be noted
that the sinking of the _Indefatigable_ and the _Queen Mary_ belongs
to a phase of battle in which Beatty had a distinct advantage of
force, his six battle cruisers being opposed to five.

While the torpedo, as has been said, played no important part in the
action, the destroyers on both sides appear to have been active and
enterprising, and if they accomplished little in a material way, the
threat involved in their presence and their activity had an important
moral effect at several critical stages of the battle. When Jellicoe
decided not to force his offensive during the night he was no doubt
influenced in a large degree by the menace of the German destroyers.

Destroyers, too, contributed indirectly to the loss of Arbuthnot's
armored cruisers. When Jellicoe's fleet was seen approaching,
"appearing shadowlike from the haze bank to the northeast," the German
destroyers were thrown against them, and it was apparently to meet and
check this threat that Rear Admiral Arbuthnot pushed forward with his
armored cruisers into the area between the two main battle lines. It
may be that he could not see what lay behind the thrust he sought to
parry. Both the British and the German stories of the battle assume
that he was surprised. But whether this is true or not, the fact is
that it was in seeking to shield the battleships from a destroyer
attack that he came under fire of the main German force and lost three
of his ships almost immediately; for the _Warrior_, although she
remained afloat for several hours, was doomed from the first.

CHAPTER XIII

LOSSES AND TACTICS

The British losses as reported officially, and no doubt truthfully,
are as follows:

BATTLE CRUISERS: Tonnage Officers and Men

_Queen Mary_ 27,500 1,000
_Invincible_ 17,250 790
_Indefatigable_ 18,750 780

ARMORED CRUISERS:

_Defence_ 14,600 850
_Black Prince_ 13,500 750
_Warrior_ 13,500 750

DESTROYERS:

_Tipperary_ 1,850 160
_Turbulent_ 980 100
_Fortune_ 950 100
_Sparrowhawk_ 935 100
_Ardent_ 950 100
_