er
speed slackened; the moment to strike with a torpedo had come, and one
of these "steel fishes" was sent against her hull below water. In the
explosion which followed one of her boilers came out through her deck,
ascended some fifty feet and dropped down near her bow; her engines
stopped, and she began to settle slowly, her bow going down first.

It was now noon. From behind the veil of the surrounding mist came the
_Falmouth_ and _Nottingham_, which with the guns in their turrets
completely finished the hapless _Mainz_, and their sailors openly
admired the bravery of her crew, which, while she sank, maintained
perfect order and sang the German national air.

There was yet the _Koeln_ with which the _Arethusa_ had to do battle. But
by now the heavy British battle cruisers _Lion_ and _Queen Mary_ had
also come down from the northwest to take part in the fighting, and
letting the _Arethusa_ escape from the range of the light cruiser
_Koeln_, they went for the German, which, overpowered, fled toward
Helgoland. While the chase was on the _Ariadne_ again made her
appearance and came to the aid of the _Koeln_, but the light cruiser
_Ariadne_ carried no gun as effective in destructive power as the
13.5-inch guns of the _Lion_, and she, too, had to seek safety in
flight. The British ships then finished the _Koeln_; so badly was she hit
that when the British small boats sought the spot where she quickly sank
they found not a man of her crew afloat. Every man of the 370 of her
crew perished.

The afternoon came, and with its advent the mist, which had kept the
guns of Helgoland's forts out of action, had cleared off the calm waters
of the North Sea. By the time the sun had set only floating wreckage
gave evidence that here brave men had fought and died. By evening the
respective forces were in their home ports, being treated for their
hurts. The Germans had lost the _Mainz_, _Koeln_, and _Ariadne_, and the
_Strassburg_ had limped home. The loss in destroyers and other small
craft in addition to that of the _V-187_ was not known. The loss on the
British side had not entailed that of a large ship, but the _Arethusa_
when she returned to her home port was far from being in good condition,
and some of the smaller boats were in the same circumstances.

Admiral von Ingenohl was committed more strongly than ever, as a result
of this engagement, to the belief that the best policy for his command
would be to keep his squadrons withi