es of the
final British line were formed. Three battle cruisers had been sunk:
the _Indefatigable_, _Invincible_, and _Queen Mary_. One fast
battleship, the _Warspite_, had fallen astern with a damaged helm. But
six battle cruisers still led the van. Twenty-four fresh battleships
followed. And three fast _Queen Elizabeths_ brought up the rear.
Jellicoe then personally commanded a single line-ahead twelve miles
long and dreadnoughts all. Every part of every change was made as
perfectly as if at the King's review. You could not have made the line
straighter with a ruler, nor placed it better if the Germans had been
standing still. For as Beatty's overlap kept turning them from north
to east and east to south, to save their T from being crossed,
Jellicoe's whole line had now worked to the landward side of them, that
is, between them and their great home base on the German coast.

Fourth Round: Jellicoe Victorious: 6.50 to 9.00 P.M.

Driven to desperation by being overlapped and turned away from Germany,
the Germans made a supreme effort to escape toward the south-west, thus
completing their circle round the bull's-eye, as Jellicoe began to
round them up from the inner. Their destroyers spouted forth an
immense grey smoke screen; the mist helped them to hide; and the sun
went into a bank of clouds. As they ran they fired shoals of
torpedoes, which are much deadlier for the chasers, who go toward them,
than for the chased, who go from them. The battleship _Marlborough_,
flagship of Sir Cecil Burney, Jellicoe's Second-in-Command, was hit and
began to list over. But she was so strong and so well handled that
within ten minutes she was at it again. She had already fought two
battleships and a cruiser while the British line was forming. Now she
caught another German battleship with fourteen salvoes running and
drove her out of line.

[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF JUTLAND--PLAN II. Jellicoe's battle line
formed and fighting. 6:38 P.M.]

The Germans fired every torpedo they could bring to bear; and nothing
but Jellicoe's supreme skill, backed by the skill of all his captains,
saved his battleships from losing at least a third of their number.
Observers aloft watched the enemy manoeuvring to fire and then reported
to Jellicoe, who, keeping in line as long as possible for the sake of
the guns, turned the fleet end-on, away from Scheer, just in time to
prevent the torpedoes catching it broadside on, and then left