Almost the last shot fired at her by her principal antagonist, the gigantic _Breslau_, had hit the chase of one of the fifteen-inch guns in the second turret from the bows. The huge mass of metal had fractured, while the muzzle, falling upon the barbette next ahead and slightly below, had prevented both barbettes from being trained. Thus one shot had practically put four fifteen-inch guns out of action.
Wherever a heavy shell had struck against armour the latter had been made nearly red-hot, and for an hour or more after the fight it was almost impossible to place a hand on the heated metal.
[Illustration: "A SEAPLANE CONTRIVED TO DROP A BOMB ON THE _ROYAL SOVEREIGN'S_ DECK"]
The use of aerial craft above the fighting battleships was very limited during the action. Thanks to the preponderance of seaplanes, the British were able to keep the German aircraft well at a distance. The only noteworthy exception was the seaplane which contrived to drop a bomb on the _Royal Sovereign's_ deck. She did not live to repeat the experiment, for a fragment of a German eleven-inch shell, ricochetting from the hood of the _Royal Sovereign's_ after barbette, flew vertically upward for a height of nearly three hundred feet, literally cutting the daring seaplane in halves.
Nor did the submarines prove their vaunted merits. Detected from the British aircraft, these sinister vessels stood very little chance. Even had they come within striking distance it is doubtful whether they would not have damaged friend as well as foe, for in the disorder in the formation of the two fleets, and in the dense haze that enveloped them in less than a minute after the first broadside, it was a difficult matter to distinguish one ship from another.
Had the action taken place at night the submarine would doubtless have played an important part in deciding the battle.
Superiority in numbers of light-armoured cruisers and destroyers, combined with the coolness and precision of the men at the quick-firers, enabled the British to make short work of the German "mosquito fleet", although the former did not come out of the action without heavy loss. Nevertheless there was still the danger that some of the least-damaged German destroyers might again attempt a night attack upon the East Coast. Great were the rejoicings in Great Britain at the victory. They were not extravagant outbursts of joy, but heartfelt expressions of thankfulness that the great ordeal had been successfully passed. The imminent danger, made apparent by the damage done at South Shields, had taught a national lesson, while the great victory had been bought at a tremendous price in human lives--the sacrifice at the altar of maritime supremacy.
