Meantime, the Kronprinz Wilhelm had with equal swiftness dashed north, receiving only a few shots from the Selkirk, as she passed her, 8000 yards away. The British armoured cruiser Kincardineshire followed in the German ship’s wake ten miles astern and quite out of range. The German liner was seen by the ocean-going destroyers of the Irish Sea flotilla, which headed after her, and four of them going thirty knots easily drew ahead of her. To attack such a vessel with the torpedo was an undertaking which had no promise of success.
The British destroyer officers, however, were equal to the occasion. They employed skilful tactics to effect their object. The four big destroyers took station right ahead of the German ship and about 1500 yards away from her. In this direction none of her guns would bear. From this position they opened on her bows with their sternmost 13-pounders, seeking to damage the bow of the Kronprinz Wilhelm, breach the forward compartments, and so delay the ship. If she turned or yawed, her turn must give time for the Kincardineshire to get at her.
The gunners in the four destroyers shot magnificently. Their projectiles were small, but for fifteen minutes they made incessant hits upon the German ship’s bow. At last their punishment had the desired effect upon her. Angry at the attack of these puny little antagonists, the German captain turned to bring his broadside to bear. As he did so, the destroyers quickened to thirty knots, and altered course. Though the German guns maintained a rapid fire upon them, they were going so fast that they escaped out of effective range without any serious damage, regained their station on their enemy’s bow, and then reduced speed till they were within easy range for their little guns. But in the interval the Kincardineshire had perceptibly gained on the German ship, and was now within extreme range. About 5.50 p.m. she fired a shot from her fore-turret, and, as it passed over the German ship, opened a slow but precise fire from all her 6-inch guns that would bear at about 9000 yards range.
The small shells of the destroyers were beginning to have some effect. The fore-compartment of the Kronprinz Wilhelm was riddled, and water was pouring into it at such a pace that the pumps could not keep the inrush down. The trim of the ship altered slightly, and with this alteration of trim her speed fell by nearly a knot. The Kincardineshire began to gain visibly, and her fire to tell more and more. At 6.50 she was only 7000 yards off the German ship, and her 6-inch guns began to make many hits on the enemy’s stern.
To increase his speed to the utmost the captain of the Kincardineshire set all his spare hands at work to jettison coal, and flung overboard every bit of lumber. The spare water in his tanks shared the fate of his surplus fuel. At the same time the stokers in the engine-rooms were told that the ship was closing the enemy, and worked with a redoubled will. Large parties of bluejackets led by lieutenants were sent down to pass coal from the bunkers; in the engine-rooms the water was spouting from half a dozen hoses upon the bearings. The engineer-lieutenants, standing in a deluge of spray, kept the pointer of the stokehold telegraphs always at “more steam.” Smoke poured from the funnels, for no one now cared about the niceties of naval war.
The ship seemed to bound forward, and with a satisfied smile the engineer-captain came down into the turmoil to tell his men that the cruiser was going twenty-four knots, her speed on her trials nearly six years before. Five minutes later the shock and heavy roar of firing from twenty guns told the men below that the broadside battery was coming into action, and that the race was won.
At 7.25 the Kincardineshire had closed the German ship within 5000 yards. About this time the Kronprinz Wilhelm’s speed seemed markedly to decline, and the big armoured cruiser gained upon her rapidly, spouting shell from all her guns that would bear.
At 7.40 the British warship was only 3000 yards off, and slightly altered course to bring her enemy broader on the beam and get the broadside into battle. Five minutes later a succession of 6-inch hits from the British guns caused a great explosion in the German ship, and from under the base of her fourth funnel rose a dense cloud of steam, followed by the glow of fire through the gathering darkness.
A minute later the Kronprinz Wilhelm stopped, and the chase was over. She hoisted the white flag, while her captain opened her sea-valves, to send her to the bottom. But the British destroyers were too quick for him; a boarding party dashed on board from the Camelopard, and closed the Kingston valves before enough water had been taken into the double bottom to endanger the liner.
In this brief action between two very unequally matched ships, the Germans suffered very severely. They had fifty officers and men killed or wounded out of a crew of 500, while in the British cruiser and the destroyers only fifteen casualties were recorded. The Kincardineshire stood by her valuable prize to secure it and clear the vessel of the German crew. The Kronprinz Wilhelm was on fire in two places, and was badly damaged by the British shells. One of her boilers had exploded, and her fore-compartment was full of water. But she was duly taken into Milford next morning, to be repaired at Pembroke Dockyard, and hoist the British flag.