ips were torpedoed.

The _Marlborough_ was struck and badly damaged, but she made her way
safely to port. The _Frauenlob_, _Rostock_, and _Pommern_ were sunk.
And that is the whole story so far as known at present. Yet several
hundred torpedoes must have been discharged, most of them at ranges
within 5,000 yards. It looks a little as if the world would be obliged
to modify the view that has been held of late with reference to the
efficiency of the torpedo--or at least of the torpedo as carried by
the destroyer.

The loss of the three large battle cruisers, _Indefatigable_,
_Invincible_, and _Queen Mary_ is, and will always remain, the most
dramatic incident of the battle, and the most inexplicable. It is
doubtful if we shall ever know the facts, but that something more than
gunfire was involved is made clear by the fact that in each case the
ship was destroyed by an explosion. Whether this was due to a shell
actually penetrating the magazine, or to the ignition of exposed
charges of powder, or to a torpedo or a mine exploding outside in the
vicinity of the magazine, it is impossible to do more than conjecture.
There is a suggestion of something known, but kept back, in the
following paragraph from a description of the battle by Mr. Arthur
Pollen, which is presumably based upon information furnished by the
British admiralty:

"As to the true explanation of the loss of the three ships that did
blow up, the admiralty, no doubt, will give this to the public if it
is thought wise to do so. But there can be no harm in saying this. The
explanation of the sinking of each of these ships by a single lucky
shot--both they and practically all the other cruisers were hit
repeatedly by shots that did no harm--is, in the first place,
identical. Next, it does not lie in the fact that the ships were
insufficiently armored to keep out big shell. Next, the fatal
explosion was not caused by a mine or by a torpedo. Lastly, it is in
no sense due to any instability or any other dangerous characteristic
of the propellants or explosives carried on board. I am free to
confess that when I first heard of these ships going down as rapidly
as they did, one of two conclusions seemed to be irresistible--either
a shell had penetrated the lightly armored sides and burst in the
magazine, or a mine or torpedo had exploded immediately beneath it.
But neither explanation is right."

One of the most striking and surprising features about the battle is