oth, and probably hit the
dreadnought that was seen to reel out of line about three minutes
later. The _Defender_, though herself half wrecked by several hits,
then limped up and took the _Onslow_ in tow till one o'clock the next
afternoon, when tugs had come to the rescue.

[Illustration: H.M.S. _Monmouth_, Armoured Cruiser. Sunk at Coronel,
November 1st, 1914.]

The strongest of all the lighter ships that cleared the way for
Jellicoe's battle fleet were the armoured cruisers, which are about
half way between the light and battle cruisers. Sir Robert Arbuthnot's
First Armoured Cruiser Squadron, speeding ahead of Jellicoe, swooped
down on the German light cruisers in grand style, sank one, lamed two,
and was driving the rest before it, helter-skelter, when, without a
moment's warning, the huge hulls of the German battle line loomed out
of the mist at almost point-blank range! In his eagerness to make
short work of all the German light craft in the way Sir Robert had lost
his bearings in the baffling mist and run right in between the two
great battle lines. Quick as a flash he fought the German giants with
every gun that he could bring to bear while turning back to take his
proper station on the flank. But he was doomed and knew it. Yet, even
at that fatal moment, his first thought was for the men whom, through
no fault of his own, he had led into this appalling death-trap; and
besides the order to turn back he signalled the noble apology to all
hands under his command: "I beg your pardon." The end came soon. A
perfect tornado of gigantic shells had struck his flagship, the
_Defence_, at the very first salvo. She reeled under the terrific
shock and had hardly begun to right herself before her sides were
smashed in by another. At the third she crumpled up and sank with
every soul aboard of her. Her next astern and second, the _Black
Prince_, and the _Warrior_, managed to crawl away under cover of the
mist. But both went down; though the battered _Black Prince_ survived
to be sunk by German battleships during the night.

[Illustration: BATTLESHIP FIRING A BROADSIDE.]

About this time, just after six, the fight was at its very fiercest,
especially between the opposing light craft. It was a question of life
or death for the Germans to keep the British light craft away and use
their own to the utmost while their battle line was turning toward the
west in a desperate effort to keep ahead of Jellicoe. This wa