Before the arrival of the HMS Royal Princess at the battlefield, the HMS Lion was struck again. Fortunately, the damage was not fatal.
Upon witnessing the arrival of the HMS Royal Princess, Vice Admiral David Beatty finally felt the weight on his heart lift. Had the Royal Princess not arrived in time, their ship would surely have faced destruction. After all, luck cannot be relied upon indefinitely; a direct hit to a critical area could result in catastrophic failure.
"Order the Royal Princess to join us in a concerted assault on the Germans. This time, we shall sink their ship!" Vice Admiral Beatty commanded through clenched teeth. The HMS Lion had already endured a harrowing battle, barely escaping sinking, which was a deep humiliation for him.
"Understood, Admiral," Colonel Kevin promptly executed the order.
The arrival of the HMS Royal Princess instantaneously transformed the dynamics of the battlefield. The formidable strength of the SMS Moltke had easily suppressed the HMS Lion, but with the addition of the Royal Princess, the tide began to shift. After all, two fists are better than one.
"Direct all gun positions to disregard the British reinforcements and concentrate fire on the HMS Lion!" Vice Admiral von Spee ordered. Under the current circumstances, they could only regain the initiative by sinking one of the British battleships.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The SMS Moltke's three triple-mounted 343 mm guns continued to unleash a fierce barrage, their rate of fire even increasing. The shells fell around the HMS Lion with increased intensity.
Vice Admiral Beatty sensed von Spee's intentions but remained unfazed. After all, sinking a massive battleship is no simple task. With the arrival of the Royal Princess, victory seemed tantalizingly close.
"Open fire! Attack the German vessel!" commanded the captain of the HMS Royal Princess. Seeing the HMS Lion in disarray, the British sailors aboard the Royal Princess shed their previous overconfidence.
Both the HMS Royal Princess and the HMS Lion were of the same class, with identical performance specifications. If the two had faced the SMS Moltke one-on-one, they would have surely been outmatched. However, united, they put the Moltke at a disadvantage.
"Boom! Boom!"
Shells exploded continuously around the SMS Moltke, sending towering plumes of water into the air. Sea spray fell from above, drenching the battleship.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion resonated as the SMS Moltke shook, causing many sailors to lose their footing. Even Vice Admiral von Spee, commanding from the control tower, was thrown off balance.
"Report the damage!" After picking himself up from the deck, von Spee hastily inquired, disregarding his disheveled appearance. He knew the recent tremor must have been caused by a hit. Inwardly, he prayed to God to spare the ship from critical damage; otherwise, all would be lost.
"Admiral, the first turret has been hit. However, the British shell failed to penetrate the turret armor and exploded outside. Unfortunately, the gunners inside have been killed."
Upon hearing this, von Spee exhaled in relief. While the loss of an entire crew was significant, it was far preferable to having the turret breached and destroyed. Had there been a magazine explosion, it could have obliterated the entire battleship.
"Bring in the reserve gunners immediately to man the turret and restore combat capability as swiftly as possible!" von Spee commanded.
"Long live the British Empire! Long live the Royal Navy!"
When the SMS Moltke's first turret was struck, the British sailors on both the HMS Lion and the HMS Royal Princess erupted in cheers, having endured a prolonged period of frustration. They had finally glimpsed a turn in fortune.
However, when the smoke cleared to reveal the intact turret of the SMS Moltke, they were left dumbfounded.
"What in the world? Are the Germans' defenses truly that formidable?" Vice Admiral Beatty could hardly contain his frustration. He had anticipated inflicting significant damage on the Moltke, but now it seemed he had overestimated his position.
Simultaneously, an unsettling realization dawned upon Beatty: if the Moltke's defenses were indeed superior to those of the Royal Navy, then the German fleet's battleships would likely possess even stronger fortifications. This implied that in future confrontations, the Royal Navy might face grave disadvantages. After all, if they could not breach the enemy's defenses while the Germans could easily penetrate their own, it would result in an increasingly passive engagement.
At 3:04 PM, misfortune struck. In a pivotal volley, the SMS Moltke fired a critical shot. A 343 mm shell struck the HMS Lion's port side, effortlessly breaching its 229 mm waterline armor and creating a gaping hole.
Seawater rushed into the vessel, causing it to tilt precariously.
Even though the crew of the HMS Lion quickly shut the watertight doors, they could not prevent the ship's further listing and inevitable sinking.
Realizing that the HMS Lion was beyond saving, Vice Admiral Beatty swiftly boarded a transport boat to the HMS Royal Princess to continue commanding the battle.
However, as the HMS Lion succumbed to its fate and the SMS Moltke closed in menacingly, Beatty's courage faltered, and he issued the order to retreat. He feared that if the fight continued, the Royal Princess might share the same fate as the Lion.
Meanwhile, the HMS Queen Mary, entangled with the SMS Goben, also received the order to retreat, accelerating its withdrawal from the battlefield.