ssed from that shown in Plate VI to that shown
in Plate VII. The British had succeeded in establishing a cap, and
their position was so favorable that it looked as if nothing could
save the Germans from destruction. But night was coming on, the mist
was thickening into fog, and the only point of aim for either fleet
was that afforded by the flash of the enemy's guns. Von Scheer, who,
as Von Hipper's senior, was in command of the German forces as a
whole, turned from east to west, each ship swinging independently, and
sent his whole force of destroyers at top speed against the enemy. It
would be difficult to imagine conditions more favorable for such an
attack. Jellicoe saw the opportunity and acted upon it as quickly
as did Von Scheer, with the result that as the German destroyers swept
toward the British fleet they met midway the British destroyers bent
on a similar mission, and a battle followed in the fog between
destroyers, which broke up both attacks against the main fleets and
saved the capital ships on both sides from what must otherwise have
been very serious danger. Meantime, as the German fleet drew off to
the westward, Jellicoe and Beatty passed completely around the German
flank and reached a position to the southward and between the German
fleet and its base at Helgoland (Plate VIII). By the time this was
accomplished it was nearly ten o'clock, and the long day of that high
northern latitude was passing into darkness rendered darker by the
fog. Contact between the main fleets had been lost, and firing had
ceased. Both sides continued destroyer attacks through the night, and
some of these were delivered with great dash and forced home with
splendid determination. The British claim to have sunk at least two of
the German capital ships during these attacks. But this the Germans
deny.

[Illustration: PLATE VII. Jellicoe and Beatty pass around flank of
German Fleet, "capping" it and interposing between the Fleet and its
base. Both sides send out destroyer attacks, which continue throughout
the night.]

The Battle of Horn Reef, if that is to be its name, was at an end. The
German fleet, now heading west, evidently soon afterward headed south
toward the secure waters of the Helgoland Bight, which it was allowed
to reach without interference by the British main fleet and apparently
without discovery. The British may well have been cautious during the
night about venturing far into the fog, which, as they knew, if