Gradually the Marlborough, the Queen Mary, the Indefatigable and the Invincible drew closer together as they advanced upon the Germans. Shells burst over them with regularity, but so far none had reached a vital spot.
The Queen Mary turned all her forward guns on the Westphalen and raked her fore and aft. In vain the other vessels of the German fleet sought to detract the Queen Mary's fire. Captain Raleigh had started out with the intention of disposing of the German flagship and he was determined not to heed the others until the Westphalen had been sent to the bottom.
It was no easy task he had set for himself, for he now was the center of fire of the whole German fleet—almost. A submarine darted forward to save the Westphalen. The quick eye of a British gunner caught it. He took aim and fired. The submarine disappeared.
With a view to disposing of the enemy immediately, Captain Raleigh ordered that one of the two forward torpedoes be launched.
There was a hiss as the little tube was released. The distance was so close now that a miss was impossible. There was an instant of silence, followed by a terrible rending sound; then a loud blast. The torpedo had reached the Westphalen's boiler room.
Quickly the German admiral and his officers clambered over the side and rowed to the Wiesbaden, where they were taken on board and the admiral's flag run up. The Westphalen was abandoned; and she sank a few moments later.
In the meantime, the British cruiser Warrior, of 13,500 tons, had been sent down by the explosion of a German shell which had reached her magazine. So rapidly had she settled that not a man of her crew escaped. Thus had the three light battle cruisers of the British—the vessels that had shown the way—been disposed of.
At this moment Vice-Admiral Beatty and his flagship, the Lion, entered the battle. The great guns of the flagship roared above the others and the battleship Frauenlob, singled out by her fire, soon sank.
In spite of the German losses, the British, so far, had had the worst of the encounter and the German admiral, despite the loss of his flagship, had no mind to give up the battle. He pushed to closer quarters.
Now the fighting became more terrific. Shells struck upon all ships engaged at intervals of a few seconds apart. Frequently loud explosions were heard above the voices of the great guns; and in most cases these signified the end of a ship of war.