to 6,000 yards for about ten minutes. Ariadne's number of hits could no longer be counted. She was completely Wrapped in fire and thick smoke, the 13.5-inch and 12-inch British heavy guns faced the two German light cruisers. There was no doubt about the result, but the British shells also revealed some qualities that were not discovered in the original too-simple test firing at the range. Defects. When hitting the armor at non-vertical angles, some shells fragmented and therefore failed to penetrate the armor, leaving only superficial damage and causing fires. In addition, the British fuze did not work very reliably. The captain, Lieutenant Colonel Seebohm, noticed that some shells exploded as soon as they hit the cables, while others did not fire even if they fell into the water. He secretly noted this in his mind, and if he survived, he would write this in his report. /p>

Even in the one-sided and enjoyable battle, Betty's heart was still tight. At this time, the water level of the Jed River had risen, and the main German force might already be on the way, and the accompanying destroyers also found some exposure. Mines on the water. At 1310, Betty left Ariadne who could not escape death and embarked on the return journey and sent a retreat signal to all British ships in the bay. It was less than 40 minutes before he joined the battlefield.

At 1325, when the battle patrol passed Cologne, which was still on the water, the Lion fired two salvos from the two forward turrets at a distance of 2,500 yards, sending the wreckage to the bottom of the sea. The four destroyers were about to move in for rescue, but they found traces of the periscope and had to turn around and leave.

Due to the total destruction of the fire-fighting equipment on the Ariadne, the fire on the ship was out of control. The officers and soldiers gathered on the front deck to prepare to abandon the ship. They cheered the Kaiser three times and then sang the national anthem. The wounded Get involved too. At the suggestion of some soldiers, the officers were cheered three more times. Slightly before 1400 hours, the light cruisers Danzig and Stralsund appeared and rescued the survivors. There was a time when the fire on Ariadne died down and the explosions diminished, and Captain Zerber prepared to ask Stralsund to tow. However, in 1510, the Ariadne suddenly capsized and sank, killing 59 people and 43 injured on board.

Other nearby German light cruisers escaped their fate due to the presence of heavy fog. If the weather had been clear, they would have had a narrow escape from the British battle patrol. Stralsund had actually encountered the British battlecruiser, which was beating Cologne. Because Stralsund had four funnels like the British city-class light cruisers, while most German light cruisers had only three, the British mistook her for Goodnow's men in the fog. Realizing this, the captain of the Stralsund decided to take advantage of the situation and boldly maintain the original course instead of turning and escaping. By the time the Englishman came to his senses and sent the identification signal, she had already sailed into the fog.

During the entire battle, Hipper received almost no battle report. With the mentality of "no news is good news", he believed that the plan was being implemented smoothly. The sudden bad news undoubtedly gave him a blow. . Moltke and von der Tann passed the mouth of the river in 1410, and Ingenoer was cautiously ordered to avoid engaging the British battlecruisers. The surviving light cruisers were ordered to retreat to the direction of the battle cruisers, and rendezvoused with the two battle cruisers at 1425. Hipper joined them on the flagship Seydlitz at 1510. This rescue team only had time to see the sinking of the Ariadne. They then launched a search for the missing Mainz and Cologne. This so-called search was somewhat perfunctory, and no one was found close at hand. Cologne men overboard. As soon as it arrived at 1600, the fleet gave up the rescue and returned to sail in order to pass the river mouth before the tide ebbed. In 2023, Seydlitz anchored in Wilhelmshaven, and Hipper rushed to report the battle situation to Ingenoer. It was a dark day for him. The fate of the officers and soldiers who fell into the water on the Cologne was extremely tragic. Due to poor search and rescue, it was not until the 30th that the German ship discovered the only survivor of the ship among the bodies wearing life jackets on the sea: boilermaker Adolf Neumann. According to his recollection, about 250 people jumped into the water to escape when it sank, 60 people were still alive the next day, and he was the only one left on the third day. Cologne's death toll exceeded 500, including Rear Admiral Maas.

The British fleet withdrew from the battlefield, and the Fearless towed Laertes, who had lost power. The belated arrival of the cruiser Squadron C happened to play the role of handyman. The armored cruisers Bacchantesse and Crecy received all the injured prisoners from the destroyers, and then sailed to the mouth of the Nore River. , Amethyst also began to tow the seriously injured Laurel. After sunset, Lin Xian's injuries worsened again, and the speed dropped to 6 knots. The 2130 Huge cruiser threw the tow rope onto the staggering Lin Xian in the dark. At 1700 the next day, the Linxian was towed into the mouth of the Noer River for emergency repairs. After completing the covered retreat, Betty returned north. On the way, the Liverpool took 86 prisoners from Mainz to leave the team and sail to Rosyth. The main force returned to Scapa Flow on the evening of the 30th.