the boats of the first flotilla which
were busy saving life. The small destroyers were driven away, but the
seamen in the boats were rescued by an English submarine. The Arethusa
and the Fearless, with the destroyers in their company, engaged with
three enemy cruisers. The Strasburg, seriously injured, was compelled to
flee. The boilers of the Mainz blew up, and she became a wreck. The Koln
only remaining and carrying on the fight.

The English destroyers were much crippled, and as the battle had now
lasted for five hours any moment the German great battleships might come
on the scene. A wireless signal had been sent to Sir David Beatty,
asking for help, and about twelve o'clock the Falmouth and the
Nottingham arrived on the scene of action. By this time the first
destroyer flotilla was out of action and the third flotilla and the
Arethusa had their hands full with the Koln. The light cruisers were
followed at 12.15 by the English battle cruisers, the Lion came first,
and she alone among the battle cruisers seems to have used her guns. Her
gun power beat down all opposition. The Koln made for home, but the
Lion's guns set her on fire. The luckless Ariadne hove in sight, but the
terrible 13.5-inch guns sufficed for her. The battle cruisers circled
around, and in ten minutes the Koln went to the bottom.

At twenty minutes to two, Admiral Beatty turned homeward. The German
cruisers Mainz, Koln, and the Ariadne had been sunk; the Strasburg was
seriously damaged. One destroyer was sunk, and at least seven seriously
injured. About seven hundred of the German crew perished and there were
three hundred prisoners. The British force returned without the loss of
a single ship. The Arethusa had been badly damaged, but was easily
repaired. The casualty list was thirty-two killed and fifty-two wounded.
The battle was fought on both sides with great gallantry, the chief
glory belonging to the Arethusa and the Fearless who bore the brunt of
the battle. The strategy and tactical skill employed were admirable, and
the German admiral, von Ingenohl from that time on, with one exception,
kept his battleships in harbor, and confined his activities to mine
laying and the use of submarines.

In the first days of the war the German mine layers had been busy. By
means of trawlers disguised as neutrals, mines were dropped off the
north coast of Ireland, and a large mine field was laid off the eastern
coast of England. One of the most important