It was a proud moment for the gallant Beatty when he realized that now he was between the enemy battle-cruisers and their North Sea bases; while there was an ever-increasing possibility that Jellicoe's main fleet would speedily be in a position to cut off the German battleships from their retreat through the Skager-Rack to Kiel. Yet at the same time the odds against Beatty were bordering upon the enormous. His duty was to engage, entice, and hold the enemy in a northerly direction without being overwhelmed by superior force. Even at the risk of losing some of his best ships he had to engage the attention of the enemy, lure them into the belief that at last the British battle-cruisers had run into a trap, and hammer away until the Commander-in-Chief arrived upon the scene with a vastly superior fleet.
At a quarter to five the opposing forces opened fire simultaneously at a range of 20,000 yards. The Calder was keeping station broad on the beam of the Queen Mary, and warding off threatened submarine attacks, for the time was not yet ripe for the destroyers to hurl themselves against the battered hostile ships.
"By Jove, this is going to be 'some' scrap," muttered Crosthwaite, as a regular tornado of heavy shells "straddled" the leading battle-cruisers.
At first the German gunnery was excellent, several direct hits being received by the British battle-cruisers, but in a few moments the steady, rapid, methodical salvoes from the British 13.5's began to make themselves felt. Between the patches of haze, rent by the lurid flashes of the guns, could be descried the greenish-grey outlines of the hostile vessels fast being reduced to scrap-iron. For the time being all seemed well with the British battle-cruisers, whose volume of fire was still being delivered with that terrible regularity which the Huns have good cause to dread.
Suddenly the huge Indefatigible was destroyed; a gallant battle-cruiser of nearly 19,000 tons had paid the price of Admiralty.
In previous naval battles such an appalling catastrophe as the blowing up of a mighty ship has caused the two fleets spontaneously to cease fire for a period of some minutes; but in the Jutland fight, regardless of the fate of the battle-cruiser, the rest of the squadron redoubled their efforts. Not for one second did the hellish din cease, as the death-dealing salvoes hurtled into the opposing ships. To quote the words of one on board the Tiger, it was "a glorified Donnybrook Fair--whenever you see a head, crack it!"
Twenty minutes later Crosthwaite saw the Queen Mary sunk. So quickly did she disappear that the Tiger, following astern, passed through the smoke that marked the grave of the devoted ship.
Beyond, the Invincible, already badly hit, sank, taking with her 750 gallant officers and men.
By this time the Fifth Battle Squadron, which had been attached to Beatty's command, came into action, opening fire at 20,000 yards, and although the pressure of the enemy's predominance in numbers was considerably relaxed, the danger was by no means over. For, in the now thicker haze, the German battle fleet had arrived upon the scene, and Beatty was literally betwixt two fires. Yet he handled his vessels with admirable strategical and tactical skill, being convinced, as was every man under him, that in spite of losses he was succeeding in holding the Huns.
Majestically the four great battleships, Warspite, Valiant, Barham, and Malaya, bore into the mêlée, each of their 15-inch guns firing with terrible effect. The head of the German column seemed to be literally crumpled and crushed. A large three-funnelled battleship, possibly the Thuringien, received terrific punishment. Masts, funnels, turrets, were blown away piecemeal, until, a mass of smoke and flames, she hauled off line and was quickly screened by the smoke from some of the German destroyers. Whether she sank--and it seemed as if she could not do otherwise--Crosthwaite was unable to determine. Other German vessels, badly damaged, were swung out of position, some of them on fire and showing a tremendous list.