cruisers attacked the enemy with torpedoes, and at 8.40 an explosion was observed on board a ship of the Kaiser class. In these actions four enemy destroyers were sunk by our gun fire.
By 9 o'clock the enemy had completely disappeared and darkness was falling fast. He had been veering round to a westerly course, and the whole British Fleet lay between him and his home ports. It was a strategic situation which, but for the fog and the coming of night, would have meant his complete destruction. Sir John Jellicoe had now to make a difficult decision. It was impossible for the British Fleet to close in the darkness in a sea swarming with torpedo craft and submarines, and accordingly he was compelled to make dispositions for the night, which would ensure the safety of his ships and provide for a renewal of the action at dawn. In his own words:—"I manœuvred to remain between the enemy and his base, placing our Flotillas in a position in which they would afford protection to the fleet from destroyer attack and at the same time be favourably situated for attacking the enemy's heavier ships." About the same
