The battle was exceedingly fierce, as dozens of British light cruisers and destroyers valiantly launched torpedo attacks to cover the retreat of their main fleet. However, they suffered heavy losses under the relentless fire of the German navy.
The German capital ships, including cruisers and destroyers, unleashed their main and secondary guns, inflicting significant damage. Yet, despite this, the British light vessels pressed forward with courageous determination.
"Boom! Boom!" A British destroyer successfully closed in to within only fifteen hundred meters of the German battleship Nassau. Although the Nassau, aware of the threat, fired its main and secondary guns with great intensity, the British destroyer seemed to enjoy remarkable fortune, skillfully evading the incoming shells. After launching four torpedoes, it turned away unscathed.
"Evade!" the captain of the Nassau commanded urgently.
The Nassau increased its speed to 21 knots, yet evading four fast-approaching torpedoes proved to be an arduous task. It appeared that the Nassau's earlier good fortune had run its course, as misfortune would follow in the subsequent skirmishes.
Of the four heavy torpedoes, two missed their target. However, the remaining two struck the Nassau amidships and at the stern, tearing two gaping holes below the waterline. Water poured violently into the vessel.
The captain of the Nassau immediately ordered damage control measures while requesting to withdraw from battle. Though the two heavy torpedoes had not entirely incapacitated the ship, continuing to fight posed a substantial risk of sustaining further torpedo hits. Under such circumstances, retreating from the battlefield was undoubtedly the wisest choice.
Upon receiving the Nassau's request, Admiral Reinhard Scheer promptly authorized their withdrawal. After all, the damaged Nassau could return to the shipyard for repairs and regain its combat capability. If it were to sink, the losses would be considerable.
The necessity for the Nassau to withdraw from the fray served as a significant morale boost for the Royal Navy. Especially for the brave sailors of the light cruisers and destroyers, who recognized the impact of their contributions. Thus, they continued to launch even bolder offensives, albeit at the cost of many lives along the way.
"Boom! Boom!" In the midst of the chaos, a German light cruiser was struck by two torpedoes. Even with a displacement of over five thousand tons, it could not withstand the might of the heavy torpedoes. Those two torpedoes sealed its fate.
In another part of the battlefield, a British light cruiser was succumbing to the depths, having been brought low by the sharp fire of a German capital ship.
At this point in the battle, both sides had cast aside their fear, unified by a singular objective: to sink the enemy.
Amidst the melee, besides the severely damaged Nassau, the battleships Prince of Orange, Sachsen, and Hindenburg also sustained significant damage from torpedo strikes. Even worse, the third vessel of the Heligoland class, the Thuringia, succumbed to multiple torpedo hits and was lost.
It could be said that the German navy endured substantial losses under the British torpedo assaults. However, their achievements were noteworthy as well. Among the twelve British light cruisers and sixty destroyers that participated in the attack, seven light cruisers and forty-five destroyers were sunk. The remaining light cruisers and destroyers, witnessing their comrades' staggering losses, eventually broke ranks, demonstrating the scale of the German navy's success.
The battered capital ships withdrew from the battlefield under the protection of other vessels, returning to Germany for repairs. Nevertheless, the battle must continue. The British eight capital ships could not hope to escape unscathed.
"General Hipper, lead the battlecruisers to pursue the British capital ships. We must not let them flee!" Admiral Reinhard Scheer commanded sternly.
The British torpedo attack had cost them one battleship, along with four severely damaged capital ships—a significant toll.
Particularly, the loss of the Thuringia marked it as the first battleship sunk in this naval conflict, igniting a fury within Admiral Reinhard Scheer.
"Yes, sir," Vice Admiral Hipper acknowledged with a nod.
As the remaining British capital ships had managed to escape during the chaos of the torpedo assault, they now found themselves a good twenty to thirty kilometers away. While the German battleships were slightly faster, catching up with the British fleet seemed impossible, especially with darkness fast approaching in just three hours.
Reluctantly, Admiral Reinhard Scheer had to place his hopes on the battlecruiser squadron.
Vice Admiral Hipper, commanding the remaining eleven battlecruisers, pursued the fleeing British vessels at a swift 25 knots. To ensure their ships could return safely to Scapa Flow, the British navy could not risk maintaining their boilers under excessive pressure, causing their speed to dwindle to around 18 knots.
Two hours later, Vice Admiral Hipper's battlecruiser squadron successfully closed the distance to the British fleet. Although battlecruisers were not ideally suited for a decisive confrontation against the enemy's capital ships, the defenses of the German battlecruisers were no less formidable than their British counterparts. With a significant numerical advantage, they had little to fear.
Admirals John Jellicoe and David Beatty recognized that escaping the German battlecruisers was nearly impossible. Reluctantly, they steeled themselves to continue the fight.