Another of the enemy's funnels went overboard ere the mist closed down and hid her. But we had the satisfaction of seeing that she was stopped, and on fire fore and aft.
Some time later, there being no more enemy craft in sight, I left my instrument and went to one of the slits in the conning-tower to see what there was to be seen.
Close on our starboard beam the British destroyer —— could be seen with a jagged shell-hole in her starboard quarter, another on her port bow, and one of her 4-inch guns dismounted and lying on the deck with dead and wounded all around. A portion of her crew was busy getting out the collision-mats, but paused in their work to give us a cheer as we forged past. Her gunner (T.), who had only been transferred to her from our ship a week before, waved and shouted greetings to us from her quarter-deck. Away on our port beam could be seen the stern and bow of a big ship which had been split clean in half. A destroyer was lying off ready to rescue survivors, but only three figures were visible standing on the stern of the wreck just by the huge propellers.
About this time I recollect that the C.-in-C. made the signal to turn two points towards the enemy together. By now the whole of our main armament was firing at the Hun destroyers, and they, finding it a good deal too hot for them, turned away. One had already been blown up, and as I watched another was sunk by our fire.
H.M.S. ——, having got somewhat out of station, was firing across our fo'c'sle, which made things very unpleasant in the conning-tower, as we got the full benefit of the blast from each of her salvos. One of her shells severed our forestay and it fell on the head of the Snotty on the forebridge, causing him to express himself in sanguinary terms, but not really injuring him at all.
At this juncture there came a yell from "Torps": "_Look._ There's a d——d great Hun Dreadnought over there!" And, sure enough, there emerged through the fog the bow of a huge ship not more than 8000 yards away.
Hurriedly we got the main armament trained on her, and instantly opened fire. She had already opened on us. Through the glasses of my instrument I could plainly see every detail of the German's hull and superstructure—she was of the _Derflinger_ class. Our first salvo was "over," and no sooner had it fallen than I saw the right gun of every one of her turrets fire simultaneously. There was an anxious moment as we waited for the fall of the shells. In about twenty seconds came a roar and a crash of rending steel, accompanied by a vivid green flash. For a moment the heat in the conning-tower was intense, and it filled with the stifling fumes of the high explosive. On our gun deck a fierce fire flared up, followed by a cry for stretcher parties and water for the wounded, and the Torpedo Lieutenant was dispatched to endeavour to extinguish the blaze. Two of the enemy shells had hit us, but one did no harm bar taking the sounding platform overboard.